Zane Smith takes top NCWTS playoff seed from Chandler Smith at Martinsville

MARTINSVILLE, VA. – Zane Smith retook the No. 1 seed for the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series playoffs after Thursday (April 7)’s Blue Emu 200 at Martinsville Speedway.

Zane Smith finished 9th after picking up a playoff point and 10 points for winning stage one, earning seven points for a fourth-place finish in stage two and overcoming a penalty in stage three.

Smith’s top-10 finish moved him from fourth to third in the regular-season points, which puts him in position to earn one more point for the playoffs.

Ben Rhodes earned a fifth-place finish after picking up 18 stage points for finishing third in stage one and earning a playoff point for winning stage two. The only hiccup came on Lap 134 when Rhodes had a run-in with teammate Christian Eckes, where Stewart Friesen subsequently spun in turn four.

Rhodes’s top-5 finish moved him from second in the regular season points to the lead, over Chandler Smith – and into position to earn 15 points for the playoffs, compared to 10 for being 2nd in the regular season points as he was after COTA.

Chandler Smith finished sixth but failed to earn stage points. Smith entered Martinsville with 20 playoff points – 5 for his Las Vegas win and 15 to be earned for the regular-season points lead – and the No. 1 seed. However, he left in the No. 3 seed with 15 playoff points – 5 for the Las Vegas win and 10 to be earned for now being second in points.

NOTE: Playoff points for a driver’s regular season points position are only accrued at the end of the regular season

E.g., Zane Smith wouldn’t earn eight playoff points for being third in points now – he would earn those points if he was third at the end of the regular season.

The playoff points and seeding in the table below are determined by what it would look like if the regular season ended today.

Playoff Seed	Driver	Playoff Points Total	Base Points	Regular Season Points Position	Race Wins (5/Win)	Stage Wins (1/Stage)
1	Zane Smith	2021	2000	8 for 3rd	10/Daytona and COTA	3 (COTA stages 1, 2; Martinsville – stage 1)
2	Ben Rhodes	2018	2000	15 for 1st	0	3 (Las Vegas stages 1, 2; Martinsville – stage 2)
3	Chandler Smith	2015	2000	10 for 2nd	5/Las Vegas
4	John Hunter Nemechek	2009	2000	6 for 5th	0	3 (Daytona – stages 1 and 2, Atlanta – stage 1
5	Stewart Friesen	2008	2000	7 for 4th	0	1 (Atlanta stage 1)
6	Christian Eckes	2005	2000	5 for 6th	0	0
7	Tanner Gray	2004	2000	4 for 7th	0	0
8	Ty Majeski	2003	2000	3 for 8th	0	0
9	Matt Crafton	2002	2000	2 for 9th	0	0
10	Tyler Ankrum	2001	2000	1 for 10th	0	0

Matt Crafton moved ahead of Derek Kraus for the No. 10 seed after making up a two-point deficit in the regular season points at Martinsville.

Despite Crafton earning any stage points, while Kraus earned four stage points, Kraus finished 14th while Crafton finished seventh and moved to one point ahead of Kraus.

PLAYOFF PICTURE _{(bold denotes virtually locked into the playoffs)}
1. Ben Rhodes 205 points
2. Chandler Smith -4 points to Rhodes (1 win)
3. Zane Smith -21 (2 wins)
4. Stewart Friesen -25; +49 points to 11th-place Derek Kraus
T-5. John Hunter Nemechek -44, +30
T-5. Christian Eckes -44, +30
7. Tanner Gray -47, +27
8. Ty Majeski -52, +22
T-9. Matt Crafton -73, +1
T-9. Tyler Ankrum -73 to Rhodes, +1 to Kraus
————-PLAYOFF CUTLINE————-
11. Derek Kraus -1 to Crafton, Ankrum
12. Carson Hocevar -2
13. Grant Enfinger -7
14. Matt DiBenedetto -25
15. Austin Wayne Self -32
16. Timmy Hill -40
17. Kris Wright -49
18. Tate Fogleman -52
19. Lawless Alan -55
T-19. Chase Purdy -55

The next race for the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series is Saturday, April 16 for the Pinty’s Dirt Truck Race at dirt Bristol Motor Speedway (8 p.m. ET; TV: FS1; Radio: MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

In the inaugural NCWTS Bristol dirt race, Martin Truex Jr. swept both stages and won the race – shutting all series regulars out of playoff points.