Charlotte Might be Zane Smith's Best Shot for a Solid Run
6 months agoZane Smith's rookie season has admittedly been very rocky, as he has no top-10s, no laps led, and the worst speed percentile amongst full-timers at 21.96, not to mention that his teammates, Corey LaJoie and fellow rookie Carson Hocevar, outrun him nearly every race weekend. However, Charlotte might be one of Smith's best opportunities to turn it around. He got a surprise 10th-place finish for Front Row Motorsports in last year's Coca-Cola 600, where he scored his only top-10 and laps led in the Cup Series to date. Smith also ran in the top five for about 40 laps early in Stage 3 at Texas this year, so that is encouraging. LaJoie and Hocevar did both outqualify Smith this weekend, who will start 25th, but they're all solid longshots for top-10s. Although Zane is unlikely to reprise his own top-10 tonight, he's likelier to do so than his current odds of 18-to-1 imply.
Source: Racing Reference
Source: Racing Reference