Zane Smith Should Lag Teammates But Will Still Benefit from Speed Increase
6 months agoAlthough Zane Smith will likely get a boost from the improved Chevrolet investment into Spire Motorsports for 2024, don't expect Smith to seriously compete with teammates Carson Hocevar and Corey LaJoie for team supremacy. Although the triumvirate competed for different teams in 2023, Hocevar's speed percentile on intermediates last year was 42.38 to LaJoie's 28.12 and Smith's 20.97. Smith was slower than both his teammates in both Las Vegas practice and qualifying as Hocevar will start 14th to LaJoie's 17th and Smith's 24th. Smith also ranks by far the lowest of the three drivers in my teammate model. However, it is also clear that Trackhouse Racing has a lot invested into Smith, who they consider one of their top prospects, and if his car, as an official Trackhouse satellite, ends up receiving more funding than the superior drivers' Spire cars, don't be surprised if he does better than you think in the Pennzoil 400 this weekend.
Source: Racing Reference
Source: Racing Reference