Chandler Smith outduels teammate for Martinsville Truck win

MARTINSVILLE, Va. — Chandler Smith outduels teammate Layne Riggs on the final restart in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series at Martinsville to win the Black’s Tire 200 presented by Down East Heating & Cooling, inc.

This is his third win of the year and the tenth of his Truck Series career.

Smith topped the lone practice session earlier in the day and carried that speed into qualifying, securing a third-place starting position.

Despite showing tremendous pace, the No. 38 team appeared destined for a solid but unspectacular top-five finish. Smith placed third in both stages while playing second fiddle to Front Row Motorsports teammate Layne Riggs for much of the race.

His fortunes changed in the final stage when consecutive cautions kept the field bunched together. Smith found himself on the front row for the race’s most critical restart.

With 12 laps remaining, he surged past his teammate on the outside to take the lead, recording his first laps led of the afternoon before driving away to the victory.

Despite the win, Smith has been mathematically eliminated from championship contention. He now sits 103 points behind the Chase leader, putting him beyond the maximum points threshold.

Riggs and Honeycutt

Ben Rhodes provided Smith with a much-needed push on the final restart, while also getting alongside Riggs for second. He eventually cleared Riggs a lap after the restart to secure the runner-up finish.

For Layne Riggs, it was a night of what could have been.

Riggs dominated after taking the lead from the youngest polesitter in series history, Tristian McKee, on the initial start. From there, he led wire-to-wire through a stage-sweeping performance.

Despite a string of late cautions and briefly surrendering the lead to McKee, Riggs persevered and appeared poised for a maximum-points night.

However, after leading 156 of 200 laps, his advantage disappeared on the final restart. What could have been a dominant victory and the Chase lead instead unraveled in just six corners.

Despite missing out on the win and the points lead, Riggs cut his deficit to Kaden Honeycutt to 20 points. His third-place finish keeps him firmly in the championship fight heading into the season finale at Homestead.

Meanwhile, Honeycutt struggled to find the speed that had carried him through much of the Chase. He qualified fifth but slipped to seventh by the end of stage one. He made a slight improvement in stage two, climbing to sixth.

To maintain his points advantage over Riggs, Honeycutt needed more from his No. 11 Toyota.

He found another gear in the final stage, climbing as high as third. However, a series of late restarts began to undo his progress. He lost positions on the initial attempts and entered the final restart in seventh.

With the bottom lane crucial to his chances, Honeycutt tried to clear himself too early. Contact with the truck underneath him sent his No. 11 up the track and cost him several positions.

He ultimately came home in 14th, capping off a frustrating night for a team that never quite found its rhythm.

Notable Results

Ty Majeski continued his decent run-of-form. He ran inside the top five all day and finished fourth.

16-year-old Tristian McKee was unable to convert his pole to a maiden victory tonight. While the fifth-placed result might upset the young driver, he gained valuable experience with his steady performance.

Andres Perez de Lara was first among the full-time non-Chase drivers. He finished seventh ahead of Tyler Ankrum, Gio Ruggiero, William Sawalich, and Christian Eckes inside the top ten.

Finally, Timmy Hill concluded his final race as a team owner in the Truck Series with a 30th-placed DNF. Hill was caught in multiple incidents during the event and was unable to finish with his amount of damage.

Below is the full results and updated Chase standings after the sixth race of the Chase for the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series from Martinsville.

Full Results & Chase Standings