Jake Garcia captures maiden Truck Series win at Bristol

BRISTOL, Tenn. — Jake Garcia captured his maiden NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series win from Bristol Motor Speedway at the UNOH 250 presented by Ohio Logistics.

This is his first win of the season and his first win in 94 career Truck Series starts.

Before the lightning hold eventually gave way to the NASCAR Metric setting the lineup for the race tonight, Garcia was the driver to beat.

He held the pole before Layne Riggs was handed the top spot and was relegated to start outside the top ten from 12th.

From there he made quick work through the top ten and found his footing in fourth, where he would finish both stages.

Garcia had top five speed but not winning speed. He needed some chaos in order to find the front and the Thorsport driver eventually got his way.

Riggs dominated the first half of the race and looked destined to defend his Bristol wins.

The metric set the regular season champion on the pole. Then he swept both stages and led a race-high 135 laps.

But misfortune struck the Front Row Motorsports No. 34 truck when a loose right-rear wheel caused them to pit under green flag conditions in the final stage.

This stop relegated them from the lead to two laps down in 27th where they would never recover. One more tire-rub later in the stage eventually led them to finish 32nd.

Garcia on the other hand, took advantage of their misfortune. With the best truck of the night out the picture the team surged.

After a brief red flag to clean up oil from Caden Kvpail’s debut that ended in the wall, he retained the lead on the final restart to win his first career Truck Series race.

The Top Ten

While Jake Garcia’s maiden win usually would shine as the primary story of the night, the driver who finished second shared the spotlight.

Bayley Currey stepped into the Tricon Garage No. 5 entry which had already seen victory lane earlier in the season with Corey Heim.

The current Tricon car chief dusted off his fire suit and stepped into the cockpit for a night to remember. Currey slowly picked up speed and by the end of the second stage, he found the top ten. Then, with the attrition suffered by others in the final stage Currey made his move to the front.

He saved his stuff at a track that rewards drivers who do so and was rewarded with a runners-up result.

Like the winner, Stewart Friesen also just missed out on the Chase and started out the postseason with a great result. He finished third.

The top five continued with great storylines from there. Justin Haley provided Kaulig Racing and RAM their first ever top-five finish together.

16-year-old Tristian McKee rounded out the top five from fifth for his best result in only his second career start. The newly crowned ARCA East champion will be a premier driver for years to come and aids the Spire Motorsports No. 77 entry in their quest for the owners title.

Gio Ruggiero placed sixth as the highest placing Chase driver in the field. He was followed by William Sawalich, who came down from the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series, in seventh.

Kaden Honeycutt finished second in both stages and looked to place their in the end but his truck faded late for an eighth-placed result.

Finally two more Chase drivers rounded out the top ten. Former series champions Ty Majeski and Grant Enfinger finished ninth and tenth to start the Chase.

Below are the full results

Full Results

Truck Series Chase Standings