Battles From Rear to Front
Zane Smith and the No. 38 Boot Barn Ford F-150 began their playoff battle with a trip to the Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park (IRP) in Brownsburg, Indiana on Friday night.
After a solid qualifying effort (eighth), Smith was moved to the rear for unapproved adjustments after the team found a flat right-rear tire post qualifying.
Smith and the No. 38 Boot Barn team got to work early, showing off their speed and making their way inside the top-10 at the end of Stage 1. The team was seventh at the end of Stage 2 with Smith needing more grip to race for the win. In the end, the Boot Barn team had enough speed to finish fifth.
Zane Smith, Driver No. 38 Boot Barn Ford F-150:
"We came to our truck right before the race and had a flat right-rear before we even got going. We knew we were going to have to fight through some adversity before we even got going, but I'm proud of our night. Our pit crew did an awesome job on our Boot Barn Ford. We experienced positive changes and worse changes throughout the night, but I was happy there somewhat during that final run. Just wish we would have fired off a little better to maintain our track position. I wish we wouldn’t have fallen off so hard there at the very end. It’s the long pursuit of never being perfect. We’ll work on it. It was still a solid run of keeping our short track streak of good finishes alive."
The team next races Sunday, August 27 at the Milwaukee Mile. The race is scheduled for 4:00 p.m. ET on FS1.