Zane Smith is off to a great start to his 2020 NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series rookie campaign with GMS Racing.
Smith is coming off his second consecutive top 10 with a career-best third-place finish last week at Charlotte Motor Speedway. He heads into the fourth race of the season third in series points and tops in the rookie standings.
Saturday’s Vet Tix/Camping World 200 will mark Smith’s fifth career start. While he’s yet to race at Atlanta Motor Speedway, he’s looking forward to the event after participating in the rookie test there in January.
"I think I’ll have a little bit of an upper hand there because we had gotten to do my rookie test there," Smith said. "I mean I’ve never raced there but I mean the test, especially with this whole deal going on, is in my opinion a big upper hand. I really liked that place at the test."
Sunoco Rookie of the Year Standings
| Rookies | Points | Awards |
| Zane Smith | 103 | 2 |
| Christian Eckes | 78 | 0 |
| Derek Kraus | 69 | 1 |
| Ty Majeski | 64 | 0 |
| Raphael Lessard | 61 | 0 |
| Tanner Gray | 60 | 0 |
| Tate Foleman | 45 | 0 |
| Spencer Davis | 30 | 0 |
After the random draw, Smith will start seventh on Saturday. Smith will be back with the same sponsor that was on his truck at Charlotte where he led 15 laps and finished behind Cup Series stars Chase Elliott and Kyle Busch, who will once again be in the field.
NASCAR.com: Atlanta Starting Lineup
"La Paz margarita mix they were stoked with our night and I could imagine they got a lot of media exposure because I think at one point I was number eight on trending on there," Smith said. "I thought that was pretty cool. So yeah, they’re back and hopefully we can turn that truck into an iconic one."
Smith joined GMS after having a successful part-time schedule with JR Motorsports last season in the Xfinity Series where he posted seven top 10s in 10 starts. He also made one Gander Truck start with DGR-Crosley at World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway and finished fifth. Kevin "Bono" Manion was Smith’s crew chief for his first truck start and the partnership continued to GMS.
"I think I just personally work really good with Bono along with the rest of my team," Smith said. "GMS Racing had pieced my team together and I requested a couple guys just from Mardy Lindley, who was my crew chief in ARCA, which is over at GMS now."
Motor Racing Network will have live coverage of Saturday’s Vet Tix/Camping World 200 at Atlanta Motor Speedway starting at 12:30 p.m. ET.
Smith, who is from Huntington Beach, Calif., is part of the Drivers Edge Development program, which is a joint venture between JR Motorsports and GMS. His start in racing began at an early age in BMX before transitioning to trophy karts – a smaller off road truck. He then competed in go-karts and Legends cars. The path to NASCAR ultimately came when he made the transition from the West to the East Coast where he raced Super Late Models and also competed in the ARCA Menards Series. Smith’s father manages an off-road race team.
"I’ve always been involved in racing," Smith said. "I’ve always been around it and never really wanted to do anything else."
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Rookie Zane Smith Off to a Great Start to Season - mrn.com
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