INDIANAPOLIS — Boot Barn is back with Zane Smith and the No. 38 Ford F-150 team this weekend at the Indianapolis Raceway Park (IRP) in Brownsburg, Indiana.

The famed short track will begin the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series playoffs. Smith and the team are the second seed heading into the seven-race playoff run. Smith is at the moment, only eight points out of the lead.

It will be a one-day show for the No. 38 Boot Barn Ford team. Track activity will begin on Friday with practice and qualifying at 3:30 p.m. ET. Friday’s 200 lap race is scheduled for 9:00 p.m. ET.

Beginning their quest as a back-to-back series champion, Smith and the No. 38 Boot Barn team will need to advance through two rounds of elimination and be one of the top four in points heading to the season finale in Phoenix.

“We’ve had an up-and-down season where we’ve had to fight through some adversity,” Smith said. “That has only made us better as we begin this playoff run. I think we’re still bringing fast trucks and executing well. We just need to keep doing that.”

The team starts in a good position and heads to a short track where they have been strong this season. Smith and the team won the pole at Bristol (dirt) and Martinsville and finished third at both Martinsville at Richmond. They were also very fast at North Wilkesboro before an accident.

“I think everyone on our team likes short track racing,” said crew chief, Chris Lawson. “It’s a lot of fun for our series. And Zane has proven himself on these tracks. It’s a good track for us to start this playoff run.”

Smith is the No. 2 seed and has advanced to the final round in all three of his years in the Truck Series as well. He ended up with 8 top 5 finishes this regular season. He had 9 at this point a year ago.

The only difference? Smith has 3 wins in 2022 and 2 so far this year. It’s also in top 10’s. Smith had 13 in 2022 with far more consistency. He has 8 right now.

The defending series champion has three top three finishes in his last four races on the season too. Prior to this though, he also finished 22nd, 32nd 23rd and 20th respectively. In fact, after winning 2 of the first 4 races and having 3 top 2’s in that span, over his next eight starts he finished 14th or worse in 6 of them. So, for him to have this stretch entering the postseason is making him hot again.

The No. 2 seed has made the Championship 4 in 2 of the last 3 years.

Smith has one previous start at IRP in the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series, finishing third.