Zane Smith’s first full season in Super Late Model racing has been an incredibly successful one.

The Huntington Beach, California product announced his presence by winning the World Series of Asphalt Stock Car Racing at New Smyrna Speedway in February, collecting a win and four top-fives to claim the event’s championship.

He also is the current points leader on the Pro All-Star Series (PASS)  South Super Late Model circuit, with victories at Kingsport Speedway and Concord Speedway.

“I was just hoping for top finishes, but I wasn’t expecting wins,” Smith said about his expectations on his first season with the Crooks Racing team. “Then I got wins at New Smyrna against big names and really good guys.”

That success has not translated, however, to victories on the Championship Auto Racing Series (CARS) Super Late Model Tour. While he has four top-ten finishes (bettered only by the top two in the points chase, Cole Timm and Kyle Grissom), Smith’s best CARS Tour finish is seventh place. He achieved that result in each of the past two rounds, at Southern National Motorsports Park and Tri-County Motor Speedway.

In large part, a string of bad luck is to blame for Smith’s inability to crack the top-five through the first half of the CARS Tour. If anything, Smith’s four top-ten finishes are a testament to his ability to overcome the incidents and mechanical issues that have plagued his five starts.

“The first race we got in a wreck. The second race a ball joint broke. The third race we lost steering. The fourth race we lost a cylinder. The fifth race, at Tri-County, we got sandwiched into the wall.”

Nonetheless, the campaign’s next stop at Motor Mile Speedway gives Smith plenty of reason to believe that luck will turn around. The high-banked .416 oval is similar to New Smyrna’s half-mile, which has Smith excited for his first trip to the facility.

“I love New Smyrna. They say Motor Mile is like New Smyrna, so I’m stoked to go there.”

With a little good fortune and the good feelings from that World Series of Asphalt triumph in tow, Smith has his eyes on a victory this Saturday.

“If they say it’s like New Smyrna, then I expect a win out of this race,” Smith said. “Getting a win here would be huge. I definitely think we can. It’s just a matter of getting the car right on Friday and going from there.”

Smith also finds the CARS Tour is unique from PASS and other Super Late Model events due to its American Racer tire.

“The biggest thing is the different tire,” Smith said. “The tire is mostly the same from lap one to lap 85. We just go hard all the time, but we do a little bit of saving.”

Smith is also excited to be back in the Crooks Racing Super Late Model. Since the PASS South’s tour last event on June 19 at Anderson Speedway (in which Smith finished fourth), he has been returning to his Legends car roots in the Bojangles’ Summer Shootout at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

“I’ve been doing the Legend cars at the Summer Shootout, I can’t wait to get back in these [Super Late Models],” Smith said. “I can’t wait to get back with the Crooks team, and I’m expecting a win out of it.”

“Throughout the whole year we’ve been pretty good, especially for our first year. I guess we can’t toot our own horn too soon. We’ll find out by the end of the year, and I hope we’ll have many more wins to come.”