Ford Performance Notes and Quotes
NASCAR Camping World Truck Series
Martinsville Advance | Tuesday, April 5, 2022
Zane Smith, driver of the No. 38 Ford F-150 for Front Row Motorsports, is the only one in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series with two victories after coming away with a win two weeks ago at Circuit of the Americas. Smith also won the last time the series headed to this week’s stop – Martinsville Speedway. He was a guest today on a Ford-hosted media call and spoke with reporters about his season.
ZANE SMITH, No. 38 Front Row Motorsports F-150 – WHAT IS IT ABOUT MARTINSVILLE THAT SUITS YOUR STYLE? “I feel like Martinsville is probably, if not the biggest rhythm track that we go to, and I feel like ever since I was a little kid on short tracks and that’s really at the end of the day what it is, they’ve just suited me. I really enjoy going to those places. The racing is always hectic, but it’s always a thrill of a finish and fortunately I’ve been on the good side of those recently. Hopefully, we can continue that wave.”
HOW CONFIDENT ARE YOU ABOUT YOUR CHAMPIONSHIP CHANCES WITH FORD? “It’s so early to talk about championship stuff just because of the format that we go through. You’ve seen guys that dominate the regular season and then when the playoffs come around they struggle to have things go their way, so I’m trying not to get caught up in the too high of highs and enjoy the amount of fun that we’re having each and every weekend so far. Going back to Ford and being underneath that banner now has been awesome. The simulation tools and everyone I’ve been able to meet over the past few weeks or a couple months now have been awesome to lean on and work with, so the simulator time is still extremely valuable even in the normal world and now we’re kind of coming out of the COVID world, but I think typically we’re only getting 30 minutes or an hour of practice, so if you don’t have that you really lean on your simulation tools and they give us that, so a huge thank you to them and we’ll continue getting those Blue Ovals in victory lane.”
WHAT DOES HAVING TWO WINS AT THIS POINT DO FOR YOU AND YOUR TEAM AS FAR AS YOUR APPROACH TO RACES AND STRATEGY? “I wish we had a few more stage wins and more stage points in general and then I feel like we’d be able to really approach these races a lot differently, but being locked in, and I think I have more wins than anyone this year, has been awesome. It not only boost my confidence, but really my whole team. It’s a lot of fun we’re having each and every week, so we’re just trying to enjoy that. I feel like I stole a clock from this team last year, so hopefully I can get them one this year.”
YOU ARE 31 POINTS OUT OF THE LEAD. ARE BONUS POINTS A PRIORITY NOW? “Yeah, I’ve always wanted to win that in general from my get-go in the truck series. It’s definitely something on our mind. We’ve already taken our hit to the gut at Vegas, so in our minds and many others we’re still looking at our year as a first, a second, a fifth and a first. I don’t know, I guess technically it’s not there, so I feel like that’s where that points buffer has hit us, but I feel like to still be fourth with that this early in the season really says something about our team. Honestly, COTA was a great points day. We maxed out on that. If we’re in contention to win that regular season championship and collect those extra points, it’s gonna be awesome, but myself and my team we’re just chasing wins and trophies right now and having fun in the process.”
HOW DO YOU MANAGE THE CHAOS AT MARTINSVILLE? “I don’t know how it will be this year. Martinsville is always crazy, but I feel like we’ve seen the past few years it’s been the transfer race to get to the final four, so I feel like that really made the aggression level really high there at time. Going back and watching film of the night race in 2020 it was ugly how aggressive it got, and that was my first time ever at Martinsville so I was a little gun shy, but I was in a must-win situation last year and we pulled it off. I just feel like that place has been good to me and it fits me and I always look forward to Martinsville week.”
HOW DO YOU APPROACH THE BRISTOL DIRT RACE THIS YEAR? “I don’t know what to expect for Bristol dirt. I don’t think anyone has a clear answer for that, but I know Bristol dirt last year in the very beginning was some of the most fun I’ve ever had in a truck and then at the very end I didn’t have quite that much fun, just from the seeing concept of things, but I’ve heard they’re trying to work out those bugs and make it a good show for us. I feel like we’re all kind of in the same boat there and I love that.”
WHAT WAS IT LIKE GOING DOWN FROM A FIVE TRUCK TEAM TO ONE? “It was definitely really different at first just because I’d been so used to always seeing truck parts and pieces floating around the shop and now it’s definitely in a smaller building and we’re surrounded by Cup cars. Obviously, the whole Cup world is crazy right now with getting cars and stuff. It’s been crazy to see the shop slowly but surely fill up with new cars, but it’s been really cool, honestly, to see not only all of FRM but especially the fab shop because they’re not as busy anymore and the Cup guys on their off days will give a helping hand to the truck team and that’s what winning and championship race teams do. They look at themselves as almost one and I feel like that’s what Front Row is and when I went over there I really tried to pay attention to the people and I feel like the team I have assembled on my 38 truck is as good as it gets. I’m just having a ton of fun with the group I’m with this year and look forward to the future.”
HOW HAVE YOU BEEN ABLE TO ADJUST TO A NEW TEAM SO QUICKLY AND HIT THE GROUND RUNNING LIKE YOU HAVE? “I feel like if you finish Daytona rolling, it’s gonna be a good year, so we finished Daytona winning. Once that happened, it was kind of a different ballgame of we got to focus forward on all the next steps, already locked in the playoffs and just getting to go have fun and chase trophies. I know that word keeps coming up of having fun, but that’s just simplifying it of what we’re doing and it’s been working.”
WHAT IS YOUR FEELING ON THE RIGHT WAY OF MOVING SOMEONE OR BEING IN THAT POSITION WHERE YOU COULD GET MOVED. HOW DO YOU BALANCE THAT? “I feel like each and every single one of us have known what moving someone the right way versus wrecking somebody is. I feel like we’ve known that since we were 12 years old at our first short track or something like that. I don’t know. A few of us are pretty good at measuring that out and some are absolutely awful at measuring that out, and so the guys that are awful, obviously it’s in our head that we’re gonna treat you how we’re treated and vice versa with the guys who do it the right way. It’s however you want to race me is how I look at it and I’ll typically do it two times worse back to you. That’s how I’ve always been about it.”
DO YOU EXPECT THAT AT THE END ON A SHORT TRACK IF YOU’RE LEADING AND WHAT ABOUT IF YOU’RE SECOND WITH HOW VALUABLE WINS ARE? “It’s a little bit different Martinsville now since we’re still early in the year and you don’t really want to make enemies. This isn’t now the final transfer race to get to the final four, so I don’t know. I probably say that and it’ll be 10 times worse, but I feel like everyone should try to initially pass the guy in front of them and if you can’t get it done, then, yeah, I don’t see anything wrong with just the classic short track bump and run, but there’s a difference between a bump and run and a dump and run. Hopefully, we could stay smart with that.”
WHAT WOULD BE YOUR IDEAL ZANE SMITH RACE TRACK IF YOU HAD UNLIMITED MONEY? “I don’t know. Personally, one of my favorite racetrack is Dover. I love that place so much no matter what it’s in. I was super bummed out when the Truck Series quit going there, but hopefully in the near future I can go grab another monster.”
THIS WILL BE THE FIRST SPRING RACE AT MARTINSVILLE IN THREE YEARS AND THERE’S NO FALL RACE TO FOLLOW IT FOR THE FIRST TIME. HOW MUCH DOES THAT CHANGE THE DYNAMIC OF THIS RACE? “I see what NASCAR is trying to do putting it still right after a road course where we all get into each other so we all go into it pissed off. I feel like the past couple years you spend all year and the guys that haven’t won are extremely aggressive. The guys that are in a must-win are extremely aggressive and then there are just the normal guys that are always aggressive. I feel like you could possibly see a three-truck breakaway maybe in this one and those guys duke it out. I don’t see it being such a caution fest as its been in the past couple years, but, like I said, now that I say that I’ll probably get proved wrong, but you would think they wouldn’t be as aggressive. I don’t know. I’ll race however it is.”
