Ford Racing Notes and Quotes
NASCAR Cup Series
Ford Racing Media Zoom Call
Tuesday, June 30, 2026
Zane Smith, driver of the No. 38 Front Row Motorsports Ford Mustang Dark Horse, will be making his 100th career NASCAR Cup Series start when the green flag falls this weekend at Chicagoland Speedway. Smith spoke about the milestone as part of this week’s Ford Racing media call.
ZANE SMITH, No. 38 Front Row Motorsports Ford Mustang Dark Horse – HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT THIS BEING YOUR 100TH START? “I hope to get my first Cup Series win. I don’t know if that counts before 100 starts, but it would be awesome. It would be a great place to do it. We have Vermeer on board this weekend, which that was a crowd favorite when we ran that scheme last year, so it would be awesome to pull that off. The mile-and-a-halves have been good to us since Charlotte, so it’s exciting and I think definitely possible.”
HOW MUCH STOCK DO YOU PUT IN TO NEEDING TO HAVE SUCCESS WITHIN THAT FIRST 100 STARTS? IS IT REAL TO YOU? “Yeah, for sure. I think throughout the industry, especially in the Cup Series, they look at that. Everything has to go right for a race win and race wins, but showing that you’re running up front and having good runs is what’s super important. Fortunately, I’ve had glimpses of that throughout my early starts, but I would say since my 80th-ish start it’s been more consistent of being able to run up front more consistently. The recent race in Charlotte I was able to lead laps and contend for a race win. I have a few seconds and thirds or whatever, but I’m honestly leading these races at the wrong time. I just need to do it a little bit later, but I feel like that’s what’s mostly important. I feel like everyone kind of understands in the industry of how hard these races are to win, and then on top of that we’re a smaller team, too, so we’re doing a lot with a little and trying to make big strides each year. I’m proud of that and proud of how we’re running, but would love to put an exclamation mark on this 100th start.”
IT SEEMS YOU ARE THE BEST OF THE FRONT ROW GROUP ON A REGULAR BASIS. WHAT IS YOUR 38 TEAM DOING BETTER OR DIFFERENTLY THAN THE 34 OR 4 TEAMS RIGHT NOW? “I’m not sure. This sport goes in waves of you’ll run really good and then you might have a few bad weeks. My teammates will have that throughout the year, but we’re just focused on ourselves right now and trying to keep this momentum rolling. We’re proud that it’s this early in the year. I feel like we’ve had these glimpses, but were just too late in the year to where the offseason comes up and you hope you can hit the ground running. That’s easier said than done. You’ve got to survive those two superspeedways to go out maybe later in qualifying and have a good qualifying once you get to these mile-and-a-halves, which is always important. I feel like we had that this year, so I feel like that’s some of it, but our whole group is a really fun group to work with, which says a lot. We just had a year last year of just past communication and past times to know what to do for adjustments going from practice to qualifying and qualifying to the race more importantly, and I feel like some of that is showing, but just trying to carry the momentum is the main thing.”
HOW DOES THE SUCCESS OF THE TRUCK TEAMS AT FRONT ROW TRICKLE OVER TO THE CUP TEAM? “It’s cool to see them run well. I think Layne has won the past few races, so that’s awesome. Dylan Cappella is the crew chief on that. He was my engineer when I was on the 38 truck, so it’s awesome to see what he’s accomplishing. Those are two really fast trucks, and I feel like when I was racing trucks here my truck was on the same shop floor as the Cup cars in the same building that we’re in now. It was cool once I would win and everybody would get lunch since we were in the same building, and that part was exciting. They’re in a different building now since it’s two trucks, so it’s a little bit different now, but it’s awesome to see them winning on Friday or if it’s a Saturday race. It’s certainly exciting and I’m happy for them.”
100 STARTS SEEMS LIKE A LOT AND IT SHOWS HOW HARD IT IS TO WIN. WHAT ARE THE BIGGEST LESSONS YOU’VE LEARNED TO GET TO THIS POINT? “Just the lessons you learn and the different situations that you get put in. In just one Cup race you will experience so much. There are so many ups and downs throughout a Cup race and it’s like that every weekend. I can probably count on one hand how many Cup races I’ve had where it’s like, ‘Man, that went really smooth and everything went right.’ I just feel like the main thing is you’ve got to take the little wins and pile them into bigger wins and eventually you’re gonna be racing for a race win. The harder thing is when you’re part of a smaller team going against a powerhouse team like a Penske, a Hendrick, a Gibbs, they have more people and we’re trying to become that one day. By doing that, you’ve got to win races and run up front and prove your worth, and I feel like we’re accomplishing that. I hope to keep that going, but there are so many ups and downs and I’m certainly a way different race car driver now versus what I was in my rookie year and certainly what I was in the Truck Series.”
DID ANYONE TEACH YOU A REALLY GOOD LESSON THAT HAS STUCK WITH YOU? “You learn a little bit from everybody, but certainly Denny (Hamlin) is really good. He’s been doing it a long time and he’s been in many different scenarios. His car is really fast and he’s really good too, so he’s really good at just being smart in a situation of like, ‘Hey, live to fight another day.’ That was the area where I’ve had to get better. When I was in the Truck Series, the races go by so fast so you’ve got to go, and you’ve got to take control of the race to where you’ve got to do that too and track position is extremely important in the Cup car, but at the same time just live to fight another day because a lot of things happen throughout the race. I feel like those really good guys are good at that. One that stands out to me is Joey Logano. He grinds out a race. There have been many times where I’ve been running around him and I end up 15th, and I look at the scoring pylon and he’s like fifth. I’m like, ‘How did he get up there?’ But it’s just a lot of small, right moves and good strategy. I’m seeing that in myself now, so I’m happy with that.”
DRIVERS ARE EXPECTED TO DO A LOT MORE THAN JUST DRIVING BETWEEN MEDIA OBLIGATIONS, SOCIAL MEDIA AND SPONSORS. HOW DO YOU BALANCE ALL OF THAT? “It’s a part of the job. I guess I try to be myself and I fortunately have a good team around me to help take some of that weight off, to be able to show up on Sunday and put all my attention there, but certainly I feel like the team that you have around you helps make it easier, for sure.”
YOUR CHICAGOLAND EXPERIENCE IS ONE ARCA AND ONE O’REILLY START. HOW ARE YOU GOING TO APPROACH FRIDAY’S PRACTICE SESSION? WHAT HAS THE PROCESS BEEN LIKE PREPARING FOR YOUR FIRST CUP RACE AT THIS TRACK? “I definitely don’t remember my ARCA start there, and I remember a little bit of my Xfinity start there. I remember how hot it was, but David Ragan did the tire test, so trying to get some notes from them, but that’s difficult too because that’s a really green racetrack they were on. It’s all tough, but I’m hearing some comparisons to Charlotte with the bumps, and a combination of like Vegas bumps and wear is almost like Kansas. Who knows? I’m just trying to approach it like any other mile-and-a-half. The biggest question mark are the bumps with the Next Gen car and how it’s gonna handle that, but certainly one of the best mile-and-a-halves character-wise and the racing it produced. I’m excited to get back there and I’m looking forward to it. I’m glad we have good speed on mile-and-a-halves right now.”
HOW QUICKLY WILL YOU KNOW DURING PRACTICE IF YOU GUYS BROUGHT THE RIGHT SETUP? “Probably lap two.”
IT’S FOURTH OF JULY WEEKEND. WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO GET TO RACE ON THIS HOLIDAY? “It certainly is cool. I feel like throughout the whole field you’ll see a lot of different patriotic schemes that are incorporated into what you’ve got. That part is cool and nothing screams America more than NASCAR, so it’s awesome and I’m certainly looking forward to it at a place like Chicago. Hopefully, we have a good run ahead.”
