Chandler Smith steals overtime win in NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series opener: Chandler Smith came from the middle of nowhere to win Friday’s Fresh from Florida 250 at Daytona International Speedway and immediately gave credit where credit was due.(Read More)(2-13-2026)
Paint Schemes
#38-Chandler Smith charged from sixth coming off of turn three to win the season-opening Fresh from Florida 250 NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series race at Daytona International Speedway Friday night. The win is his first at Daytona and the eighth win of his career.
Following an overtime restart, the final laps were dicey to say the least. #62-John Hunter Nemechek, #17-Gio Ruggiero, and #91-Christian Eckes exchanged paint as they rode three-wide coming off of turn 4. Ford drivers #38-Smith and #88-Ty Majeski teamed up and made it four-wide to push forward at the line.
#17-Ruggiero finished second, followed by #91-Eckes, pole-sitter #88-Majeski, #62-Nemechek, #45-Ricky Stenhouse, Jr., #12-Brenen Queen, #11-Kaden Honeycutt, #18-Tyler Ankrum, and #52-Stewart Friesen in the top-10.
#77-Carson Hocevar won stage 1 but struggled late in the race with a few cut tires and spins. He finished the night 35th.
Race winner Smith won stage two under caution following a wreck involving #98-Jake Garcia and #25-Tony Stewart. Stewart was making his NASCAR return after a 10-year absence as he ushered in RAM’s return. He ended the race 36th.
There were 32 lead changes among 12 drivers and six caution flags for 31 yellow flag laps.
The average speed of the race was: 121.429 mph.
See race details at: Race Results, Driver Point Standings, Owner Point Standings, Cumulative Report, Penalty Report
Race Fast Facts – Daytona
Chandler Smith won the Fresh From Florida 250, his eighth victory in 88 CRAFTSMAN Truck Series races.
This is his first victory and first top-10 finish in 2026.
This is his first victory and third top-10 finish in four races at Daytona International Speedway.
Giovanni Ruggiero (second) posted his second top-10 finish in two races at Daytona International Speedway. It is his first top-10 finish in 2026.
Christian Eckes (third) posted his fourth top-10 finish in six races at Daytona International Speedway.
Brenden Queen (seventh) was the highest finishing rookie.
Chandler Smith leads the point standings by 19 points over Christian Eckes.
(NASCAR)(2-13-2026)
Truck Series Driver Point Standings after Daytona
Race 1 of 18 in the regular season:
1) #38-Chandler Smith, 65, +41
2) #91-Christian Eckes, 46, +22
3) #88-Ty Majeski, 45, +21
4) #17-Gio Ruggiero, 35, +11
5) #11-Kaden Honeycutt, 34, +10
6) #12-Brenden Queen, 32, +8
7) #5-Nick Leitz, 31, +7
8) #18-Tyler Ankrum, 28, +4
9) #52-Stewart Friesen, 27, +3
10) #99-Ben Rhodes, 26, +2
Would miss the Chase
11) #44-Andres Perez, 24, -2
12) #13-Cole Butcher, 23, -3
13) #15-Tanner Gray, 23, -3
14) #42-Travis Pastrana, 22, -4
15) #33-Frankie Muniz, 21, -5
See the Driver Point Standings, Owner Point Standings
Race Updates:
Ruggiero and Nemechek had contact, 3-wide coming to the line with Eckes, Ruggiero in the middle and Nemechek down low. As they make contact, Smith bombs down low with help from Majeski and gets the win.
Overtime: McDowell leads as Honeycutt jumps to the high lane.
Lap 96: CAUTION Coming to the line Taylor Gray, Boyd, Sutton wreck off of 4. McDowell leads Honeycutt, Ruggiero, Haley, Nemechek.
Lap 92: It is dicey out there. McDowell has moved into the lead with Eckes now in the high lane.
Lap 90: With 10 to go Eckes pulls even with Gray as he leads the inside lane now. Gray and Nemechek move to the high side
Lap 88: Hocevar spins again. Field stays green, he heads to pitroad.
Lap 87: Three lanes with the pack of trucks. Gray leads the low lane. Haley moves from the middle to the outside lane and back again. The middle and outside lanes aren’t keeping pace as trucks keep bouncing back and forth.
Lap 85: Restart – Haley in the high lane with Tanner Gray inside. Gray pulls ahead with Nemechek behind him.
Lap 80: CAUTION Hocevar spins from a flat.
Lap 77: A lot happening the last few laps but the field has avoided a yellow… Haley still leads Tanner Gray, Nemechek, Ruggiero, Majeski, Queen – all running in the outside line with a second lane running low but not much steam
Lap 76: Layne Riggs cuts a tire from contact, later bounces off of the outside wall and has to pit under green
Lap 73: Jason Katzmiller spins, regroups and the field races on
Lap 71: Enfinger loses a tire, he loses draft, field stays green
Lap 70: Haley, Gray, Nemechek, Ruggiero, Majeski, Queen, Taylor Gray, LaJoie, Ankrum
Lap 65: Restart. Haley to the lead on the backstretch with push from Tanner Gray as they go by Nemechek
Lap 60: Pitstops under yellow – Majeski, Nemechek, Queen and Riggs off first with no tires.
Lap 58: CAUTION Trouble for Hocevar. He slows with a left tire issue in the middle lane as the field dodges him. Somehow Hocevar managed to keep it straight with the field charging at him.
Lap 47: Pole-sitter Majeski back to the front as he leads the low lane. Stenhouse follows in the low line, which runs7 trucks deep.
Lap 46: Back to green as Leitz leads
Lap 43: Pitstops for some. Leitz fastest off with 2 tires, over Majeski 4 tires, Stenhouse with 2 – on exit.
Lap 40: Stage 2 ends under caution. Smith with the win. Hocevar having issues with his engine shutting off.
Lap 36: CAUTION Garcia gets sideways and shoots up track into Stewart. The two make contact into the outside wall. Smith leads Riggs, Majeski, Taylor Gray.
Lap 28: Restart with the trucks that pit on lap 10 now up front. Nemechek leads them to the flag
Lap 25: Pitstops. Hocevar, Gray, McDowell exit first. Fuel only stops for the leaders.
Lap 20: Stage 1 is complete. Hocevar beats Tanner Gray at the line for the stage win. Eckes, Nemechek, McDowell follow.
Lap 13: Hocevar and McDowell leading the two distinct lanes. Hocevar to the lead on the bottom. 3rd lane is running high with a half dozen trucks.
Lap 11: Back to green
Lap 10: Under yellow, some teams opt to pit under the yellow. Stewart, Riggs among them
Lap 6: CAUTION McFarland spins down track while running in the top-10 and hard into the inside wall. He radios that he broke loose
Lap 4: McDowell leads with Hocevar and Majeski leading the lanes behind him. The majority of the trucks are in the bottom two lanes now with some trucks jockeying to the top.
Lap 2: 3 lanes working now with only a half dozen trucks hooked up in the middle lane
Lap 1: Michael McDowell started outside pole and takes the lead. Pole-sitter Majeski drops back to third.
7:54pm/et: Green flag
Race Information:
Distance: 100 laps / 250 miles
Stages: 20 / 40 / 100
Average time of race: 2:17:13
Pit road speed: 55 mph
Caution car speed: 70 mph
Fuel Window: 35 laps
Invocation: 7:33:20 p.m.
National Anthem: 7:34:00 p.m.
Command: 7:41:00 p.m.
Green Flag: 7:53:00 p.m.
Trucks to the rear: none
Pitstall Selections
#88-Ty Majeski won the pole for the season-opening Fresh from Florida 250 NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series race at Daytona International Speedway with a speed of 176.883mph for his third pole at Daytona, and the 12th pole of his career.
#77-Michael McDowell will start second, followed by #15-Tanner Gray, #77-Carson Hocevar, #9-Grant Enfinger, #18-Tyler Ankrum, #11-Kaden Honeycutt, #98-Jake Garcia, #17-Gio Ruggiero, and #38-Chandler Smith in the top-10.
Did not qualify: #6-Norm Benning, #27-Toni Breidinger, #28-Bryan Dauzat, #35-Greg VanAlst, #56-Timmy Hill, #69-Tyler Tomassi, #90-Justin Carroll.
See the complete Fresh from Florida 250 Starting Lineup and check out the complete Qualifying Results.
Qualifying Fast Facts – Daytona:
Ty Majeski won the Kennametal Pole Award for the Fresh From Florida 250 with a lap of 50.881 seconds, 176.883 mph.
This is his 12th pole in 115 NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series races. 12 poles are most among active full-time NCTS drivers.
This is his first pole and first top-10 start in 2026.
This is his third Daytona pole in his sixth start, he previously won poles in February 2022 and February 2024. And third career pole on a drafting track, most all-time
Michael McDowell(i) (second) posted his first top-10 start of 2026 and his first in two races at Daytona International Speedway.
Tanner Gray (third) posted his second top-10 start at Daytona International Speedway.
Brenden Queen (22nd) was the fastest qualifying rookie.
This is the 51st career pole for ThorSport Racing, 2nd most all-time. Eight drivers account for their 51 career poles
Tony Stewart (15th) first truck series start since 2005 and first NASCAR start since 2016
(NASCAR)
Qualifying Order
Pre-race inspection: Inspection in the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series garage is complete. The Nos. 19 and 81 failed twice (crew member ejection; loss of pit selection for next event).
Practice for the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series season opener Fresh from Florida 250 from Daytona International Speedway is over; the top-five, slowest and notes:
#11-Kaden Honeycutt 185.801
#1-Taylor Gray 185.766
#9-Grant Enfinger 185.762
#7-Michael McDowell 185.762
#13-Cole Butcher 185.406
Slowest: #95-Clay Greenfield 165.225
Most laps run: 22, #45-Ricky Stenhouse, Jr.
Notes: #19-Daniel Hemric, #27-Toni Breidinger, #28-Bryan Dauzat, #35-Greg VanAlst, #81-Kris Wright, #90-Justin Caroll, and #97-Jason Katzmiller did not practice, as they did not get through tech inspection.
See complete results on the practice speeds page.
The entry list for the season opener Fresh from Florida 250 NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series race at Daytona International Speedway has been released. There are 44 drivers/teams for 36 spots.
Some notes/changes: #4-Cleetus McFarland, #5-Nick Leitz, #7-Michael McDowell, #11-Kaden Honeycutt, #13-Cole Butcher, #25-Tony Stewart, #27-Toni Breidinger, #42-Travis Pastrana, #45-Ricky Stenhouse, Jr., #62-John Hunter Nemechek, #75-Corey LaJoie, #88-Ty Majeski.
See the complete Fresh from Florida 250 Entry List page.
Goodyear Tire Notes:NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series and NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series teams will also compete on familiar tire setups, with both series using the same left and right-side tires at Daytona for the fifth consecutive year. In both series, teams use inner liners on tracks 1-mile and longer.
Crew Rosters
At Track Schedule
Race rules and information:
