{"id":36789,"date":"2021-10-30T15:15:50","date_gmt":"2021-10-30T20:15:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/?p=36789"},"modified":"2021-11-08T19:19:09","modified_gmt":"2021-11-09T01:19:09","slug":"zane-smith-vaults-into-championship-4-race-with-martinsville-victory","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/2021\/10\/30\/zane-smith-vaults-into-championship-4-race-with-martinsville-victory\/","title":{"rendered":"Zane Smith vaults into Championship 4 race with Martinsville victory"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>

Zane Smith, driver of the #21 MRC Construction Chevrolet, celebrates in the Ruoff Mortgage victory lane after winning the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series United Rentals 200 at Martinsville Speedway on October 30, 2021 in Martinsville, Virginia. (Photo by Logan Riely\/Getty Images)<\/p><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service<\/em><\/p>\n

MARTINSVILLE, Va. \u2013 On a track strewn with spinning trucks and broken hearts, Zane Smith catapulted into the Championship 4 with a thrilling overtime victory in Saturday\u2019s United Rentals 200 at Martinsville Speedway.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Zane Smith, driver of the #21 MRC Construction Chevrolet, takes the checkered flag to win the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series United Rentals 200 at Martinsville Speedway on October 30, 2021 in Martinsville, Virginia. (Photo by Brian Lawdermilk\/Getty Images)<\/p><\/div>\n

In a no-holds-barred race that featured 14 cautions for 89 laps, Smith won under yellow after he, Stewart Friesen and Todd Gilliland raced three-wide\u2014yes, three-wide at Martinsville\u2014off Turn 4 on the first lap of overtime.<\/p>\n

Contact from Friesen\u2019s Toyota sent Gilliland\u2019s Ford spinning across the start\/finish line to start the final lap. As Friesen moved down the track to contest the lead with Smith, contact between the two trucks spun Friesen\u2019s Silverado into the Turn 1 wall.<\/p>\n

With the track blocked by spinning trucks behind Smith, NASCAR called the final caution, and Smith took the checkered flag under yellow.<\/p>\n

Smith\u2019s victory\u2014his first at Martinsville, his first of the season and the third of his career\u2014was heartbreak for his GMS Racing teammate, Sheldon Creed, the reigning series champion. Late in the race, Creed slapped the outside wall in an incident involving Matt Crafton and Grant Enfinger, finished ninth and failed to make the Championship 4 by four points.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Zane Smith, driver of the #21 MRC Construction Chevrolet, celebrates with the checkered flag after winning the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series United Rentals 200 at Martinsville Speedway on October 30, 2021 in Martinsville, Virginia. (Photo by Brian Lawdermilk\/Getty Images)<\/p><\/div>\n

Smith hasn\u2019t been told whether he\u2019ll return to GMS Racing next year, a point he made when he climbed from his No. 21 Chevrolet.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m looking for a job right now,\u201d Smith said. \u201cI have nothing, so it\u2019s a good day. <\/p>\n

Smith added a promise for next Friday\u2019s championship race at Phoenix.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ll do whatever it takes to win the damn thing,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Regular Season Champion John Hunter Nemechek survived a hard wreck on lap 130 after Austin Wayne Self hooked him on the backstretch and turned the No. 4 Toyota hard into the outside wall. Nemechek and Crafton made the final four by four points, joining Smith and Ben Rhodes in next Friday\u2019s championship race.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

John H. Nemechek, driver of the #4 Pye-Barker Fire & Safety Toyota,leads the field during the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series United Rentals 200 at Martinsville Speedway on October 30, 2021 in Martinsville, Virginia. (Photo by Brian Lawdermilk\/Getty Images)<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cHe shouldn\u2019t be out here if he\u2019s just going to hook someone in the right rear and turn them in the fence,\u201d said Nemechek, who had bumped Self\u2019s Chevrolet in Turn 1 moments before the wreck.<\/p>\n

\u201cNASCAR should definitely look at that. It\u2019s Playoff contention. You\u2019ve got to have respect and he doesn\u2019t. It is what it is. Hopefully we make it to the final four and we definitely will have something for them in Phoenix\u2026<\/p>\n

\u201cMy motto coming into this was \u2018survive and advance.\u2019 We didn\u2019t survive, but we advanced.\u201d<\/p>\n

Knocked out of the Playoffs with Creed were Friesen, who finished 17th and Sunoco rookies Chandler Smith and Carson Hocevar.<\/p>\n

\u201cOn one of the last restarts, he just drove into the 98 (Enfinger), his own teammate, and I ended up getting swept into the fence because of it,\u201d Creed said. \u201cWent back to 23rd and drove back up and finished ninth, I guess. It\u2019s just frustrating.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Todd Gilliland, driver of the #38 Speedco Ford, drives during the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series United Rentals 200 at Martinsville Speedway on October 30, 2021 in Martinsville, Virginia. (Photo by Brian Lawdermilk\/Getty Images)<\/p><\/div>\n

In an earlier incident on Lap 185, Enfinger had turned Crafton in Turn 4, but Crafton escaped damaged with a deft move after a 360-degree spin and salvaged a fifth-place finish.<\/p>\n

Gilliland led a race-high 133 of 204 laps but couldn\u2019t survive the final restart when Smith used his bumper to get beneath Gilliland\u2019s Ford in the first corner.<\/p>\n

In the wild finish, Austin Hill was credited with second, followed by Tanner Gray, Chandler Smith and Crafton.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Interviews:<\/h3>\n

NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Post-Race: Championship 4 drivers John Hunter Nemechek (No. 4 Kyle Busch Motorsports Toyota), Matt Crafton (No. 88 ThorSport Racing Toyota), Ben Rhodes (No. 99 ThorSport Racing Toyota) and Championship 4 driver and race winner Zane Smith (No. 21 GMS Racing Chevrolet)<\/p>\nhttp:\/\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/MEDIACENTER1MAR230OCT2021TSaudio.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n

 <\/p>\n

NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Race – 23rd Annual United Rentals 200<\/b><\/p>\n

Martinsville Speedway<\/b><\/p>\n

Martinsville, Virginia<\/b><\/p>\n

Saturday, October 30, 2021<\/b><\/p>\n

               1. (9)  Zane Smith (P), Chevrolet, 204.<\/p>\n

               2. (10)  Austin Hill, Toyota, 204.<\/p>\n

               3. (27)  Tanner Gray, Ford, 204.<\/p>\n

               4. (6)  Chandler Smith (P), Toyota, 204.<\/p>\n

               5. (5)  Matt Crafton (P), Toyota, 204.<\/p>\n

               6. (30)  Parker Kligerman, Toyota, 204.<\/p>\n

               7. (3)  Ben Rhodes (P), Toyota, 204.<\/p>\n

               8. (39)  Taylor Gray, Ford, 204.<\/p>\n

               9. (4)  Sheldon Creed (P), Chevrolet, 204.<\/p>\n

               10. (24)  Timmy Hill, Chevrolet, 204.<\/p>\n

               11. (28)  Corey Heim, Toyota, 204.<\/p>\n

               12. (8)  Carson Hocevar # (P), Chevrolet, 204.<\/p>\n

               13. (26)  Kris Wright #, Chevrolet, 204.<\/p>\n

               14. (14)  Danny Bohn, Toyota, 204.<\/p>\n

               15. (18)  Spencer Boyd, Chevrolet, 204.<\/p>\n

               16. (37)  Chris Hacker, Chevrolet, 204.<\/p>\n

               17. (7)  Stewart Friesen (P), Toyota, 204.<\/p>\n

               18. (12)  Tate Fogleman, Chevrolet, 204.<\/p>\n

               19. (23)  Hailie Deegan #, Ford, 204.<\/p>\n

               20. (21)  Austin Wayne Self, Chevrolet, 204.<\/p>\n

               21. (15)  Grant Enfinger, Toyota, 204.<\/p>\n

               22. (20)  Bret Holmes, Chevrolet, 204.<\/p>\n

               23. (33)  Dawson Cram, Chevrolet, 204.<\/p>\n

               24. (17)  Derek Kraus, Toyota, 204.<\/p>\n

               25. (2)  Todd Gilliland, Ford, 203.<\/p>\n

               26. (19)  Tyler Ankrum, Chevrolet, 203.<\/p>\n

               27. (34)  Jack Wood, Chevrolet, 203.<\/p>\n

               28. (25)  Josh Berry(i), Chevrolet, 203.<\/p>\n

               29. (36)  Spencer Davis, Toyota, 202.<\/p>\n

               30. (38)  Jesse Iwuji, Toyota, 202.<\/p>\n

               31. (22)  Johnny Sauter, Toyota, 201.<\/p>\n

               32. (31)  Sage Karam(i), Chevrolet, 200.<\/p>\n

               33. (11)  Ryan Truex, Chevrolet, 198.<\/p>\n

               34. (35)  Josh Reaume, Toyota, 198.<\/p>\n

               35. (40)  Roger Reuse, Ford, 193.<\/p>\n

               36. (32)  Jennifer Jo Cobb, Ford, 190.<\/p>\n

               37. (16)  Cory Roper, Ford, 188.<\/p>\n

               38. (29)  Colby Howard(i), Chevrolet, 174.<\/p>\n

               39. (1)  John Hunter Nemechek (P), Toyota, Accident, 129.<\/p>\n

               40. (13)  Chase Purdy #, Chevrolet, Rear Gear, 33.<\/p>\n

Average Speed of Race Winner:  56.402 mph.<\/p>\n

Time of Race:  1 Hrs, 54 Mins, 9 Secs. Margin of Victory:  Under Caution Seconds.<\/p>\n

Caution Flags:  14 for 89 laps.<\/p>\n

Lead Changes:  10 among 4 drivers.<\/p>\n

Lap Leaders:   T. Gilliland 1-71;J. Nemechek (P) 72-73;T. Gilliland 74-105;Z. Smith (P) 106-109;C. Hocevar # (P) 110-111;Z. Smith (P) 112-122;C. Hocevar # (P) 123-124;Z. Smith (P) 125-173;T. Gilliland 174-203;Z. Smith (P) 204.<\/p>\n

Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Lead, Laps Led):  Todd Gilliland 3 times for 133 laps; Zane Smith (P) 4 times for 65 laps; Carson Hocevar # (P) 2 times for 4 laps; John Hunter Nemechek (P) 1 time for 2 laps.<\/p>\n

Stage #1 Top Ten: 38,2,4,99,88,21,52,13,42,16<\/p>\n

Stage #2 Top Ten: 38,4,2,13,88,99,17,21,42,52<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

  By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service MARTINSVILLE, Va. \u2013 On a track strewn with spinning trucks and broken hearts, Zane Smith catapulted into the Championship 4 with a thrilling overtime victory in Saturday\u2019s United Rentals 200 at Martinsville Speedway. In a no-holds-barred race that featured 14 cautions for 89 laps, Smith won under yellow […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":676,"featured_media":36793,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[11],"tags":[407,16,160,268,783],"class_list":["post-36789","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nascar","tag-martinsville-speedway","tag-nascar","tag-nascar-camping-world-truck-series","tag-ncwts","tag-zane-smith"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/GettyImages-1350268785-scaled-e1636420540703.jpg?fit=640%2C427","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7hzTZ-9zn","jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36789","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/676"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=36789"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36789\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":36799,"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36789\/revisions\/36799"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/36793"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=36789"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=36789"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=36789"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}