Getty Zane Smith waits on the starting grid at World Wide Technology Raceway.
The NASCAR Xfinity Series returns to action at Nashville Superspeedway on Saturday, June 24. There will be several guest drivers taking part in the race, headlined by a reigning champion.
Zane Smith, the defending Truck Series champion, will make his return to the Xfinity Series for the first time since the 2021 season when he made one start for Kaulig Racing.
Smith will drive for RSS Racing while taking over the No. 28 Ford Mustang, and he will pull double duty while also making his third career Truck Series start at the 1.33-mile track.
The entry list also includes some other big names — AJ Allmendinger in the No. 10 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet Camaro, Carson Hocevar in the No. 77 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro, and Ty Gibbs in the No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota GR Supra.
Smith Has 11 Career Xfinity Series Starts
GettyZane Smith prepares for a race at North Wilkesboro Speedway.
The California native has spent the past three seasons competing full-time in the Craftsman Truck Series while winning the championship once and finishing runner-up twice.
Smith is currently in the midst of his fourth season, and he is back in the playoffs after adding another two wins to his career total. He captured the season-opener at Daytona International Speedway before winning for the second time at Circuit of the Americas.
While Smith has focused on the Truck Series, he has made starts across the other two national series. This includes 10 Xfinity Series starts in 2019 with JR Motorsports and one in 2021 with Kaulig Racing.
Smith’s lone start in 2021 ended early due to a crash, but he delivered several strong runs for JR Motorsports in 2019. He finished top 10 in seven of his starts and fifth in two of them. Smith also led his first career laps at Chicagoland Speedway.
Another Guest Driver Achieved Success for RSS Racing
GettyZane Smith has some Xfinity Series experience.
Smith will make his return to the Xfinity Series at Nashville Superspeedway, and he will make his debut for RSS Racing. He will do so two weeks after another guest driver delivered a standout performance.
The last time the Xfinity Series competed was at Sonoma Raceway on June 10. Stewart-Haas Racing’s Aric Almirola joined RSS Racing for the event, and he drove the No. 28 Ford Mustang.
The story early was Kyle Larson. The Hendrick Motorsports driver started from the pole, and he led 53 laps while sweeping the first two stages. However, pit strategy put Almirola ahead of Larson on the final restart.
The 2021 Cup Series champion was in a position to take the lead late. He put himself within reach of Almirola and the No. 28, but he hit the tires in Turn 11. This yanked the wheel out of his hands and sent the No. 17 toward the outside wall.
Almirola took advantage of Larson’s mistake, and he pulled away while AJ Allmendinger moved into second place. Almirola went on to win the first race in RSS Racing’s history after leading 17 laps while Allmendinger crossed the finish line second. Larson recovered and finished third while dealing with a damaged Chevrolet Camaro.