CONCORD, N.C. — Zane Smith is scheduled to make his 100th NASCAR Cup Series start on Sunday at Chicagoland Speedway.
The driver of the No. 38 Front Row Motorsports Ford Mustang is still looking for his first Cup Series victory.
“I hope to get my first Cup Series win. I don’t know if that counts before 100 starts, but it would be awesome,” Smith said during a Ford Racing media conference call. “It would be a great place to do it. We have Vermeer on board this weekend, which that was a crowd favorite when we ran that scheme last year, so it would be awesome to pull that off. The mile-and-a-halves have been good to us since Charlotte, so it’s exciting and I think definitely possible.”
Smith ranks 23rd in the Cup Series standings after 18 races this season with six top-10 finishes.
“I think throughout the industry, especially in the Cup Series, they look at that. Everything has to go right for a race win and race wins, but showing that you’re running up front and having good runs is what’s super important,” Smith said. “Fortunately, I’ve had glimpses of that throughout my early starts, but I would say since my 80th-ish start it’s been more consistent of being able to run up front more consistently.
“The recent race in Charlotte I was able to lead laps and contend for a race win. I have a few seconds and thirds or whatever, but I’m honestly leading these races at the wrong time. I just need to do it a little bit later, but I feel like that’s what’s mostly important. I feel like everyone kind of understands in the industry of how hard these races are to win, and then on top of that we’re a smaller team, too, so we’re doing a lot with a little and trying to make big strides each year.
“I’m proud of that and proud of how we’re running, but would love to put an exclamation mark on this 100th start.”
Smith said he’s learned plenty during his first 100 races.
“Just the lessons you learn and the different situations that you get put in. In just one Cup race you will experience so much,” Smith said. “There are so many ups and downs throughout a Cup race and it’s like that every weekend. I can probably count on one hand how many Cup races I’ve had where it’s like, ‘Man, that went really smooth and everything went right.’
“I just feel like the main thing is you’ve got to take the little wins and pile them into bigger wins and eventually you’re gonna be racing for a race win.”
