Zane Smith has started the 2026 NASCAR Cup Series season on the right foot. After three races, the driver of the No. 38 has scored two top-10 finishes and is currently 14th in the points standings.
Unfortunately for the former CRAFTSMAN Truck Series champion, he’ll have some adversity to overcome on Sunday at Phoenix.
The 26-year-old will start the 312-lap event from the rear of the field and will be forced to serve a pass-through penalty. This comes after NASCAR handed down a penalty to the No. 38 team for unapproved adjustments on Saturday.
Zane Smith’s team made unapproved adjustments to the car’s underbody
The news broke via an X post from NASCAR Communications. In the post, it was revealed that an unapproved adjustment to the car’s underbody sparked the decision to penalize Smith.
“The No. 38 in the NASCAR Cup Series was observed making an unapproved adjustment to the underbody during practice/pre-qualifying adjustments. The vehicle was reinspected prior to practice/qualifying session,” the post read.
Furthermore, Smith’s car chief, Will Norris, was ejected from the Phoenix race. Smith will not only start from the tail of the field, but will have to undergo a drive-through penalty at the beginning of Sunday’s race.
Smith originally qualified 24th in Saturday’s single-car qualifying session. Now, he will start 37th, and will almost certainly go a lap down at the start of Sunday’s race due to the pass-through penalty.
While Phoenix might be a tall task, Smith has shown up in the early races of the 2026 season. He kicked off the campaign with a sixth-place finish in the Daytona 500 and, at one point, was running in second on the final lap.
Smith backed it up with a seventh-place finish at EchoPark Speedway and found himself fifth in the points standings.
Although he qualified fourth at Circuit of The Americas, Smith posted a 33rd-place finish and dropped nine spots in the standings to 14th.
Zane Smith is still seeking first Cup win in his third season
After a plethora of success in the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series, Zane Smith took his career to the next level in 2024.
Paired with Spire Motorsports, Smith became the driver of the No. 71 Chevrolet in the Cup Series. One year later, Smith joined Front Row Motorsports, the team he won the 2022 truck title with, to drive the No. 38 Ford.
Since then, Smith has found moderate success at the Cup level. Amid his third full-time season, the California native has posted three top-five finishes and 11 top-10 finishes. Smith has 12 top-1o finishes total, with his first coming on a part-time basis in 2023.
Smith’s best career finish came at Nashville Superspeedway in 2024 when he ran runner-up to Joey Logano. He’s posted two top-10 finishes this season with a best finish of sixth in the Daytona 500.
Prior to the Cup Series, Smith won nine races and a championship in the CRAFTSMAN Truck Series. In 2022, Smith posted four wins, 14 top-five finishes, and 19 top-10 finishes on his way to the championship.
Smith is 14th in the points standings after three races in the 2026 Cup Series season. He is still seeking his first career Cup win after 84 starts.
NASCAR Penalizes Zane Smith Ahead of Phoenix Cup Race