Zane Smith pulls back the curtain on his crystal clear “aggressive” message to Spire after mid-season sacking

Zane Smith shed light on the “aggressive” message he sent to Spire Motorsports after learning about his NASCAR future. The Cup Series rookie, loaned by Trackhouse Racing, embarked on a full-time campaign with Spire this past season but couldn’t outduel Shane van Gisbergen, losing the seat to the New Zealander.

The former Spire driver was sacked mid-season, leaving his NASCAR future hanging by the thread. Moreover, with Stewart-Haas Racing’s announcement of exiting the sport after this past season, the driver market was flooded with four more drivers - Chase Briscoe, Josh Berry, Noah Grayson, and Ryan Preece -further jeopardizing Smith’s odds of locking a seat.

While Smith suffered from getting versed with the NextGen cars, his Trackhouse teammate Van Gisbergen was rather well off. Not only did the New Zealander claim a Cup Series win in his debut attempt at the 2023 Chicago Street Race but proved his mettle during his rookie Xfinity campaign in 2023, salvaging three wins.

On the contrary, Smith’s #71 Chevy wrapped the driver’s rookie season in 30th place, with no triumphs. Thus, Trackhouse owner Justin Marks deemed SVG a better fit for his outfit than Zane Smith.

But amid his return to Front Row Motorsports, Smith has outlined the “aggressive” message he sent to Spire upon learning about his future. He said, via Sportsnaut:

“I said, please let’s be as aggressive as we can be. I’d rather be leading short on fuel, on old tires, take whatever chance we can to make stuff happen,” Smith said about the message he communicated before the Nashville race on June 30.

Smith's words apparently worked wonders as he entered the Nashville race from 36th but surged to a career-best finish of P2.

“So then, that gives us confidence. We get a better qualifying draw for the next week so I qualified better. With that comes a better pit stall. That gives us a better shot at staying on the lead lap by the end of Stage 1. Everyone is so close that one good finish like that just gives you the chance to stagger good results if you execute the next week,” he added.

It’s worth mentioning that Zane Smith reunited with the team he won the 2022 Truck Series championship with.

A glimpse into how Zane Smith performed in his rookie NASCAR Cup Series season

After posting two consecutive runner-up finishes in the 2020 and 2021 Truck seasons and acing the 2022 championship, Zane Smith became a hot prospect for the Premier Level, skipping the full-time Xfinity Series for a big career jump.

The former #71 Chevrolet driver exhibited lackluster performance during the first half of the season, instigating Marks to make the big call. However, the second half of NASCAR's 76th Cup Series season witnessed a surge in Smith’s performance.

Until Smith emerged second in Nashville, he succumbed to several near-P30 finishes. Nonetheless, that changed following the Ally 400 race, as the Californian significantly improved his performance, recording multiple top-20 finishes, a P5 at Watkins Glen International, and a P7 at the Michigan International Speedway.

However, Zane Smith’s inability to showcase dominance sooner probably played a key role in Shane van Gisbergen securing his future with Trackhouse Racing.