NASCAR: Zane Smith Explains Why He Hit Tire Changer With His Truck
Zane Smith’s NASCAR Truck Series race at Talladega Superspeedway took a turn for the worse on lap 20.
That’s when he skidded into the pit lane stalls and slammed into his tire changer, Charles Plank.
Plank was thrown onto the deck of the truck, but bounced off and landed on his feet, then continued to help complete the pit stop.
Playoff driver Smith’s truck was damaged, however, and ended up in the garage for most of the race. He ultimately finished in 32nd position, 44 laps behind the leaders.
During the live broadcast, the Fox Sports commentators though he came into pit lane to hot and couldn’t stop in time, but there was more to it than that.
“I’m not sure if we had a clutch issue, or what, but I checked my brake pedal getting to the line and had plenty of brakes and then went to go in it again and it just traveled a bunch and engaged and, once I engaged the clutch, it just spun around,” Smith told Fox Sports reporter Bob Pockrass after the race. “Then after that the clutch was just burnt out.”
“I was just in a slide and couldn’t do anything about it,” Smith said about the moment he struck Plank.
“My heart just sunk, I felt terrible. Those guys have been incredible.”
Smith heads into the final round of eight race at Homestead-Miami Speedway on October 21 in a must-win situation in eighth place.
Regardless of the outcome, he’ll be heading to the Cup Series next year driving for Spire Motorsports through a contract with Trackhouse Racing.
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