Thoughts of Zane Smith in the #17 at Gateway

At Gateway, Truck series driver, Zane Smith will make his Cup debut and pilot the #17 RFK Ford in place of Chris Buescher who’s out with Covid-19.

NASCAR will have 50 minutes to practice on Friday, and I think Smith will be just fine. If Smith doesn’t look respectable in practice, then it’s time to hit the panic button. Heading into the weekend, I think he’s a high-teens to low-twenties driver.

Smith will have one advantage on much of the Cup field, and that’s track time. He’ll of course be racing in the Truck series on Saturday, and he has a few other races already under his belt.

In 2021 at Gateway, Smith led 19 laps but finished an asterisk mark 35th after having rear gear problems.

In 2020 at Gateway, Smith finished 16th.

So far in 2022 in the Truck series over the 10 races, Smith has 3 wins, 5 top fives and 8 top tens.