NASCAR on TV this week
NASCAR Cup Series Darlington- #23: Bubba Wallace, 23XI Racing, Columbia Sportswear Company Toyota Camry, #77: Carson Hocevar, Spire Motorsports, Zeigler Auto Group Chevrolet, #38: Zane Smith, Front Row Motorsports, Long John Silver's Ford Mustang
(Photo: Nigel Kinrade Photography)

The Underdog House: Zane Smith Proves to Be Tough as Nails in Darlington

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Top Dog: Zane Smith

In sports today, we often hear the term “championship mettle.”

That pedigree often separates the sheep from the goats, where the cream rises to the top.

In NASCAR, no other track sets apart the men from the boys than Darlington Raceway, a southern gem that challenges the grit, determination, and stamina of stock car racing’s finest.

The 2025 Goodyear 400 on Sunday (April 6) mostly featured the distinct cast of the NASCAR Cup Series’ best, but Darlington almost always opens the door to cast light on underrated drivers at what is truly a driver’s track.

After 297 laps, four laps extra onto the initial amount, Zane Smith proved that he belonged with the lead pack, finishing in 12th. However, that result doesn’t tell the whole story.

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Famous NASCAR Alumni Speak Out on Throwback Weekend

Through 400 miles, Smith was a fixture in the top 10 or 15, mixing it up with tested veterans such as Brad Keselowski and Kyle Busch.

With Long John Silver’s classic pirate on the hood for Throwback Weekend, Smith was full sail from his 16th-starting spot. He quickly climbed to eighth before completing stage one in ninth, grabbing two stage points.

Smith nearly walked the plank in stage two, avoiding disaster when Keselowski’s right rear lug nut came loose, causing him to nearly drift into Smith’s door.

While the upside was that Smith missed the incident, the downside was that it thwarted his pit cycle, as a caution for the lug nut a few laps later led to a 23rd-place stage two finish.

Smith was all eyes forward in the final stage, methodically working his way through traffic before a final caution with four laps remaining allowed him to take fresh tires one last time. That ultimately set him up to come just short of a top 10 with the 12th-place showing. However, as another old phrase goes, the field knew he was there.

The result was easily Smith’s best finish at The Lady in Black, and it further ratifies that he is a sleeper to sneak into the playoffs if things fall his way. In his first full-time Cup season for Front Row Motorsports, the Huntington Beach, Calif. native has been the top finishing driver from the organization in four of the past five races.

Notable Underdog Runs

FRM saw all three of its cars finish in the top 20 for the first time this season, with Todd Gilliland backing up his top 10 at Martinsville Speedway with a 14th-place finish.

Honoring legendary engine builder and team owner Ray Fox, Gilliland’s scheme also honored four generations of the Fox family’s participation in NASCAR, carried on by his son, Ray Fox II, who is the car chief for Ryan Blaney, as well as Justin Fox, the rear tire changer on Gilliland’s No. 34.

Gilliland carried the Fox name well, driving into the top 10 in stage one before settling into 14th at the stage break.

Like Smith, Gilliland was also set back by the debris caution in stage two, falling back to 25th. He too, however, blazed a trail forward, fighting back into the top 15 for his fourth top 15 in eight races.

Gilliland has also proven his value at NASCAR’s most difficult track, as his 14th-place performance is his fifth top 15 in seven starts at Darlington.

Noah Gragson finished off the top 20 trifecta for FRM in 19th, piloting a throwback to Dale Earnhardt Jr.‘s first car in the NASCAR Xfinity Series.

Gragson had a roller coaster race, handing The Lady in Black a couple of stripes to add to her collection, while also getting hit with a rare penalty for not entering pit road single file at one point. That hindered him from getting back to the top 15, where he ran earlier in the race with clear speed under the hood. Ultimately, his result of 19th was his third top 20 of the season.

Kaulig Racing also placed both of its drivers in the top 20, with Ty Dillon leading the way in 16th. The lap 139 caution was a big break for Dillon, representing Patty Moise‘s 1989 scheme. With the field shuffling in the midst of green flag stops, Dillon was able to restart in eighth, holding steady in that spot to grab two stage points in stage two.

Dillon ran inside the top 15 for much of the final stage before cycling outside the top 20 after his final stop. The Welcome, N.C. native ultimately worked his way to 16th, scoring his second best finish at the South Carolina track.

Two spots back of him was his Kaulig teammate, AJ Allmendinger, who crossed the start/finish line in 18th after running in the top 10 in portions during the race. A long green flag run to end the opening stage spotlighted Allmendinger’s experience, as he worked his way past cars with worn tires to finish the opening frame in 10th.

Keselowski’s debris caution negatively impacted Allmendinger more than his underdog peers, as he never quite worked his way back through the field, struggling with tire wear of his own on the final extended stretch. Despite taking the overtime restart on fresh tires, he could only advance to 18th, albeit giving Kaulig its first pair of top 20s at Darlington.

Any time NASCAR hits Darlington, Erik Jones usually doesn’t leave without being mentioned. One of only three, active multi-time tamers of “The Track Too Tough to Tame,” Jones didn’t came up with a win, but he put a respectable result of 17th.

Sporting the familiar colors of Petty blue and day-glow orange, Jones threw it back to former Cup winner John Andretti to raise awareness for colon cancer, a disease that took Andretti’s life in 2020. In return, Jones made the Andretti family proud.

The Byron, Mich. native piloted the illustrious No. 43 in the top 10 for several laps in the final stage, getting up to eighth at one point. Unfortunately, adjustments in the middle of the stage went south, causing Jones to slip to 19th before grinding it out to finish 17th.

Underdog Power Rankings

1. Michael McDowell (–): An issue that nearly turned him around on the last lap relegated McDowell to 29th, but it wasn’t enough to unseat him from the top spot. The Spire Motorsports driver should have a great chance to rebound at Bristol Motor Speedway, where he has finished 14th or better in seven of the last eight events there.

2. Allmendinger (+1): The No. 16 team has to leave Darlington feeling like their plate is half-full, but it was his third top 20 in the past four races. Bristol could be hit or miss for the veteran, where he has just two top 10s in 25 starts.

3. Gilliland (+1): With back-to-back top 15s, Gilliland is clawing his way back to the top of these rankings while also showing flashes of the same consistency he displayed last spring. That momentum could land him in the top spot at Bristol, where he has two top 20s in four starts.

4. Smith (+1): Smith and Gilliland could be interchangeable, especially with Smith recording the most races as FRM’s highest finisher to this point. His first two starts at Bristol yielded results of 36th and 16th, but recent history shows those could be eclipsed shortly.

5. Carson Hocevar (-3): We tried to hold Hocevar in the top two as much as we could, but the speed continues to be overshadowed by misfortune. Whether it’s by other driver’s issues or his own mistakes, things have been rocky for the sophomore driver since an impressive run at Atlanta Motor Speedway. His best finish in Thunder Valley last year was 18th, but he did net an 11th-place finish in his Bristol Motor Speedway debut in 2023.

See also
NASCAR Standings After Darlington

Small Team Scheme of the Week

Taking best in show as far as this column is concerned is Jones’ throwback to Andretti’s 1998 STP scheme. With the iconic colors synonymous with the Petty family, Jones’ scheme was well executed and brought awareness to a great cause, as Legacy Motor Club partnered with Advent Health to Check It 4 Andretti.

As a bonus, the NASCAR Xfinity Series did not disappoint in the throwback department, and several underdog teams might need to raise the pay of its designers. Here are some of my favorites.

Kyle Sieg‘s No. 28 throwback to Ricky Rudd

Brennan Poole‘s No. 44 throwback to Jeff Gordon

Leland Honeyman Jr.‘s No. 70 throwback to Jeff Green

Entering his fifth year with Frontstretch, Luken Glover is the author of The Underdog House, shedding light on the motivation and performance of NASCAR's dark horse teams as they strive to fight to the top. Additionally, Glover reports for the site at various events, and he contributes in the video editing department.

A 2023 graduate of the University of the Cumberlands, Glover is a middle school math and PE teacher, as well as a basketball coach. He is passionate about serving in his church, playing/coaching a wide variety of sports, and researching motorsports history.