Zane Smith's Uptick in Performance Is Less Than It Seems
Source: Racing Reference

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September 1, 2024
Although Zane Smith has had a slight uptick in performance in recent weeks, it is more because he has been extremely lucky in overtime finishes than because he is running much better. Although Smith has finished 17th or better in five of the last seven races due to solid racecraft, he has only had one average running position better than 20th in all that time and has consistently been running worse than he finishes. He is still overall the third-slowest driver in the NASCAR Cup Series and it seems unlikely there won't be a regression to the mean. People are overhyping him to make Corey LaJoie look bad because LaJoie is the most popular whipping boy on social media right now, but his fellow rookie Carson Hocevar is beating Smith even worse. His 26th-place qualifying run was quite weak compared to Hocevar's second so expectations should be muted for Smith.--Sean Wrona - RotoBaller
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