“I wanted to make it to the end”: Defending Truck Series champion Zane Smith on his maiden outing for RSS Racing in Xfinity Series

Reigning NASCAR Truck Series Zane Smith made his first Xfinity start of the season, at Nashville Superspeedway. Smith drove the #28 Ford for RSS Racing on his return to the series since his last start in Dover, in 2021.

Smith qualified 23rd for the Tennessee Lottery 250 Xfinity race on Saturday. He gradually made his way through the field, running inside the top 10 in the latter stages of the race. In a wreck-strewn end to the race, the #28 Ford driver managed a seventh-place finish.

With a top 10 finish in the bag, the Truck Series regular revealed that, heading into the race, he just hoped to see the checkered flag. However, as with any racing driver, Smith admitted that a better result was possible with the Ford Mustang's pace.

Reviewing his race, Zane Smith said in an interview with Frontstretch:

"I wanted to make it to the end, [but] unfortunately just bummed out because felt like we should have been third there. I was third for a while..., just didn't work out, maybe next time."

Smith in action in the Tennessee Lottery 250

Zane Smith was the fourth driver to take the wheel of the #28 Ford for RSS Racing this year. Prior to Smith's outing Kyle Sieg, Alex Labbe, and Cup Series driver Aric Almirola had driven the car.

Almirola scored the first victory for RSS Racing in Xfinity Series, driving the #28 Ford down the victory lane in Sonoma Raceway. Smith followed it up with the second-best result for the #28 team this season and also the only one inside the top 10.

The Tennessee Lottery 250 in Nashville marked Smith's 11 Xfinity start. He has seven top 10s and two fifth-place finishes as his best result.

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Zane Smith falls short of victory in Rackley Roofing 200 Truck race

Zane Smith was second to take the checkered flag for the Rackley Roofing 200 Truck Series race on Friday, behind race winner Carson Hocevar. Taking the lead with 40 laps left in the race, Hocevar held off any threat from his competition, including a late-race restart with three laps remaining.

The Neice Motorsports driver emerged victorious with Smith and Nick Sanchez finishing behind in a closely contested final battle. Hocevar earned his second career victory, after scoring his first win in Texas this season.

The #38 Front Row Motorsports driver bagged a top-three result putting an end to his four-race streak of finishing outside the top 20. He currently occupies second place in the drivers' standings trailing leader Corey Heim by 16 points.

The Huntington, California native has two wins this season and has already qualified for the playoffs.