Zane Smith came within a heartbeat of winning the Daytona 500. Now he’s already thinking about next year.
Running second behind Chase Elliott, Smith’s plan was straightforward: push the No. 9 car clear of the field, isolate Elliott out front, and then make his move. For a moment, it looked like it might work.
Zane Smith Targets Daytona Glory After Final-Lap Denial
But Elliott had other ideas. When Smith backed off to build momentum for a run at the No. 9, Elliott was ready for it.
What Smith didn’t account for was how close Riley Herbst was to Tyler Reddick. By the time he did, it was too late. Reddick had too much of a head of steam, and Smith was too tight through Turns 3 and 4 to stay connected to Elliott and keep the push alive.
The door cracked open, Reddick charged through, and in the chaos of a last-corner pileup, Smith’s shot at NASCAR history slipped away. He settled for P6. Not the result he wanted. But not a bad day either.
Smith and Elliott aren’t teammates, but that didn’t stop the No. 38 driver from throwing everything behind the No. 9 on that final lap. He shoved Elliott forward. Elliott nearly won because of it.
And then, in the blink of an eye, the race turned completely upside down.
Speaking on a Ford Racing media call after the race, Smith was candid about what went wrong on the final lap, and what nearly went very right.
No hard feelings from Smith, at least none that he let on. He said he’s proud of what his team accomplished and that the run at Daytona has him fired up for the rest of the speedway races on this season’s schedule.
But make no mistake — he’s keeping score.
“I’m gonna be really hungry for a Daytona 500 next year,” Smith said.
That’s the thing about getting that close. For Smith, the 2025 Daytona 500 is unfinished business. His No. 38 Front Row Motorsports team actually leaves Daytona sitting fourth in the early championship standings, buoyed by a stage win and a strong overall run.
And under NASCAR’s restored Chase for the Championship format, set to kick off in September, that matters more than it has in years.
The old win-and-you’re-in playoff system made a strong points day at Daytona mostly meaningless for a team like Front Row, which typically needs a victory to punch its ticket to the postseason. But the revived Chase format changes the math entirely. The top 16 in the regular season standings at the end of the first 26 races all qualify, and they’ll be seeded by where they finish.
That means Smith’s Daytona result is more than a moral victory and has real postseason value
