Zane Smith's wife McCall celebrates No. 38 racer's 'first top 10 of the year' at the Shriners Children's 500

Zane Smith scored his first top-10 result of the 2025 NCS season in the Shriners Children's 500 at Phoenix Raceway. Smith's wife, McCall, took to social media to celebrate this achievement. She posted a picture of the 25-year-old standing in front of his #38 Aaron's Rent To Own Ford on her Instagram story with a message for the team to keep it up.

Smith started in 26th and finished 20th in stage one, then hovered around mid-field to come home 18th in stage two. As the final stage progressed, he made his way through the second half of the top 20, particularly on restarts. The timing of the late race cautions meant Zane Smith was able to re-rack each time, and he stayed in his position after he passed multiple cars. His wife posted the celebratory message on her Instagram story that read:

"First top 10 of the year! keep it rollin' team 38."

Screengrab of Zane Smith's wife's Instagram Story (@mccallkelli via Instagram)

This top-10 result comes for Smith at a time when he is finally getting some much needed stability back in his career. In 2024, he had several decent finishes including two top-5 results and four top-10 results with Spire Motorsports, but never quite had the peace of mind of a guaranteed ride in the future.

However, Smith is now back with Front Row Motorsports, a team he has had success with in the past in the Truck Series, including his championship in 2022. Speaking after the race, Smith shared (via Frontstretch):

"Except qualifying, it was a good weekend for us, man. We just had a strong car in practice. I liked it straight from the get-go, and then, in the race, really liked it… Just appreciate everyone at FRM and everyone involved…"

He also emphasized just how much fun he had racing at Phoenix.

“Not only is it a confidence booster but, man, it’s been a while since I’ve had fun [behind the wheel] again, and today I had a ton of fun. I’m a big believer [that] when you’re having fun, you’re gonna run good, so hopefully we keep that going,” he added.

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Zane Smith talks of the redemption at Phoenix Raceway

Zane Smith had a horrible end to his 2024 NASCAR Cup Series season with Spire Motorsports. He crashed out late in the Championship race at Phoenix on lap 251 after he suffered a problem with his brake pedal. So for him, a top-10 finish in his next time racing at Phoenix is almost a redemption.

"Last time I was here, it ended pretty bad with the brake failure and hitting the wall down in [turns] 1 and 2 and not knowing what was next for next year. So to have this is some good redemption," Smith shared (0:43 onwards).

He also attributed the softer compound 'Option Tire' from Goodyear for giving him the performance he needed to complete the overtaking maneuvers he made in the final stage. NASCAR had announced ahead of the start of the season that they would be testing the option tires in Phoenix, and FRM made the most out of it on Sunday.

"I feel like [the tire] just created a lot more passing. I’m a big fan of the soft tire. I feel like it’s everything we all kind of want. Yeah, I mean, it’s cool to have options to create passing, and it was fun as well," he added.

Zane Smith will be back for the Pennzoil 400 on Sunday, March 16, in Las Vegas where the race is scheduled to start at 3:30 pm ET.