By Cole Cusumano

By now the sporting world knows of the bounty-filled action that took place in the NASCAR Gander RV and Outdoors Truck Series race at Charlotte Motor Speedway. We all saw Chase Elliott conquer the challenge Kevin Harvick put in place to take down Kyle Busch a mere five days after coming out on the wrong end of a bad judgement call made by ‘The Candyman.’

While you were likely pre-occupied by the intense battle unfolding between the NASCAR Cup Series heavy-weights, chances are you were exposed to the exhilarating ride by GMS Racing’s, Zane Smith.

You know, the 20-year-old who finished third behind Elliott and Busch? The same one who led 15 laps, including the last handful before the eventual race winner took over? He’s also currently tied for second in the standings. Regardless, chances are you’ve come across Smith’s name, and if you haven’t familiarized yourself with this budding talent, maybe it’s time you should.

“I was so determined to get third,” Smith said after being the highest finishing Truck Series regular. “I was holding off Brett (Moffitt) as much as I could. Whenever I had a run, I was sure to use it and I was sure to race the 51 a lot harder than the 24. It was a really fun night, because they’ll race you really hard yet clean. I was doing everything I could to help my teammate out and I just want to make a name for myself.”

Making a name for himself is exactly what he’s been doing. While you may have only noticed Smith’s talents in 2020, he’s been tearing it up for almost a decade — and the results are staggering throughout the California-native’s young racing career.

Smith started out racing BMX, before working his way up to go-karts (where he won five consecutive championships), and then graduated to Super Late Models. It was at age 16 in the CARS Super Late Model Series where things really began to heat up. In his first full-time season, Smith won two events, secured two top-fives and nine top-10s through 10 races. 

This excludes his runner-up finish in the Snowball Derby that same year in which he finished ahead of guys like William Byron, Christopher Bell and Noah Gragson — only to be bested by none other than Elliott. If that’s not enough, it was at 15-years-old when Smith said he “knew he could beat (Kyle) Busch.”

From here, Smith made the transition to NASCAR-sanctioned stock car racing at a limited capacity in the ARCA Menards Series. He didn’t secure his first full-time bid until 2018, where he ended up losing the championship to his future teammate, Sheldon Creed.

Since then, the 20-year-old has been maximizing his opportunities with limited seat time and doing it well. Throughout 55 combined races in NASCAR’s lower divisions (NASCAR K&N Pro Series West and East, ARCA, Trucks Series and NASCAR Xfinity Series), Smith has finished inside of the top-10 over 70% of the time, as well as in the top-five 47% in that span. This includes last season where he ran 10 races for the first time in the Xfinity Series for JR Motorsports and placed 10th or better seven times.

“Everything that I’ve really done, it’s kind of been just pieced together and I’m so fortunate to even be able to be out there,” Smith told POPULAR SPEED. “That’s been the hardest thing for me; trying to race full-time, get the funding together, being able to prove myself in the right equipment. That’s the name of the game pretty much – it’s if all we hope for is to have a good ride and to be able to chase a championship. I don’t know how I got it, but somehow I’m going to have that chance this year.”

Although a fairly moderate sample size of Smith’s potential, you can kind of get the sense that this could be the beginning of something special for the sport.

Following Smith’s impressive performance in the North Carolina Education Lottery 200, he even captured the attention of legends such as Mark Martin, Dale Earnhardt Jr., and fellow California kid, Jeff Gordon, who came forward with high praise for the 20-year-old. The bottom line is, this is a name you should not be forgetting anytime soon.

Gordon, Harvick, Jimmie Johnson. All products of California who’ve since gone on to be some of the most impactful ambassadors in NASCAR. Could Smith be the next driver from the Sunshine State to make his mark on the sport? We’ll have to wait and see, but don’t be surprised if the Huntington Beach-native is the next big superstar.