Zane Smith literally burned it down after his Circuit of The Americas win.
NASCAR Truck Series driver Zane Smith put on a show Saturday at Circuit of The Americas after winning his second consecutive Truck race at the Austin road course. And it was a fiery one, literally.
The reigning Truck champion won the 42-lap race on the 3.426-mile circuit, holding off two-time Cup Series champ Kyle Busch, who finished second.
Afterward, Smith celebrated his victory in a very conventional NASCAR way with a stellar burnout. But he may have taken the “burn it down” celebration a little too seriously because by the time he climbed out of his No. 38 Ford truck, his left rear and right rear wheels were engulfed in some pretty intense flames.
Now, it’s unclear if the flames were from his fierce burnout, from a burnout done wrong, something mechanical and entirely unrelated or, as the FOX Sports broadcast speculated, from the mud flaps behind the tire.
But since he safely made it out of the car, the appearance of him literally burning it down is hilarious.
Ben Rhodes was having himself A NIGHT after winning the NASCAR Truck Series championship.
AVONDALE, Ariz. — NASCAR driver Ben Rhodes was having himself A NIGHT on Friday at Phoenix Raceway after he finished third in the NASCAR Truck Series finale and won his first championship. And while plenty of it was from the excitement of his championship run, some of it was also likely because of what he referred to as his good friend Bud.”
“Bud” meaning Bud Light, and Rhodes said he had “four real fast” before his post-race press conference. And then he brought a can of it to the media appearance, and, after a few minutes and some amazing moments, the can was eventually taken away by a public relations rep and replaced with a bottle of water.
That particular moment happened at the 4:55 mark in this video.
“The Bud is amazing tonight,” Rhodes said before it was taken away.
“I’m a lightweight,” he added. “I’m definitely a lightweight. I had a decent amount of champagne in the champagne shower because I love champagne. That’s the taste of victory.”
Rhodes opened his media appearance by predicting it would be the “weirdest press conference ever,” and it’s definitely up there. But he had some really spectacular and hilarious quotes, which included imitating engine sounds, the phrase “McLovin it,” briefly singing Welcome To The Jungle and realizing he was talking very, very fast at times.
It’s worth watching the whole thing if you have the time, but if not, here are some of Rhodes’ highlights.
“I was pissed. Piiiissed. And let me say something. I got the mic so I can say it anyways. So I was pissed. And here’s how this went down. I said, ‘Zane Smith, this is checkers or wreckers. I’m gonna blow the motor trying to catch you. [Imitates car sounds.]”
I have never heard a description of how someone won a championship quite like this. Engine noises. “I was pissed.” “It ain’t happening mama jamma” and “Championship’s cool.” pic.twitter.com/hrLwrxEV5E
Was Ben Rhodes patient? He describes the final laps (and he 𝑚𝑎𝑦 have had some liquid refreshment prior to coming to the media center). pic.twitter.com/Q3fP3srF1e
“I was driving to the saturation point — that’s engineer speak. Now, I didn’t know that. I’m from Kentucky. Not everybody has teeth. Wait a minute. That’s not a good [representation] of Kentucky. Everybody has teeth in Kentucky! We drink fluoride in our water.”
And, of course, when his beverages were swapped out.
NASCAR driver Bill Lester is returning to the track for the first time in 14 years and spoke about the sport’s changing culture.
Bill Lester hasn’t raced in NASCAR in 14 years, and by his own admission, he “really had no itch to scratch” when it came to getting back behind the wheel.
But between working to promote his book, Winning In Reverse: Defying the Odds and Achieving Dreams, and having sponsor support, everything aligned perfectly for a comeback — no matter how brief.
For 60-year-old Lester, Saturday’s NASCAR Truck Series Fr8Auctions 200 at Atlanta Motor Speedway is a one-off race for now, because he said he doesn’t know how he’ll feel when the green flag flies.
“I’m no spring chicken,” Lester joked this week during a virtual press conference. For his 143rd NASCAR Truck Series race and first since 2007, he’ll drive the the No. 17 David Gilliland Racing Ford. He has seven top-10 finishes and three poles in the third-tier series and his first of two Cup Series races was at Atlanta in 2006.
“I need to find out how I feel behind the wheel,” he continued. “Do I still love it like I remember I loved it? Or is it something it’s like, ‘OK, I did it. It was cool. But I have no more burning desire, [and] the flame is extinguished’? I don’t know, and I am just as excited and encouraged to find out.”
Bill Lester at Atlanta Motor Speedway in 2006. (AP Photo/John Amis)
And he’ll have to adjust to plenty of other unknowns, like working with a new crew chief and spotter, and hitting the track without a minute of practice or qualifying, which is the result of COVID-19 restrictions.
“Sometimes I think, ‘I must be crazy,'” Lester said. “But by the same token, I still love racing. I still have a passion for it. If I didn’t have a passion for it, I wouldn’t be doing this. I don’t have anything to prove to anybody, except myself.”
What Lester does know, however, is that he’s returning to a NASCAR that looks quite a bit different than the last time he was on the track.
Among only a handful of Black drivers to race at the premier Cup level, Lester has been vocal in the past about the boos and hateful receptions he received at the track racing in NASCAR’s three national series from 1999 to 2007. In 2017, he said he felt like he “was not really embraced” by the NASCAR community when he previously competed. Tuesday, he spoke about how motor sports are often inaccessible to people of color, in part, because “it wasn’t an inviting environment.”
He recalled how, as a child, he’d tune in for a NASCAR race and “see a sea of white folks and Confederate flags,” which “was a huge turnoff” for him. He said as a racer when he arrived at tracks like Martinsville Speedway, there were “many times where my pace was quickened” as he tried to get from his hauler to the garage as fast as possible. He said he’s had to call out people for using the N-word “on a number of occasions.”
Bill Lester competed in trucks in the mid-2000s & will race a truck Saturday at Atlanta. Lester, whose two 2006 Cup starts made him the only Black driver in Cup between Willy T. Ribbs in 1986 and Bubba Wallace in 2017, said he was floored when NASCAR banned the Confederate flag. pic.twitter.com/FoT42vHQcl
“Bubba was really fortunate to be able to take advantage of the platform that he had being at the top level of the sport to be able to say, ‘You know what, NASCAR? You talk about being America’s sport, well, prove it. Ban the Confederate flag. See if you really want to put your money where your mouth is.’ And NASCAR, to their credit, did.
“I was floored. I was blown away. I was so moved that I sent an email to [NASCAR president] Steve Phelps and said, ‘Thank you. I really appreciate what you did. That was a huge statement.’ Because when I was racing on a more consistent basis in the mid-2000s, ears were not ready to hear it. There was no platform that I had to be able to say the things that Bubba did and let them gain traction. They sunk in this time.”
Lester said he said he believes the landscape of the predominantly white male sport is changing to be more vocally inclusive and welcoming while addressing racism and inequality within NASCAR. He also noted that culture changes are not instantaneous, but he said he’s “optimistic” about NASCAR’s work to diversify the garage and the grandstands alike.
And a win from Wallace — the only Black driver currently in the Cup Series who’s behind the wheel of the No. 23 23XI Racing Toyota — could expedite some of those efforts.
“For young, Black youth or youth of color, they have to see more athletes that look like them in this sport, right?” Lester said. “They need to see more Bubba Wallaces or Bubba Wallace having more success. It’s going to come. I believe, honestly, that it’s going to come with that program. But you know, folks are expecting way too much too soon. It’s not going to happen overnight. …
“But as soon as somebody like Bubba starts winning and more folks from the Black community start seeing that and realizing that’s something that they can do — because they see that, they have that exposure — then that’ll be something they start trying to do.”
The NASCAR Truck Series is back with its second race since the break, you can live stream the race right here.
NASCAR’s Gander Outdoors Truck Series is back with its second race of the season since they’ve returned to racing. On Saturday, the Vet Tix Camping World 200 will be held at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
NASCAR has not been holding qualifying runs and will continue to keep that going through the Talladega races ending June 21st. The NASCAR Truck Series is using a similar process of random draws connected to the point standings. You can check out how the draws are compiled below.
Positions 1-10: Random draw of teams in those positions in owner points
Positions 11-21: Random draw of teams in those positions in owner points
Positions 22-32: Random draw of teams in those positions in owner points
Camping World 200 Starting Lineup
1. Christian Eckes
2. Tyler Ankrum
3. Brett Moffitt
4. Austin Hill
5. Grant Enfinger
6. Kyle Busch
7. Zane Smith
8. Ben Rhodes
9. Sheldon Creed
10. Johnny Sauter
11. Derek Kraus
12. Todd Gilliland
13. Chase Elliott
14. Matt Crafton
15. Jordan Anderson
16. Cody Rohrbaugh
17. Stewart Friesen
18. Ty Majeski
19. Raphael Lessard
20. Ryan Truex
21. Tanner Gray
22. Tate Fogleman
23. Timmy Hill
24. Cory Roper
25. Brennan Poole
26. Jeb Burton
27. Ross Chastain
28. Austin Wayne Self
29. John Hunter Nemechek
30. Angela Ruch
31. Spencer Boyd
32. Gray Gaulding
33. Korbin Forrister
34. Spencer Davis
35. Jesse Little
36. T.J. Bell
37. Bryan Dauzat
38. Jennifer Jo Cobb
39. Bayley Currey
40. Clay Greenfield
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Kevin Harvick offered a bounty on Kyle Busch, and NASCAR drivers are chasing after it.
Welcome to FTW’s NASCAR Feud of the Week, where we provide a detailed breakdown of the latest absurd, funny and sometimes legitimate controversies and issues within the racing world. This is not a serious feud at all, but it is one of the more fun and entertaining things to happen in NASCAR.
After Busch won NASCAR’s third-tier Truck Series race last weekend at his home track, Las Vegas Motor Speedway — he also extended his win streak in the series to seven races dating back to the 2018 season — Harvick offered $50,000 to any full-time driver in the premier series who can beat Busch in the Truck Series. And then Marcus Lemonis — the CEO of Gander Outdoors, which is the Truck Series title sponsor — matched it.
Because of Busch’s experience, the reigning Cup Series champ is limited to just five Truck Series races. So anyone who wants to try to beat Busch has four remaining chances to do so: Atlanta Motor Speedway on March 14, Homestead-Miami Speedway on March 20, Texas Motor Speedway on March 27 and Kansas Speedway on May 30.
So far, Chase Elliott and Kyle Larson are in.
The two young and talented Cup Series drivers tweeted Thursday that they’re each running one of the truck races on Busch’s schedule. Elliott will compete at Atlanta, while Larson will race at Homestead.
Denny Hamlin and Austin Dillon are among the other drivers who have expressed an interest in running one of these Truck Series races, but neither has announced a ride yet. Hamlin implied he has the money, but he can’t find a ride and is looking to his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate, Busch, to give him a hand.
Shoutout to ProSport Management. They managed to secure sponsorship for 3 drivers in this challenge.. Great feat in today’s world. https://t.co/w7HcETpJna
For his part, Harvick is pretty pumped too. He also previously clarified that a full-time Cup driver has to beat Busch fairly and can’t wreck him to win.
In a release from GMS Racing, both drivers explained they’re competing at one of their favorite tracks, making this bounty even more enticing. Via GMS Racing:
“When I heard about the $100,000 bounty I wanted in!” said Larson. “I’m thankful for GMS and Chevy giving me this opportunity, Homestead is one of my favorite tracks so looking for to the challenge!”
If no full-time driver beats Busch in the Truck Series this season, Harvick and Lemonis agreed to donate the money to Kyle and Samantha Busch’s Bundle of Joy Fund, which helps couples cover costs associated with infertility.
I was and it is a huge compliment form KH. But I don’t think the “all in good fairness” comment form Kevin came til after I said press comments. All in good fun… I’m good w it! 🏁 https://t.co/4BGj2q7ElI
Close… everyone was pissed KYLE BUSCH was dominating truck series, now everyone is excited that OTHER cup drivers r running truck series. (Thanks to KH and ML) https://t.co/Y1jnS6PR3tpic.twitter.com/mkda8YcTSh
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — The first race of the 2020 season among NASCAR’s three national series did not disappoint. The Truck Series season opened with Grant Enfinger winning the NextEra Energy 250 with a thrilling photo-finish race. He beat out second-place finisher Jordan Anderson by just .010 seconds.
Beyond the crazy finish, the race was wild and filled with the type of crashes expected at Daytona International Speedway. But in those wrecks, there was a lot of fire and one truck ended upside down after it slid across the track.
Ty Majeski in the No. 45 Chevrolet was in the wrong place at the wrong time as trucks around him began to wreck just 15 laps into the 106-lap race. (It went into overtime after the scheduled 100 laps.) And when the No. 22 Chevrolet of Austin Wayne Self slammed into Majeski, his truck flipped upside down and slid across the track as a plethora of sparks flew off of it before eventually coming to a stop.
Amazingly, Majeski was OK, but he was stuck in his flipped truck for a few moments, waiting for safety officials to help him out. He told FOX Sports after being cleared by the infield care center:
“Nothing like I’ve ever experienced before. Just unfortunate for our night to get ended that early. … It’s obviously not a good feeling. I’m not hurt, thankfully. Just my pride so it’s all good. We’ll live to race another day.”
The No. 02 Chevrolet of Tate Fogleman caught fire after being hit by Brennan Poole in the No. 30 Toyota. He, too, was OK, even after being rear-ended while his truck was still ablaze.
Fogleman told FOX Sports’ Bob Pockrass that because he’s caught fire before so he was “kind of used to it.” And he knew how to stay calm, which typically helps the situation rather than panicking.
Still, what a scary situation.
Tate Fogleman said he remained calm as fire started to engulf his truck at Daytona pic.twitter.com/qMvW5y2CLO
