Zane Smith sneaks into Truck Championship Round with United Rentals 200 win

Somehow, some way, Zane Smith will fight for a NASCAR Camping World Truck Series championship. Despite entering the last race at Martinsville Speedway before the season finale outside of the top four and with just one top-five finish, he slipped into the lead as a wreck took out the leaders on the final lap to clinch his first win of the season and a spot in the Championship Round. It is his second time in as many years in which he made the final round, and he hopes to improve a spot from his runner-up points finish in 2020.

The Truck Series has drawn scrutiny throughout the season for its high frequency of wrecks, which many have chalked up to inexperience as the lowest tier of NASCAR’s three national divisions or even a lack of mutual respect between drivers. In any case, Saturday’s United Rentals 200 did little to reduce those comments as thirteen cautions (excluding the yellow to signal the end of Stage #2) were waved, resulting in an average of just 8.2 laps being run under green.

Some of the incidents took out playoff contenders, most notably with John Hunter Nemechek being turned by non-playoff driver Austin Wayne Self into the wall on lap 131. Although he retired and finished thirty-ninth, his domination of the season leading up to the race kept him above the cut line.

“(Self) shouldn’t be out here if he’s just going to hook someone in the right rear and turn them in the fence,” said Nemechek. “NASCAR should definitely look at that. It’s playoff contention. You’ve got to have respect and he doesn’t.”

Other wrecks were compounded by the overall physical nature of short track racing, as was the case with Parker Kligerman spinning Johnny Sauter on lap 178 in retaliation for vice versa occurring twenty laps earlier. Both incidents resulted in cautions.

Perhaps the most pivotal incident came in overtime after Corey Heim and Dawson Cram wrecked. Todd Gilliland, who had dominated the event, faced challenges from Smith and Stewart Friesen, both of whom were fighting to get into the final round. After a lap of battling, Friesen bounced off the wall coming to the white flag and clipped Gilliland before spinning himself entering turn one. Smith committed to the inside to take the lead as the caution came out, securing his first win of the year and qualify for the final round.

With a driver outside the top four winning, Smith leapfrogged reigning champion Sheldon Creed for one of the final spots. Despite not having a win, Matt Crafton finished fifth to join Smith, Nemechek, and Ben Rhodes. Crafton is seeking his fourth title, which would tie him with Ron Hornaday Jr. for the most in Truck history.

Race results