Zane Smith secured the 2022 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series championship, after taking the win in overtime in the Lucas Oil 150 at Phoenix Raceway.
Smith used four fresh tires to steal the lead away from defending series champion Ben Rhodes coming to the white flag.
“I’m gonna win this. There was no other option. I was either backing it in the fence wrecking, or I was leaving tonight with a championship trophy,” Smith said. “There were no other options and when I saw the 18 get underneath me I was worried that I got him too loose underneath me.
“Fortunately, he stayed off of me. I have a lot of respect for all three of them. It’s pretty impressive for some of the racing we’ve seen lately for us three to go at it that hard and that clean.”
It was a dominating performance for Smith, who led a race-high 77 laps and scoring both stage wins.
Piloting the No. 38 Ford for Front Row Motorsports, Smith gave Ford their first driver’s championship since Greg Biffle in 2000.
The championship looked to sway in a different direction, however, when a caution with 17 laps to go foiled Smith’s cruise to victory.
A handful of drivers, including Championship Four contender Rhodes took two tires to gain track position.
Stewart Friesen and Carson Hocevar elected to stay out, with the two drivers leading the field to the green flag with 10 laps to go.
With Smith taking four tires, he’d restart outside the top-10 in 11th.
As Smith methodically worked through the field, it was Rhodes who took the lead with seven laps to go.
The Championship Four of Rhodes, Smith, Ty Majeski and Chandler Smith made quick work of the front two on old tires, allowing them to duke it out for the title.
With Rhodes still leading, Majeski would get loose underneath Smith coming out of turn three, prompting the caution flag and an overtime restart.
On the final restart of the night, Zane Smith used a three-wide move to take the lead, and the victory.
Rhodes got to Smith’s bumper in the final corner and crossed the finish line less than a truck-length behind. Chandler Smith was third, .259 seconds back of the winner.
“I don’t know, two tires versus four, that was the name of the game,” Rhodes said. “We didn’t have the pace all night that we needed to be up there and repeat so it was a great heads-up call by my crew chief (Rich Lushes). Ultimately, we just didn’t need that last caution. I think we could have held them off for the final few laps. I was giving him (Zane Smith) all the dirty air he could handle. I think we were going to be fine until that caution got us.
“On that last restart, I tried to get a jump, but two tires versus four, I just didn’t have the grip I needed. I did the best I could and threw a move on him but didn’t have enough grip to make it stick… We just need to go back and do our homework, and second is not fun. I’m going to mope my way back to Kentucky (his home state).”
The victory was Smith’s fourth of the season, and it was a clean sweep. Smith earned the pole position in Friday’s time trials and won both stages before claiming the victory and the series title.