“So proud of you”: Zane Smith’s wife reacts after Trackhouse Racing driver missed out on first NASCAR Cup win

After Zane Smith finished in second place in the Ally 400 race at Nashville Superspeedway, his wife posted a touching message celebrating his performance. She expressed her immense pride in her husband and praised his spirit, calling him 'a definition of never giving up.'

Throughout the first half of the 2024 season, Zane Smith and his #71 Spire Motorsports team faced some challenges, with their best finish being a P13 place at the Daytona 500 in February. Since then, Smith had managed to place in the top 20 only three times—at the Circuit of the Americas, Gateway, and Sonoma Raceway.

Despite entering the Nashville race at the bottom of the points table among full-time drivers, Zane Smith had shown potential earlier in the Daytona 500, his best performance up to that point in 2024. But Nashville presented a new opportunity. Amid a race filled with five overtime restarts, numerous wrecks, and several cars running low on fuel, Smith found himself in a top spot to make a move.

Racing for Trackhouse, representing Spire Motorsport, Smith lined up third for what would be the last restart. Over those final 31 laps, which extended beyond the scheduled race distance due to the overtimes, Smith made a surge. Starting from P22 at the first overtime restart, he navigated through wrecks on all sides to secure a runner-up finish—marking his first top-five at the NASCAR Cup level.

When Joey Logano made a move to block Tyler Reddick's surge, Zane Smith saw his chance and closed the gap. Despite this, Logano managed to stretch his fuel to the end, crossing the finish line just 0.068 seconds ahead of Smith, who secured a career-best second-place finish.

Celebrating her husband's incredible effort, Smith’s wife posted on X (formerly known as Twitter), along with a picture of the two of them,

".068 from a Cup series win. All you can ask for is a shot at it and he fought like hell for it! So proud of you Zane! 💙 the definition of never give up."

Despite the high praise and achievement, Zane Smith himself felt less than elated with the outcome.

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Zane Smith wasn't happy with his P2 finish

During the final laps of the race, Joey Logano managed to stretch his fuel after pitting earlier at lap 220, while Zane Smith, who pitted at lap 244, couldn't hide his frustration. In the post-race interview, Smith shared his mixed feelings, saying:

“I mean, obviously so happy with the result. But when you hear for like 10 laps that ‘he [Logano] is supposed to run out, he is supposed to run out’, and then you see him shaking the car across the line and you just finished second, that hurts. But just appreciate everyone at Spire Motorsports.”

Smith also mentioned that he was uncertain about his own fuel situation and whether he’d make it to the checkered flag.

Currently, the Spire Motorsports driver is ranked 34th, having achieved one top-5 and one top-10 finish in the 19 races he has started this season. Looking ahead, Zane Smith is ready to compete next at the Grant Park 165 in the Chicago Street race on July 7.