TALLADEGA, Ala. – Front Row Motorsports showcased their dominance at Talladega Superspeedway, as 24-year-old Zane Smith scored his first pole position in the NASCAR Cup Series. This achievement marks the third consecutive pole for his team at the historic track, setting the stage for an exciting race.
Smith, who claimed the 2022 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series championship, will lead the pack in Sunday’s Jack Link’s 500 at 3 p.m. ET, broadcasted on FOX, MRN, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio. He will be joined on the front row by two-time series champion Kyle Busch, who achieved his best start since securing a pole at Dover Motor Speedway last spring. Smith’s winning lap was clocked at an impressive 182.174 mph in his No. 38 Front Row Motorsports Ford, edging out Busch by a narrow margin of just .132 seconds on the challenging 2.66-mile circuit.
“Obviously a lot of speed,” Smith remarked after his performance. He was the fastest in the opening round of time trials and managed to improve in the final round. “Just really proud of how our whole team has been working together before our one-week break last week. I feel like that one-week break was perfect not to reset but to digest and think about what we need to rebuild on.”
He expressed his optimism for the long race ahead, noting, “We’re off to a good start for this next long stretch. Proud of the speed and everything we’ve been doing. Just need to execute a little bit better, but a ton of speed this weekend. Long race tomorrow and a lot of things are going to happen and go on, but obviously we have the speed to do it. We’ll see how it goes.”
The final round saw seven Fords alongside a pair of Chevrolets and a lone Toyota, affirming the competitive makeup of the grid. Joey Logano, the reigning series champion from Team Penske, along with Roush Fenway Keselowski’s Ryan Preece, will start from row two. Other notable qualifiers include Austin Dillon from Richard Childress Racing, Chris Buescher from RFK, and notable Penske drivers Ryan Blaney and Austin Cindric.
Additionally, defending race winner Tyler Reddick will begin the race from the 26th spot in the 23XI Racing No. 45 Toyota, while championship points leader William Byron from Hendrick Motorsports will start further back in 16th place on the 39-car grid.
This remarkable achievement for Zane Smith not only highlights his potential as a rising star in NASCAR but also raises expectations for the upcoming race at Talladega. Fans and teams alike will be watching closely to see how he capitalizes on this momentum during the event.
