Late charge puts Christopher Bell in Victory Lane at Bristol: Full-time NASCAR Cup Series driver Christopher Bell was thrilled to have an opportunity to drive the No. 62 Halmar Friesen Toyota in Friday night’s Tennessee Army National Guard 250 at Bristol Motor Speedway.(Read More)(4-10-2026)
#62-Christopher Bell won the Tennessee Army National Guard 250 NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series race at Bristol Motor Speedway Friday night, his first Truck Series win since 2017. The win is his first of the 2026 season, at Bristol, and the eighth win of his career.
#38-Chandler Smith finished second, followed by #17-Gio Ruggiero, #45-Ross Chastain, #91-Christian Eckes, #98-Jake Garcia, #26-Dawson Sutton, #7-Kyle Busch, #77-Carson Hocevar, and #12-Brenden Queen in the top-10.
Fifth place finisher #91-Eckes led the most laps of the night with 132 of the 250 out front. He started second and won the opening stage. On lap 180 Eckes was racing #1-Corey Heim for the lead when contact sent Heim hard into the wall. #11-Kaden Honeycutt and #34-Layne Riggs were also caught up in the wreck.
Heim was attempting to sweep the Triple Truck Challenge after winning at both Darlington and Rockingham. Had he won, he would have taken home $500,000. Instead, he tallied a 30th place finish.
There were seven lead changes among six drivers and nine caution flags for 76 yellow flag laps.
The average speed of the race was 66.644mph.
See race details at: Race Results, Driver Point Standings, Owner Point Standings, Cumulative Report, Penalty Report
Race Fast Facts – Bristol
Christopher Bell(i) won the Tennessee Army National Guard 250, his eighth victory in 60 CRAFTSMAN Truck Series races.
This is his first victory and second top-10 finish in 2026.
This is his first victory and third top-10 finish in four races at Bristol Motor Speedway.
Chandler Smith (second) posted his sixth top-10 finish in seven races at Bristol Motor Speedway. It is his fourth top-10 finish in 2026.
Giovanni Ruggiero (third) posted his second top-10 finish in three races at Bristol Motor Speedway.
Brenden Queen (10th) was the highest finishing rookie.
Chandler Smith leads the point standings by 1 points over Kaden Honeycutt.
(NASCAR)(4-10-2026)
Paint Schemes
Truck Series Driver Point Standings after Bristol:
Race 6 of 18 in the regular season:
1) #38-Chandler Smith, 208, +71
2) #11-Kaden Honeycutt,207, +70
3) #34-Layne Riggs, 204, +67
4) #91-Christian Eckes, 191, +54
5) #17-Gio Ruggiero, 187, +50
6) #88-Ty Majeski, 182, +45
7) #99-Ben Rhodes, 181, +44
8) #98-Jake Garcia, 146, +9
9) #16-Justin Haley, 144, +7
10) #52-Stewart Friesen, 140, +3
Below the cutline:
11) #18-Tyler Ankrum, 137, -3
12) #15-Tanner Gray, 123, -17
13) #14-Brenden Queen, 120, -20
14) #9-Grant Enfinger, 119, -21
15) #19-Daniel Hemric, 116, -24
See the Driver Point Standings, Owner Point Standings
Race Updates:
Lap 250: Christopher Bell with the win at Bristol. Smith, Ruggiero, Chastain, Eckes, Garcia, Sutton, Busch, Hocevar, Queen the top-10.
Lap 244: 5 to go and Smith has closed a bit; a half second lead for Bell.
Lap 238 Bell has nearly a second lead over Smith. Ruggiero, Chastain, Eckes, Sutton, Busch follow.
Lap 234: Rhodes slows; has dropped from 3rd to 7th in two laps. – He radios and says “it keeps shutting off.”
Lap 230: Briscoe gets high and slow.
Lap 225: Restart. Smith pushed Bell to the flag. Eckes loses multiple spots on the restart.
Lap 223: Bell chooses the outside; Eckes inside.
Lap 215: CAUTION LaJoie spins into the outside wall. He declares “suspension broke” over the radio. Bell leads Eckes, Smith, Chastain, Busch, Ruggiero, Hocevar, Garcia, Rhodes and Friesen.
Lap 208: Bell continues to lead Eckes.
Lap 194: Green flag pitstop for Majeski. He was in the top-10.
Lap 190: Bell prevails and takes the lead. Eckes, Smith, Chastain follow.
Lap 187: Restart. Eckes with the jump and Bell rides the high lane and alongside for the lead.
Lap 186: Choose sees Eckes take the outside. Smith will start inside. Bell, Chastain, Majeski follow.
RED FLAG
Lap 181: CAUTION Heim makes the move on Eckes for the lead and Eckes gives him the bumper. Heavy hit for Heim. Honeycutt, Riggs also collected. Eckes prevails with the lead.
Lap 179: Restart as Heim leads Eckes. Eckes with the jump on the low lane.
Lap 175: Under yellow Busch was saving fuel, has issues refiring, says pace vehicle was “too slow”. He will now restart 9th. Eckes leads Heim, Bell, Honeycutt. Heim and Honeycutt in the outside lane.
Lap 169: CAUTION Luke Baldwin spins after contact from LaJoie. Busch, Heim, Eckes, Bell, Honeycutt, Smith, Chastain.
Lap 167: Busch with another solid restart and drives away. Heim now chasing single-file over a half-second behind.
Lap 166: Restart as Busch starts from the outside yet again. Heim is behind him, with Eckes inside.
Lap 157: CAUTION Butcher gets sideways in the low lane and Stenhouse gets caught up.
Lap 153: Restart Busch on the outside, Bell inside. Busch jumps out with a big lead as Heim drives by for second. Bell gets sideways but recovers.
Lap 147: CAUTION Gray spins into the wall; heavy damage to the rear of his truck. Began 3-wide and contact from Tyrrell. Garcia also gets spin after contact from Ferguson as they check-up.
Lap 139: Restart. Heim to the inside Busch outside. Busch with a big jump.
Lap 130: Stage 2 complete. Rhodes wins it. Busch, Haley, Heim, Bell and Eckes follow.
Lap 128: Back to green as Rhodes leads Haley.
Lap 123: Rhodes stays out this time while the rest of the leaders pit. Heim out first with no tires. Bell second with 2 and Eckes follows with 4 fresh tires.
Lap 119: CAUTION Heavy damage for the Muniz’s truck after incident involving Reif and Hill. Eckes leads Rhodes, who had just made the move on Riggs for second.
Lap 116: Lapped truck of Ferguson gets loose as Eckes goes by. Riggs and Rhodes follow. Riggs gained position with fresh tires from the last stop while the other leaders stayed out.
Lap 100: Riggs has moved to the outside of Eckes, unable to clear for the position.
Lap 78: Back to green as Eckes leads Riggs and Honeycutt. Eckes and Honeycutt start in the high lane.
Lap 70: Leaders stay on track while others opt to pit under this caution.
Lap 65: Eckes with the stage win.
Lap 55: 10 to go in the stage. Lapped trucks have allowed the gap to close within the top 5; Eckes, Riggs, Honeycutt, Rhodes and Garcia.
Lap 42: Eckes makes contact to remind his teammate Wright to get out of his way. He falls another lap down.
Lap 40: Eckes continues to lead as Riggs closes in with the lapped truck of Wright slowing up Eckes.
Lap 26: Wright penalized for passing too soon on the restart.
Lap 23: Back to green and Eckes jumps out to a solid lead. Riggs takes second from Honeycutt.
Lap 17: CAUTION for a Perez spin. Eckes leads Honeycutt, Riggs, Garcia, Hocevar.
Lap 4: Coming to the line for lap 4 Eckes to the inside and pass on Honeycutt.
Lap 1: Pole-sitter Honeycutt jumps out to lead lap 1.
7:50pm/et: Green flag.
7:42pm/et: Engines fired for tonight’s race.
Race Information:
Broadcast: FS1, NRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio
Distance: 250 laps / 133.25 miles
Stages: 65 / 130 / 250
Average time of race: 1:45:14
Pit road speed: 30 mph
Caution car speed: 35 mph
Fuel window: 140 laps
Driver Introductions: 7:10 p.m.
Invocation: 7:33:20 p.m.
National Anthem: 7:34:00 p.m.
Command: 7:41:00 p.m.
Green Flag: 7:50:00 p.m.
Trucks to the rear: #26-Dawson Sutton, #56-Timmy Hill, #71-Daniel Suarez(unapproved adjustments)
#11-Kaden Honeycutt won the pole for the Tennessee Army National Guard 250 NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series race at Bristol Motor Speedway with a speed of 127.360mph. This was his first pole of the season, first at Bristol, and the second pole of his career.
#91-Christian Eckes will start second, followed by: ##34-Layne Riggs, #5-Chase Briscoe, #98-Jake Garcia, #88-Ty Majeski, #77-Carson Hocevar, #7-Kyle Busch, #99-Ben Rhodes, and #17-Gio Ruggiero in the top-10.
Did not qualify: none.
See the complete Starting Lineup and check out the complete Qualifying Results.
Qualifying Fast Facts – Bristol:
Kaden Honeycutt won the Pole Award for the Tennessee Army National Guard 250 with a lap of 15.066 seconds, 127.360 mph.
This is his second pole in 65 NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series races.
This is his second pole and fourth top-10 start in 2026.
This is his first pole in seven races at Bristol Motor Speedway.
Christian Eckes (second) posted his first top-10 start of 2026 and his sixth in six races at Bristol Motor Speedway.
Layne Riggs (third) posted his third top-10 start at Bristol Motor Speedway. It is his third in six races this season.
Cole Butcher (17th) was the fastest qualifying rookie.
(NASCAR)
Practice for the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series Tennessee Army National Guard 250 from Bristol Motor Speedway; the top-five, slowest and notes:
#5-Chase Briscoe 126.520
#11-Kaden Honeycutt 126.495
#77-Carson Hocevar 125.790
#15-Tanner Gray 125.625
#98-Jake Garcia 125.584
Slowest: #22-Clayton Green 117.200
Most laps run: #4-Ricky Stenhouse, Jr., 92
Note: #26-Dawson Sutton made slight contact with the wall and will not qualify his Chevrolet as the team makes repairs. #71-Daniel Suarez will also not attempt a run due to power steering issues, and #56-Timmy Hill will also not attempt as his team repairs the radiator.
See the complete Tennessee Army National Guard 250 Practice Speeds page.
Qualifying Order
Crew Rosters
Goodyear Tire Notes: The NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series and NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series will race on Saturday and Friday evenings respectively, with both series using the same Goodyear Racing Eagle tire setups that teams have run on Bristol’s concrete since September 2022. Teams in both series will use inner liners on the right-side tires at Bristol.
The entry list for the Tennessee Army National Guard 250 NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series race at Bristol Motor Speedway has been released. There are 37 drivers/teams for 36 spots.
Some notes: #1-Corey Heim, #2-Luke Baldwin, #4-Ricky Stenhouse Jr., #5-TBA, #7-Kyle Busch, #25-Carson Ferguson #45-Ross Chastain, #62-Christopher Bell, #71-Daniel Suarez, #77-Carson Hocevar.
See the complete Tennessee Army National Guard 250 Entry List page.
At Track Schedule
Race rules and information:
