Zane Smith “mad” at himself over Watkins Glen run despite surging to top-5 finish

Spire Motorsports driver and Cup Series rookie, Zane Smith, said that he was made at himself for getting his team a speeding penalty during Sunday's Cup Series race at "The Glen". However, he was appreciative of how fast the No. 71 Chevrolet was throughout the race.

Zane Smith started the race 19th and worked his way up as the race continued. Following a battle with Front Row Motorsports driver Michael McDowell during the overtime restart, Smith clinched his second top-5 finish in his Cup Series career. McDowell finished 7th.

Smith said that he felt he could have earned a few more spots had he not made the mistake of speeding down the pit road on lap 37. Reflecting on the same during a post-race interview with Frontstretch's Phil Allaway, the 25-year-old Californian said:

"Just mad at myself for my mistake in the middle of the race. But fortunately, the car was good enough to get back through there. Just kind of got roughened up there in the end. I feel like it could have cost us a couple more sports but all in all, a really good car. Just wish we almost had another restart added to try to get a couple more (spots)."

Nevertheless, Zane Smith's wife McCall Gaulding congratulated him in a recent tweet saying:

"P5!!! Great weekend for Zane and his 71 team. Overcame a speeding penalty, didn’t give up and drove up through the field. So proud."

Zane Smith will part ways with Spire Motorsports in 2025. McDowell, a former Daytona 500 winner, will replace Smith. As of today, Smith is 33rd in Cup Series standings with 378 points to his name. On the other hand, McDowell is 23rd with 513 points.

Zane Smith aids Spire Motorsports in historic achievement

Sunday's race turned out to be a historic achievement for Spire Motorsports. Never before had the North Carolina-based outfit placed all of their cars inside the top-10 in a Cup Series race. It was also the first time the organization had more than one car inside the top 5.

Zane Smith was one of the two Spire Motorsports drivers that pulled off a top-5 performance. Carson Hocevar, who drives the No. 77 machine and is also a Cup Series rookie, finished third. Renowned journalist Joseph Srigley spoke about the same in one of his recent posts on X.

"For the first time in the organization's history, @SpireMotorsport places multiple entries inside the top five--@CarsonHocevar P3 and @ZaneSmith P5," Srigley said.

"With @CoreyLaJoie in P8, the organization also places three entries in the top-10 for the first time," he added.

The three-car team made its NASCAR Cup Series debut back in the 2019 Daytona 500. Per the NASCAR Cup Series owner's standings, Carson Hocevar's car sits 21st, Corey LaJoie's car sits 29th and Smith's car sits 33rd. All three drivers will now prepare for next week's race at Bristol Motor Speedway.