Christian Eckes

(Photo: Nigel Kinrade Photography)

Mickey Mouse Win: A win that was given to someone in a competition with little to no effort. In other words, an undeserved win.

Is the latest example … Zane Smith?

Christian Eckes brought it up, left helpless in third as a nagging mist put Smith in victory lane in Friday night's NextEra Energy 250. The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series season opener was red flagged multiple times, eventually cut short some 21 laps early despite rain so light it didn't even show up on the radar.

"I swear," Eckes said. "If he Mickey Mouses his way into this, I’m going to be so mad."

Let's be clear right off the bat; it was all in good fun. Eckes later took a picture with the main offender, enjoying back-to-back Daytona wins while preparing for his first Daytona 500 start on Sunday (Feb. 19).

Me and Mickey pic.twitter.com/hS1kJ0QBGt

Smith also understood the bizarre circumstances surrounding how Friday night's race played out. Leading three times for 17 laps, he was in the right spot when the rain just refused to go away, red flagging the race for over an hour before officials had no choice but to call it.

But don't mistake that for luck. Smith had a strategy that simply worked out in his favor, looking to avoid wrecks and rookie mistakes by some of the new drivers in the Truck Series before asserting himself at the right time.

"Sure enough, they were not too smart in the beginning," Smith said. "And I just kind of hung around right behind them and waited for their mistakes. And obviously, I didn't know the rain was going to come and shorten the race, but I knew that how we kept coming in and topping off that we were setting ourselves up to lead that final stage. That's what we did.

"Obviously just fell a little short of finishing the thing. But I feel like we would have had a great shot regardless."

For his part, Eckes’ joking frustration stems from the fact he's come so close at Daytona only to come up short. Friday marked his second straight top-five finish here, leading a total of 28 laps in those races. Add in another 31 laps led at Talladega Superspeedway the past two years, only to come up empty there, too, and the 22-year-old has a whole lot of close, but no cigar on his resume.

"I feel like I’m going to have to write a book one day, a thousand ways how to lose a speedway race," Eckes said. "Last year, we lost two of them on a green-white-checkered, this year we lost them due to rain."

But Mother Nature doesn't take away what Smith accomplished Friday night. And he knows it.

"They don't ask how," Smith said. "They ask how many … regardless of how you end up winning it … anytime you have the opportunity to win and stand in victory lane at Daytona, I don't think anyone's going to turn that down.

As for Eckes’ Mickey Mouse terminology?

"Nothing new to me," Smith joked. "I’m always carrying him in beer pong and everything in between, so call me Mickey Mouse as much as he wants."

Turns out Smith and Eckes are close friends despite never being teammates in Trucks.

"We have our group of friends that when COVID[-19] came around, we were kind of hanging out every day," Smith explained. "That's where Christian and I became good friends. Yeah, we haven't been teammates, but I feel like we’ve been turned into veterans of the Truck Series in a way.

"He's a cool dude and always fun to race with."

Now with a win under his belt at Daytona this week — no matter how you characterize it — Smith gets one more shot at it Sunday in his first Daytona 500. The reigning Truck champion, part of the first trio of Cup-Xfinity-Truck champs to race in the same 500, is now excited to race side-by-side with a different group of friends in Noah Gragson and Riley Herbst, all West Coast kids making their first start as grown-ups in the Great American Race.

"I’m so excited for Sunday," Smith said. "It's going to be such a cool experience, obviously with two of my really good friends that we grew up together in Noah and Riley, and it’ll be awesome. I didn't want to let them down for that cool picture if I didn't make it, and obviously that stat with the past three champions, I kept hearing about it, and obviously those two were locked in, so I didn't want to let everyone down."

So far, so good for Smith this week.

Follow @NASCARBowles

The author of Did You Notice? (Wednesdays) Tom spends his time overseeing Frontstretch's 40+ staff members as its majority owner and Editor-in-Chief. Based outside Philadelphia, Bowles is a two-time Emmy winner in NASCAR television and has worked in racing production with FOX, TNT, and ESPN while appearing on-air for SIRIUS XM Radio and FOX Sports 1's former show, the Crowd Goes Wild. He most recently consulted with SRX Racing, helping manage cutting-edge technology and graphics that appeared on their CBS broadcasts during 2021 and 2022.

You can find Tom's writing here, at CBSSports.com and Athlonsports.com, where he's been an editorial consultant for the annual racing magazine for 15 years.

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