Zane Smith had been there before. Multiple times. The talented California driver had made the Championship 4 in each of the last three years. However, the first two ended with a runner-up finish in the final standings and both times he stood in the Phoenix parking lot afterwards wondering, “what’s next?”

“I’ve stood in the parking lot at Phoenix Raceway for the past three years not knowing what I’m going to be doing the next year,” Smith said.

This year, should Smith make it back, he no longer has to wonder what next will be. On Saturday, hours before the start of the Cup Series’ Round of 16 elimination race at the Bristol (Tenn) Motor Speedway, Smith was named as a driver for a third Spire car in 2024 but doing so on loan from Trackhouse Racing.

That’s right, Smith is a Trackhouse driver. They signed him and with Spire buying the charter from Live Fast, they’ll house Smith in that car until Trackhouse can bring him over.

“This is an incredible moment for me,” said Smith. “Trackhouse is one of the most progressive organizations in the garage. I told some friends a year ago that I wanted to be a part of what Trackhouse is doing and I just can’t believe this is all coming true. I am very excited and thankful to have a future with the organization.”

In 2021, Smith left Phoenix with no plans. No future. He made upwards of 120 phone calls but each one reached a voicemail and no call back. Then came Todd Gilliland moving up to the NASCAR Cup Series. His No. 38 Ford with Front Row Racing was available. Smith, who didn’t leave a voicemail for FRM because he didn’t think they had an availability got a life changing phone call from an unlikely spot.

Front Row Motorsports.

“Front Row was not one of the places that I called. I didn’t even think there was an opportunity,” he quipped.

“I had a ride pretty much set up, and I was excited about it, but it was literally about 30 minutes later after, yeah, after these 120 phone calls probably in the past couple days. I had gotten a call from Front Row Motorsports that they wanted me to run their truck. That really caught my eye because I knew the people that were on the truck, and the people are what makes these things go fast.

“I just recognized their work ethic and how bad they wanted it, and I wanted it really bad, also, especially for my past couple years of losing this.”

In Race 1 together in February 2022, they won Daytona. In race 23? They won Phoenix and took home the 2022 championship in the process. In the middle came a long-term extension to keep him in his ride full time in 2023, a Ford ride in the Xfinity Series and a Cup opportunity including the Daytona 500.

That moment. These memories. They’re something that Smith had always dreamt about and now, it was becoming a reality.

“Since I was a little kid, this is what our goal was, was man, maybe one day if everything is right, we’ll be able to go chase wins in the Truck Series, or I don’t even know if that was realistic then, any top 3 series in NASCAR, and many, many times it seemed so — this ain’t happening.

“We just never gave up, and they probably believed in me more than I believed in myself a lot of times.

“I’m just really happy I proved them right.”

Proved them right he did. Unfortunately, he was back in that position again this year. Without a place to go within the Ford camp, he became a free agent in search of something else. Trackhouse saw what he could do and felt like he was a No. 1 draft pick type of driver.

“Expansion is not something to be taken lightly, but we feel Trackhouse is commercially and technically positioned for growth,” said Trackhouse founder and owner Justin Marks. “You need good timing, very good partners and great drivers. Adding Zane is like signing the No. 1 draft pick and we are proud that he is now a member of the Trackhouse family.”