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Zane Smith, No. 38 FRM Ford at Shriners Children's 500 at Phoenix Raceway - 3/9/2025
(Photo by Danny Peters)

The Underdog House: Some Underdogs Scorched, Others Refreshed in the Phoenix Desert

by

Top Dog: Zane Smith

Even as the NASCAR Cup Series visited what many consider the first traditional track on the schedule in the form of Phoenix Raceway, plenty of extrinsic factors played into the Shriners Children’s 500 on Sunday (March 9).

Encountering success with two different types of tire compounds on select short tracks last season, NASCAR brought the option tires back for Phoenix to add strategy into the mix. For the Cup underdogs, some feasted on them while others suffered famine.

When the dust settled and NASCAR concluded its visit to the Valley of the Sun, Zane Smith rose to a ninth-place finish, offsetting other frustrating results to begin 2025.

The Front Row Motorsports driver put together one of his better flag to flag runs on the young season. After starting 26th, Smith quickly worked his way into the top 20, where he wrapped up stage one in 20th. In stage two, Smith got as high as 12th when strategies throughout the field collided, eventually finishing the second frame in 18th.

Smith quietly remained in the top 20 during the final stage, and he was one of the only drivers to be on the primary tires in the closing laps of the race. Despite this, Smith held strong throughout a string of yellow flags over the final 40 laps. A final restart could have unleashed the chaotic Phoenix finishes that lead to woes for drivers, but the 25-year-old held his ground to score his first top 10 of the season.

With the finish, Smith joined his teammates to ensure that all three FRM cars have grabbed a top-10 finish in the first four races of the 2025 campaign, a solid accomplishment for the up-and-coming team.

The Huntington Beach, Calif., native blew his previous career-high finish at Phoenix out of the water (or, the desert in this case), as his previous best Cup showing at the one-mile track was 29th.

After a horrendous start to his rookie season a year ago at Spire Motorsports, checking a top 10 off the list this early is important for Smith to get the wheels rolling in his return to FRM. Maintaining that momentum will be important in the weeks to come.

Notable Underdog Runs

The first half of the race was shaping up to be a sleepy day for the underdogs, with most of them running outside the top 10 as strategies unfolded. However, several of them closed out strong, featuring John Hunter Nemechek‘s surge to a top 15 in 14th.

Nemechek faced a setback early when he was hit with a speeding penalty early on in stage two. The Legacy Motor Club driver eventually fell one lap down, yet it set up one of the most electric battles of the race when he, teammate Erik Jones, and Ty Gibbs engaged in a heated battle for the free pass at the end of stage two. The battle came down to Nemechek and Jones in a photo finish of their own, with Jones being declared the recipient of the free pass.

The 27-year-old eventually waved around to the lead lap on lap 222. After cracking the top 20 down the stretch, Nemechek pitted for a final time with roughly 20 laps remaining to put used option tires on. That proved to be the right move, as the No. 42 got up to 14th when the checkered flag flew. It’s Nemechek’s third top 15 of the season to go along with a pair of top 10s in the first four races.

Ty Dillon was another beneficiary of late-race strategy, propelling him to 16th. Dillon earned the lucky dog with just under 100 laps to go, then took the option tires on the pit stop while most of the field stuck to the primaries. Like the Road Runner in Looney Tunes, Dillon rocketed through the field, jumping into the top five for several laps.

Unfortunately, the fun didn’t last, as Dillon was hit with a speeding penalty late in the race while looking poised to score a top 10. The Welcome, N.C., native rebounded to just miss out on the top 15, logging his second top 20 of the season.

Another pair of underdogs rounded out the top 20, with Todd Gilliland coming home 17th and Jones completing the day in 18th. While Gilliland had a polished, discreet race, Jones saw plenty of ups and downs.

Jones started the race in fifth, his second top five starting spot of the season after recording just one top 10 start last season. However, he too was busted with a speeding penalty at the same time as his teammate Nemechek. From there, he had a wide array of moments, from earning the free pass after stage two to getting back into the top five on the option tires in the final stage. Unsuccessful strategy and insufficient cautions left Jones frustrated by the end, but he still scored his second top 20 of the year.

As some underdogs left the desert replenished, others fell victim to the desert heat prematurely. A lap 99 crash on the backstretch wiped out several underdog contenders, including a couple of fast cars.

On a restart, Gibbs was on the bottom of a four-wide spread exiting turn 2 when he squeezed Justin Haley and Chase Briscoe. The accordion effect pinned Carson Hocevar, who started third, into the wall, unleashing a series of violent impacts. Haley (34th), Hocevar (36th), and Shane van Gisbergen (31st) had their days destroyed by the crash, while Noah Gragson was left severely hampered by the accident, finishing nine laps down in 26th.

Another intriguing storyline involved Katherine Legge, a veteran driver across multiple racing disciplines who made her Cup debut with Live Fast Motorsports, becoming the first female driver to start in NASCAR’s premier division since Danica Patrick in 2018. However, she received anything but a warm welcome to Cup competition, spinning twice, including a race-ending crash on lap 216. Legge finished 30th.

Stat to Chew On

As mentioned above, Smith completed the trifecta for FRM drivers to score a top 10 in 2025. Since its inception in 2005, it is the fewest number of races that all of the organization’s drivers have scored a top 10 to begin the season. That further proves that this is a team set on higher goals as the year progresses.

Underdog Power Rankings

1. Hocevar (–): Despite having his race cut short, it’s hard to move Hocevar from the top spot. He displayed a lot of speed throughout the weekend, and he returns to Las Vegas Motor Speedway next weekend, where he finished 15th a year ago.

2. Gilliland (–): Gilliland also didn’t have a top notch race, but he stayed out of trouble and brought home a solid top 20. In FRM’s flagship No. 34, the goal should be to move from top 20s to top 15s, and eventually, top 10s. That might be tough at Las Vegas, where Gilliland has never finished in the top 20.

3. Nemechek (NR): Nemechek quickly re-emerges into this week’s rankings after scoring his third top 15 of the season. For reference, he had six top 15s in total last year. That could continue in Vegas, where he finished ninth last fall.

4. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (–): Stenhouse had an uneventful, subpar day at Phoenix en route to a 21st-place finish. Over the next two races, however, Stenhouse encounters his bread and butter: intermediate tracks where drivers can run the high line. Sitting 14th in points, it will be important for Stenhouse to reclaim momentum at those tracks.

5. Smith (NR): Welcome to the underdog power rankings, Mr. Smith. A top 10 and second top-11 finish in three races lays a good foundation for the FRM driver to build on going forward. His notebook at Las Vegas is rather thin, making his first two starts at the 1.5-mile track last season, which produced finishes of 36th and 16th.

Honorable mentions: Michael McDowell, Gragson, van Gisbergen.

Small Team Scheme of the Week

https://twitter.com/SpireMotorsport/status/1898827610026889539

While it only lasted 99 laps, Hocevar flaunted a red-hot scheme, with Miner returning to Spire Motorsports for the 2025 season. The intersecting red, silver, and black graphics combined for a mean look under the desert sun.

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.