May 4, 2025
Zane Smith of Front Row Motorsports obtained a starting position of 13th after qualifying for Sunday's Wurth 400 at Texas Motor Speedway. Smith's starting position for this week's race is a new career-best for him at Texas. In two previous starts at the site, Smith's best finish is 24th, where he gained positive Place Differential, and his worst is 26th, where he lost it. With 10 races completed this year, Smith has six top-20 finishes, four being 12th or higher. In practice for this week's race, Smith ranked 23rd in overall lap averages while ranking ninth in 25 consecutive lap averages, showcasing that his car is best suited for longer runs compared to the field. Compared to most value options, Smith has lower upside but displays better practice speeds. When factoring in how solid he has been in finishing races this year, Smith is best suited for tournament lineups, with limited exposure.
--Sean Engel - RotoBallerSource: DriverAverages.com
April 27, 2025
Zane Smith continued the strong superspeedway qualifying efforts for Front Row Motorsports this weekend, as he captured his first-ever NASCAR Cup Series pole by over a tenth with a lap of 182.174 mph on Saturday morning. The Fords are always strong at the big, drafting tracks, and Zane will have the best track position to start the race with on Sunday in the Jack Link's 500. However, he should be avoided when it comes to DFS contests. The pole sitter rarely wins the race at a track like Talladega, and with dominator points being so spread out at tracks like this, it makes the driver starting first one of the worst options on the slate. Even if Smith runs inside the top five all day on Sunday, it's not worth the risk in rostering him in DFS due to the extremely high negative Place Differential probability.
--Jordan McAbeeSource: Jayski
April 12, 2025
As is the case on most race weekends this year, Zane Smith has some sleeper potential at Bristol Motor Speedway on Sunday. The Front Row Motorsports driver will roll off the starting grid from 18th-place when the Food City 500 goes green, and although the No. 38 Ford wasn't blazing fast in practice, we could see Zane potentially challenge for a top-15 finish with a little bit of luck on Sunday. Remember, Smith finished 16th here last fall despite starting way back in 33rd, and he is in a little better equipment this time around. As far as DFS contests go, Zane is a tournament play at $6,400 due to his high starting position. He has finished between ninth and 16th in five of the last seven Cup Series races overall, which means it hasn't been a bad idea to take a chance with him on race days. Don't let Zane Smith's high starting position and limited track history stop you from looking his way in fantasy contests this weekend.
--Jordan McAbeeSource: Athlon Sports
April 6, 2025
Zane Smith is always one of those drivers that could possibly do well on race day, but often times disappoints. The potential is there, but so is the downside. That is once again the case for him at Darlington Raceway this weekend. Zane qualified up in 16th for Sunday afternoon's Goodyear 400, and he also had a strong practice session on Saturday, ranking sixth-best in 30-lap average. But will that speed translate to the actual race? Smith didn't have a very good rookie season at Darlington last year, walking away with 23rd- and 35th-place finishes in the two races, but the sophomore driver seems to be more consistent with speed this season in his Front Row Motorsports ride, posting top-11 finishes in three of the last six races overall. At just $6,000 on DraftKings, Zane Smith is a cheap tournament option on the DFS slate, but don't go too crazy because of his potential to post a disappointing score.
--Jordan McAbeeSource: ifantasyrace
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