Zane Smith Likely To Outperform Phoenix Expectations Due To Ford Speed
6 hours agoZane Smith starts 26th at Phoenix and on paper is not expected to do much because his best career finish at the track is 29th. However, he has switched from Spire Motorsports to Front Row Motorsports for 2025 and FRM has arguably been better at the track lately than Spire was last year. Michael McDowell had top fifteens in three of his last four starts while Todd Gilliland posted top 20s in both races. Since Smith was substantially faster in the second half of 2024 than the first, it seems likely that his actual finish will be better than his projected finish at this track, especially since FRM is a Penske satellite and the Penske has obviously put far more emphasis into Phoenix than any other team after winning three straight titles here. He is a lowkey solid choice for place differential.
Source: Racing Reference
Source: Racing Reference
