Zane Smith rides along wall sideways, flipping upside down in strange crash

On an overtime restart, Zane Smith was battling just outside the top ten when a bizarre wreck unfolded. The leaders were moments away from taking the white flag when the incident occurred. 

After contact from John Hunter Nemechek, the No. 38 Front Row Motorsports Ford of Smith and the No. 42 Legacy Motor Club Toyota of Nemechek slammed the outside wall. While Nemechek spun back down the track, collecting both Ty Gibbs and Josh Berry, Smith’s wreck took an unusual turn for the worse.

His car climbed up the wall, riding along the SAFER Barrier on its side before flipping multiple times. It landed on its wheels, but the huge crashed forced the race to be red-flagged. He climbed from the car and was able to walk away without issue. 

Safety workers also checked the outside wall, but it needed no repairs. Smith’s airborne crash was the first time a Cup car went upside since Ryan Preece in the 2025 Daytona 500, and the ninth Cup car to go upside down during the Next Gen era.

“It was a wild ride, no doubt,” said Smith after being released from the infield care center. “I had a decent restart going and I just get wrecked by the 42 [Nemechek]. He just drives through me and then I was sliding on the wall. I was just mad at that point from how our day was going and this just pissed me off even more because that’s what really hurt was just flipping down the track. 

“It was violent, no doubt, but we had such a fast Speedy Cash Ford today. It’s just a bummer. Right before that caution came out we were gonna have a top 10 day, racing up inside the top 10 a majority of the day and it’s a shame that it has to come to an end out there. I want to give a shout out back to everyone at FRM for bringing another really good car, especially at a mile-and-a-half. Hopefully, five more. Hopefully we bring some more good ones.”