Q. I interviewed you last year. You sat there, you looked up in the stands, you talked about how that was one of the lowest moments of your career. With all that in mind, how does it feel now to be a champion?
ZANE SMITH: Oh, my God, third time’s a charm. I want this s— more than anyone in the world. I don’t care what anyone says. Thank you to all you race fans, my whole team. Oh, my God, I was crying that whole lap.
Oh, my God. Thank you MRC Construction, so many people in my life that I got to meet that mean so much to me, Chris Lawson, Dylan Cappello, Kyle Moon, Evan, Randy, Bill, Josh Williams, I’ve never heard you get that excited, but I love you so much. My fiancee, McCall, stuck with me with all the brutal times.
I’ve wanted this championship for so long. I’ve wanted this moment all my life. Thank you, everyone. That’s all I’ve got.
Q. Can you bring me through that final restart, what it took to get the lead back and what was going through your mind on that final lap?
ZANE SMITH: I wasn’t going to let it go down like that. I was either wrecked or I was winning this thing. There was no other option.
Q. We talked about you being the runner-up the last two seasons, you come over to Front Row. What was different about this year and this team that allowed you to get it done?
ZANE SMITH: Just last year and the year before we showed so much speed and should have won a lot more races than we did, but Bob Jenkins is the only reason why I’m here right now, and without him, none of this would be possible.
When I came here, all I cared about was the guys that were on this team, and I had seen their work ethic and I seen the effort they put in, and I know they want it as bad as I do.
I didn’t care what the trucks looked like, what anything looked like. All I knew was the work ethic was there and we could make a championship out of this team.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports
