Despite uncertain future, Zane Smith building momentum as a Cup Series rookie

Zane Smith's weekend at the Daytona International Speedway was a tale of two days.

A slow car in qualifying on Friday netted him a 30th-place starting spot for Saturday's race, but that wasn't the worst news for the 25-year-old on Friday.

Trackhouse Racing announced that Smith had been released from his contract with Trackhouse, leaving his future in NASCAR uncertain.

Smith's response to the announcement showed an air of dejection for the Huntington Beach, Calif. native, who was deemed a top NASCAR prospect as little as a year ago.

Smith currently has no concrete plans for 2025, but he does have one thing going for him: If the summer stretch has been about auditioning for future opportunities, he's done a solid job.

Since NASCAR's trip to St. Louis on June 2, Smith has seven top-20 finishes over the last 11 races, including a runner-up effort at Nashville and a seventh-place finish at Michigan.

Just like he did in the season-opening Daytona 500, Smith kept a low profile on Saturday night, which allowed him to steer clear of the chaos and carnage to bring home a 13th-place finish.

Smith is still comfortably near the bottom of the Cup Series points standings in 33rd, but an average finish of 18.5 over the last 11 Cup Series events should stir up some optimism for a No. 71 team that's improving.

A miraculous win at Darlington is the only chance for Smith to make the Cup Series playoffs, but with 11 races remaining in the 2024 season, there's no reason for him and the No. 71 team to make any drastic changes. The cars are faster, Smith is learning and Spire Motorsports as a whole seems to be on the rise.

Smith may not have inked a deal for 2025 yet, but if he keeps up his surge in performance, it won't be long before a team comes knocking.