NASCAR Cup Series driver handed crippling penalty ahead of Phoenix race

NASCAR Cup Series driver Zane Smith. Mady Mertens-Imagn Images

NASCAR Cup Series driver handed crippling penalty ahead of Phoenix race

By Samuel Stubbs | Last updated Mar 8, 2026 9:22 AM ET

Zane Smith has quite the uphill battle ahead of him going into Sunday's NASCAR Cup Series Straight Talk 500 at Phoenix Raceway.

Not only will Smith drop to the rear of the field for the start of Sunday's race, but due to an unapproved adjustment made to his No. 38 Front Row Motorsports Ford ahead of Saturday's qualifying session, car chief Will Norris was ejected and Smith will have to serve a drive through pit road penalty after taking the green flag.

Smith will certainly go at least one lap down as he serves his penalty and will have to claw his way back into contention.

Tough break for Zane Smith

NASCAR said the penalty was issued after Smith's team was seen making an unapproved adjustment to the underbody of his car in between practice and qualifying on Saturday. Smith originally qualified 24th, second-best of the three Front Row cars.

The No. 38 in the NASCAR Cup Series was observed making an unapproved adjustment to the underbody during practice/pre-qualifying adjustments. The vehicle was reinspected prior to practice/qualifying session.

The No. 38 car chief (Will Norris) has been ejected from the Phoenix…
— NASCAR Communications (@NASCAR_Comms) March 7, 2026

Through three races in the 2026 season, Smith is 14th in the Cup Series standings, 10 points inside the provisional 16-driver Chase field. Finishes of sixth in the Daytona 500 and seventh at Atlanta mitigated his points loss following a 33rd-place result at Circuit of the Americas.

With the penalty and the long road to the front he faces Sunday, Smith will likely fall out of the provisional Chase field after Sunday's race (3:30 p.m. ET, FS1, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

Samuel Stubbs

Hailing from the same neck of the woods as NASCAR Hall of Famer Mark Martin, Samuel has been covering NASCAR for Yardbarker since February 2024. He has been a member of the National Motorsports Press Association (NMPA) since October of 2024. When he’s not writing about racing, Samuel covers Arkansas Razorback basketball for Yardbarker

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