It was recently revealed that Zane Smith will be driving for Spire Motorsports and Trackhouse Racing in the NASCAR Cup series, donning the no.71 car which completes Spire’s lineup for 2024 alongside Carson Hocevar and Corey LaJoie. The 2022 NASCAR Truck Series champion has garnered extensive experience through his heroics over the past few years and is hopeful that his long-term commitment to the Trackhouse-Spire project will treat him kindly.

Smith even revealed that his vision of the Cup Series always had the Trackhouse project etched in the dream. Justin Marks is confident that the personnel surrounding Smith will do a fine job. However, Dale Earnhardt Jr could rain on Smith and Marks’ parade after the man who pulls no punches warned that the path in front of Zane Smith isn’t as ‘butterflies and rainbows’ as the young star takes it to be. There are questions being raised on whether Marks can provide Smith with the right crew.

Zane Smith has a rocky road ahead of him, according to Dale Earnhardt Jr

Speaking on the Dale Jr Download podcast, Earnhardt Jr shared his thoughts on Hocevar and Lajoie, needing to give it their all against each other in a car that Junior fears could fail the eager youngsters. The JRM boss felt that a team put together through an effort by Trackhouse wouldn’t get the same treatment as Spire’s own two runners in the sense that they wouldn’t get top-tier personnel. But he felt it was Zane Smith on the short end of the stick and even expressed his reservations about the youngster.

Junior issued a friendly warning to Smith to prepare for the worst, “I don’t know that Zane’s gonna have these bright spots. I think you’ll have to stare intently at his Cup year that’s coming up to be able to really understand if he’s having good moments, if there is, ‘Where is the potential?’, all those things.” It looks like Smith’s seventh-place finish this season along with his confidence that Trackhouse were giving him the perfect opportunity hasn’t been enough to convince Earnhardt Jr.

However, it isn’t Smith himself who worries Junior as much as his prospects in the third car of a team, which clearly puts him at a disadvantage not just to his teammates, but also to the rest of the grid. Junior was sceptical about the collaboration’s chances, saying, “This is a third car. For whatever this is, Spire or Trackhouse, it’s still the third effort from either organization, right? They’re both coming together to sort of support this and the third car of any three-car team is, you know – they got an A, and a B, and a C, and I dont care if it’s Hendrick or Penske, not every car gets all of the best stuff, right? It’s impossible to really like have A+ stuff all across the board.”

NASCAR, Motorsport, USA Truck Series Long John Silvers 200 Apr 14, 2023 Martinsville, Virginia, USA NASCAR Truck Series driver Zane Smith 38 and driver Kyle Busch 51 race during the Truck Series Long John Silver s 200 at Martinsville Speedway. Martinsville Martinsville Speedway Virginia USA, EDITORIAL USE ONLY PUBLICATIONxINxGERxSUIxAUTxONLY Copyright: xJohnxDavidxMercerx 20230414_jdm_sx1_009In a sport where every man matters, from the pit crew to the chief to the engineers, Zane Smith finds himself running short on options as the third name on the list. This means his chances could be hampered because his garage isn’t on par with the others, a handicap Smith may not have seen coming.

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Junior concluded by wishing Smith the very best for what he believes will be a difficult year to conquer, “So, it’ll be a difficult year for Zane, his patience will be tested and I don’t know that there will be a lot to look back on in terms of stats and so forth to go, you know, to be ultimately thrilled about it. It’s just going to be a tough long year of learning”. Despite the prediction that trials and tribulations lie ahead for Zane Smith, the Trackhouse boss believes Smith is headed to the perfect training ground for their future together.

Justin Marks backs Smith despite Junior’s woeful prediction

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Whilst Earnhardt Jr has a modest opinion on Zane Smith’s prospects for next year under the Trackhouse-Spire crossover, Justin Marks is confident that Smith was the right choice to kick off Trackhouse’s long-term vision. After accounting for Smith’s extensive experience in the Truck and Xfinity series, Marks believes that with the help of Spire Motorsports, they can provide Smith with the perfect opportunity to scout the competition before making things official as a full-time Trackhouse racer.

Marks spoke during a conference in Bristol about how the Spire-Trackhouse collaboration ties perfectly with his plan for the future and was quoted by Forbes, as saying, “Our alliance with Spire and the opportunity to have Zane drive over there next year gives us the ability to grow in 2024 to an organization where we can put three cars on the racetrack full-time in 2025 and beyond.”

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With Dale Earnhardt Jr and Kevin Marks going head to head with their predictions of the Spire-Trackhouse and Smith pairing, it’s safe to say the odds could swing either way with both parties putting forward solid points. Amidst all the speculation, will Zane Smith have a dream rookie season with the ‘challenger’ team?