Top Dog: Zane Smith
It was fitting for the NASCAR Cup Series to be in Nashville.
Why?
That’s because you could probably name any country music song with the word “crazy” or even create your own country song to describe the Ally 400 at Nashville Superspeedway (June 30).
To describe it in a nutshell, just look at a line from the late country music legend Waylon Jennings’s song “I’ve Always Been Crazy.”
“I’ve always been crazy, but it’s kept me from going insane.”
Well, that may not hold true for this year’s race at Nashville, which featured a rain delay, went 31 laps past the scheduled distance and featured five overtimes, enough to drive any competitor insane.
While Joey Logano shedded his playoff bubble position and earned his first win of the year, it was Zane Smith who nearly shook the nerves and rattled the brains of bubble drivers, finishing .068 seconds back of Logano for the win.
Smith’s race was enough to make someone’s head spin, from how he fired off to finishing runner-up. After finishing both stages in 33rd, Smith was on his way to another disappointing result. But as he was sitting outside the top 20 with two laps remaining, Austin Cindric spun to send the race into overtime.
That’s when the chaos commenced.
The first overtime went into a second overtime — and then another, and another and another. With each green flag and caution lap, several cars out in front were forced to pit due to being short on fuel. However, Smith, who had taken fuel a few laps later than the leaders earlier in the final stage, was able to leapfrog them all.
On the fourth overtime restart, the Huntington Beach, Calif. native lined up fourth for the restart, holding his ground until another caution flew to force a fifth overtime restart.
Smith fired off in third for the final restart, but fell back to fourth on the backstretch. In turns 3 and 4, Chase Briscoe slowed, allowing Smith to move back into third and have a front row seat to the battle for the win between Logano and Tyler Reddick.
As the leaders drifted high in the final turn, Smith wrapped the bottom, gaining nearly enough momentum to shoot past both drivers and score the victory. And in doing so, he contributed an interesting stat to Logano’s career.
Given that Smith had only finished inside the top 20 four times this season with a best finish of 13th, the Music City was the right note for him to hit on. It is just the second top 10 of his Cup career, and it marks his first career top five.
With questions surrounding his future at Trackhouse Racing as a driver on loan to Spire Motorsports, the outcome in Nashville could be what he needs to become the favorite for a potential third ride at Trackhouse next season.
Notable Underdog Runs
Much like Smth, the fireworks of the final stage helped flip Daniel Hemric‘s race upside down, as he finished ninth. Hemric struggled to get going in the first two stages, falling a lap down at one point and finishing both stages outside the top 30. However, his No. 31 began to come to life as the sun began to set, driving up to 18th when the caution flew with two laps remaining.
After several cars pitted, Hemric launched from 12th on the final restart with momentum on his side — until it wasn’t. A crash in the first turn saw several cars stack up in front of Hemric, causing him to get into Ty Gibbs and suffer damage to the right-front.
Despite his race appearing ruined, plus getting caught up in an accident during the second overtime, Hemric was able to avoid further crashes and leapfrog those short on the fuel. More chaos on the final lap allowed the 33-year-old to sneak through and score his third top 10 of the season, a career high.
Two spots behind Hemric was his Kaulig Racing teammate, AJ Allmendinger. Allmendinger’s chances of a strong finish looked to be dashed when he was forced to pit with seven laps remaining after staying out on lap 220.
Allmendinger was the first car one lap down when the first caution of overtime occurred, allowing him to earn the free pass and pit for fresh tires. From there, he allowed the race to play out ahead of him, elevating himself to 11th by the end of the race. In seven starts this season, Allmendinger has finished 13th or better in five of those instances.
Had it been a fairly normal race, Justin Haley may have had the wackiest day of all drivers. He fell into a hole from the drop of the green flag, serving a pass-through penalty for unapproved adjustments. However, in spite of falling two laps down at one point, the Rick Ware Racing driver fought his way back onto the lead lap after stage one.
As the laps dwindled to less than 10 to go, Haley could be found running inside the top 10, an incredible comeback in itself. While running just outside the top 10 on the second overtime restart, Haley was caught up in an accident on the backstretch when Harrison Burton was turned into his left rear, sending Haley around.
Fortunately, he was able to avert hampering damage, rebounding for a strong 13th-place run. The Winamac, Ind. native has finished 13th or better in four of the past seven races.
Carson Hocevar had a fairly steady night throughout the first 300 laps, running inside the top 20 for the large majority of the race. However, he did not go without some controversy of his own. As a caution flew for Brad Keselowski crashing in turns 1 and 2, Hocevar appeared to intentionally turn Burton, sending the No. 21 around.
NASCAR has said it will review the incident this week. Outside of that, Hocevar was mostly able to dodge the late-race caution jamboree, restarting inside the top 10 for the fifth overtime. However, he got trapped behind Chase Briscoe, who was running out of fuel, and crossed the start/finish line in 16th for his fifth consecutive top 20.
Todd Gilliland‘s race was not as smooth as previous weeks, and he too was swiped into the crash frenzy during the second overtime. Gilliland had maneuvered low on the backstretch to avoid spinning cars, but he was hooked by Haley and turned around. Yet he, too, was able to avoid catastrophic damage, and he survived to extend his streak of finishing 17th or better to eight races in a row.
What They’re Saying
Smith (second):
Hemric (ninth): “After the rain delay and a couple of good adjustments, I thought if we could get track position, we would be OK. We finally got it and got caught in a crash. I thought every corner was knocked off the car. Somehow, some way, the seas kept parting. We were able to have a couple of good restarts at the end and cross the line in ninth. What a weekend, but I’ll take it.”
Allmendinger (11th): “Long, hard fought day. I felt like as the race went on, we improved the race car. We weren’t able to get the track position there til the end. Unfortunately, that strategy didn’t work out. We were able to miss all the wrecks, get our lap back and make the most out of our day. Overall, something we can learn fun. Good finish for both cars. Good day for the race team.”
Burton (28th):
Riley Herbst (37th):
Who’s Really the Top Dog?
For the first time this season, Smith earns the gold medal. Hemric matches his result at Dover Motor Speedway to grab silver for the second time, and Allmendinger has now earned each of the medals this season, albeit as a part-time driver.
Gold: Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (4x), Erik Jones (3x), Hocevar (3x), John Hunter Nemechek (2x), Allmendinger (2x), Corey LaJoie, Hemric, Haley, Gilliland, Smith
Silver: Gilliland (6x), Haley (2x), Allmendinger (2x), Hemric (2x), Nemechek (2x), Burton, Hocevar, Smith, Ty Dillon, Anthony Alfredo
Bronze: Nemechek (3x), Stenhouse (3x), LaJoie (3x), Gilliland (3x), Jones (2x), Kaz Grala, Shane van Gisbergen, Hocevar, Haley, Allmendinger
Whose Bark Caught Attention?
Each week, we always look at which driver was the top dog, whether they were the best underdog or not. However, there are obvious occurrences when the results won’t reflect who caught the most attention.
In the midst of all the storylines from the attrition of the race, Corey Heim made his third career Cup start and first for 23XI Racing. Heim, who leads the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series with four wins in 2024, started from 29th but quietly worked his way forward. By the time stage two was in the books, the 21-year-old had risen to 12th, second of the three 23XI Racing drivers.
Heim was involved in the accident during the second overtime, ending his race and relegating him to 29th. Still, he progressed throughout the race and showed why he is one of the top prospects in the garage.
About the author
Luken Glover joined the Frontstretch team in 2020 as a contributor, furthering a love for racing that traces back to his earliest memories. Glover inherited his passion for racing from his grandfather, who used to help former NASCAR team owner Junie Donlavey in his Richmond, Va. garage. A 2023 graduate from the University of the Cumberlands, Glover is the author of "The Underdog House," contributes to commentary pieces, and does occasional at-track reporting. Additionally, Glover enjoys working in ministry, coaching basketball, playing sports, and karting.
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