NASCAR: 5 possible landing spots for Zane Smith in 2024
By Asher Fair
Zane Smith 2024 NASCAR landing spots: No. 3 – JR Motorsports
This possibility also means that Zane Smith would need to make the move back to Chevrolet from Ford, but again, that alone shouldn’t stop it from happening.
Even before he became a full-time NASCAR Truck Series driver in 2020, Smith competed part-time for JR Motorsports throughout the 2019 Xfinity Series season.
Despite his only NASCAR experience heading into the season being a single Truck Series start in 2018, he did quite well in his limited time behind the wheel of the No. 8 Chevrolet, recording seven top nine finishes, including two top five efforts, in 10 starts.
With Josh Berry set to leave JR Motorsports to join Stewart-Haas Racing as the retiring Kevin Harvick’s replacement in the Cup Series, Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s team know that they have to find a new driver for the No. 8 Chevrolet next year. Why not put Smith back in the car he drove 10 times in 2019?
It’s not a full-time Cup Series ride, but it’s pretty much the next best thing. JR Motorsports are consistently one of the top teams in the Xfinity Series, and a successful season or two here could make him one of the top prospects in Chevrolet’s young talent pipeline. Given how many Chevrolet teams exist in the Cup Series, this move could be quite appealing from a long-term point of view.