Chandler Smith steals Daytona win in 4-wide move
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — No one, not even Chandler Smith, expected Chandler Smith to come from fifth to first on the final lap of Friday night’s thrilling NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race at Daytona to kick off 2026 with a win.
While John Hunter Nemechek led coming off of turn four, Gio Ruggiero wasn’t content to ride in second. Ruggiero wiggled Nemechek around enough to open up a lane to the outside, giving him room to sneak between Nemechek and Christian Eckes. Nemechek went to defend Ruggiero, leaving the bottom open for Chandler Smith to blow by all of them and take the win.
Smith led just twice all night — for seven laps when he won stage two and the final lap. He credited Ty Majeski with the help he needed to lead the final lap and kick off the season in style.
“I was surprised the 62 (Nemechek) didn’t block it. I was just — the seas literally just parted, and the 88 (Majeski) stayed committed to me, and like I said, thank you, thank you, thank you, Ty Majeski. Definitely got to owe you one on that one,” Smith said. “Ty Majeski, one of my best four teammates I’ve ever worked with. He is all credit to how we just won that race truthfully. He stayed committed to a Ford and pushed a blue oval to a win.”
Gio Ruggiero, Christian Eckes, Ty Majeski, John Hunter Nemechek, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Brenden “Butterbean” Queen, Kaden Honeycutt, Tyler Ankrum, Stewart Friesen rounded out the top-10.
Although Ruggiero and Nemechek were teammates through Toyota, Ruggiero said he didn’t see it that way.
Yeah, it was tight there at the end of the race. Everybody was trying to do whatever it takes to win, and that’s what I did for myself and my team.
“Probably would have pushed John Hunter to the win there, but he almost wrecked me twice. I think overall as a group, we need to do better as Toyotas. I thought me and Tanner and Taylor worked together really well, but everybody else just seemed like they were out there on their own. I definitely think we learned some things going into the next superspeedway,” Ruggiero said.
Nemechek had an even tone when talking about the finish, admitting he could’ve done more himself.
“Pretty frustrated with myself. Just hard to cover all the lanes there. Should have got to the middle and blocked the 17 a little bit faster than I did,” Nemechek said. “Didn’t anticipate it quite like I probably should have off of Turn 4. But man, it was one heck of a race. It was a lot of fun all night. We came from the back to the front multiple times.”
Although Nemechek didn’t win, he led three times for 10 laps and ensured Halmar-Friesen Racing had two trucks in the top-10 for boss Stewart Friesen’s return after a severe injury cut Friesen’s 2025 season short. Nemechek also took notes for what to expect in Sunday’s Daytona 500.
“Like I said, it was a lot of fun. I learned a lot. Hopefully I can apply something to Sunday. Hayden and I will probably go back and watch some film there, but overall a really fun race. Just dejected we didn’t come home with a checkered flag,” Nemechek said.
The race featured a record 32 lead changes and two laps of overtime. In all, 12 drivers led the race — led by Michael McDowell, Carson Hocevar and Justin Haley who each led 20 laps apiece. McDowell and Hocevar each led eight times while Haley led twice.
STAGE ONE TOP-10 (LAP 20): Carson Hocevar, Tanner Gray, Christian Eckes, John Hunter Nemechek, Michael McDowell, Kaden Honeycutt, Ty Majeski, Taylor Gray, Brenden Queen and Grant Enfinger.
STAGE TWO TOP-10 (LAP 40): Chandler Smith, Layne Riggs, Ty Majeski, Taylor Gray, Michael McDowell, Nick Leitz, Christian Eckes, Corey LaJoie, John Hunter Nemechek and Ben Rhodes.
NEXT: Fr8 Racing 208 at EchoPark Atlanta Motor Speedway, Sat. Feb. 21, at 1:30 p.m. ET; FS1, NASCAR Racing Network, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.
Here is a live race updates archive from Friday night’s NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race at Daytona.
FINAL STAGE
Chandler Smith sneaks through and gets the win at Daytona! Gio Ruggiero, Christian Eckes, Ty Majeski, John Hunter Nemechek, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Brenden “Butterbean” Queen, Kaden Honeycutt, Tyler Ankrum, Stewart Friesen round out the top-10.
McDowell, Honeycutt lead for overtime. Green flag!
4 TO GO: Taylor Gray, Dawson Sutton and Spencer Boyd wreck off of turn four. McDowell, Honeycutt, Ruggiero, Haley, Nemechek, Eckes, Smith, Butcher, Tanner Gray, Ankrum the top 10 under caution.
8 TO GO: Christian Eckes to the lead as the racing is ramping up. Now Michael McDowell leads, 7 to go!
9 TO GO: HUGE charge to the inside by Christian Eckes gets him challenging Tanner Gray for the lead.
Call it 3 for Dale… Carson Hocevar spins for the third time tonight but no caution. 11 to go.
LAP 88: Justin Haley jumps to the far outside with a push from Ty Majeski. Tanner Gray leads on the inside. Now Majeski bobbles as Carson Hocevar spins again.
LAP 85 RESTART: Tanner Gray and Justin Haley lead.
LAP 80: Another flat tire for Carson Hocevar, left-rear tire again. My goodness. 21 to go. Caution.
LAP 74: Now Jason Kitzmiller has a tire down… That is Enfinger’s teammate. Layne Riggs has a left-front tire going down and he bails out of the pack and can NOT get to pit road.
LAP 71: If we get a caution, Carson Hocevar is set to receive the free pass and would get back on the lead lap. Grant Enfinger with a flat tire, bails out of the pack. No caution.
LAP 69: Justin Haley is back out in front. This is the first time RAM has led a NASCAR race since 2014.
LAP 64: Justin Haley, Tanner Gray, Ben Rhodes, Kaden Honeycutt, Spencer Boyd, Corey LaJoie stayed out. Everyone else pitted with one to green in a restart that looks like the pre double-file restart era of NASCAR.
Off pit road, lap 60: Majeski, Nemechek, Queen, Riggs, Haley, Perez, Tanner Gray, Ruggiero. McDowell got blocked from exiting his pit stall by Haley.
LAP 58: Carson Hocevar spins with a flat left-rear tire after leading. John Hunter Nemechek, Michael McDowell and Christian Eckes are the top three. Daniel Hemric, free pass in 34th.
LAP 53: Carson Hocevar to the lead after maneuvering around John Hunter Nemechek.
LAP 52: Here’s John Hunter Nemechek for the lead! He sidedrafted Ty Majeski hard and stalled out the inside lane to take the lead.
Tony Stewart: “We just didn’t know what we were going to have balance-wise. It felt free early on and it started responding to changes and was in a spot where I could be three wide and could hustle and was getting fun to where we could mix it up. Not sure what happened but he came across the news… I didn’t think I was going to be here 10 years after I retired but never say never.”
LAP 49: Carson Hocevar has the best truck in the field and is pushing John Hunter Nemechek HARD to try and get the second lane going.
LAP 47: Feelgood story Nick Leitz got hung out to dry and kicked to the back of the pack. Now, Ty Majeski leads Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Layne Riggs, Brad Perez, and Ben Rhodes.
TOP 10, LAP 46 RESTART: Nick Leitz, Ty Majeski, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Corey LaJoie, Layne Riggs, Taylor Gray, John Hunter Nemechek, Brad Perez, Ben Rhodes, Tyler Ankrum.
Michael McDowell had to go to the rear of the field for equipment interference.
The final stage is 60 laps and ends on lap 100.
STAGE TWO Winner: Chandler Smith
Stage two will end under caution with Chandler Smith, Layne Riggs, Ty Majeski, Taylor Gray, Michael McDowell, Nick Leitz, Christian Eckes, Corey LaJoie, John Hunter Nemechek and Ben Rhodes as the top-10 receiving points.
Carson Hocevar got 25th in the stage after his engine shut off while leading.
Top stage points earners: Christian Eckes (12), Ty Majeski (12), Michael McDowell (12*), Chandler Smith (10), Carson Hocevar (10*), Taylor Gray (10*), Layne Riggs (9), Tanner Gray (9), John Hunter Nemechek (9*), Kaden Honeycutt (5), Nick Leitz (5), Corey LaJoie (3), Brenden Queen (2), Grant Enfinger (1), Ben Rhodes (1)
TOP 10: Carson Hocevar, Tanner Gray, Christian Eckes, John Hunter Nemechek, Michael McDowell, Kaden Honeycutt, Ty Majeski, Taylor Gray, Brenden Queen, Grant Enfinger.
LAP 36: Tony Stewart and Jake Garcia crash off of turn four! Stewart is reporting steering issues.
LAP 33: Layne Riggs goes to the lead with teammate Chandler Smith in second. Riggs had a poor start but that doesn’t matter now.
LAP 32: Nick Leitz having a great run up in the top five, second truck on the inside lane. Daniel Hemric, unfortunately, can’t say the same:
LAP 30: Carson Hocevar looks bad fast. He surged from ninth to fifth and then to the lead in just a couple of laps after the restart.
LAP 28: Carson Hocevar surges to the top five after restarting ninth. John Hunter Nemechek leads as Hocevar hangs him out as the pied piper of the field challenging Taylor Gray for the lead.
John Hunter Nemechek, Taylor Gray, Daniel Hemric, Layne Riggs, Tyler Ankrum, Corey LaJoie, Justin Haley, Nick Leitz and Chandler Smith stayed out during the stage caution.
Meanwhile, Carson Hocevar, Tanner Gray, Michael McDowell, Kaden Honeycutt, Ty Majeski, Grant Enfinger, Ty Majeski, Brenden Queen, Stewart Friesen Gio, Ruggiero and Cole Butcher round out the top 20 behind the top-nine drivers who stayed out.
“Carson (Hocevar) told me if I cause the wreck, I usually won’t be in the wreck. I caused the wreck and was the only one in the wreck.” – Cleetus McFarland
The second stage is 20 laps and ends on lap 40.
STAGE ONE WINNER: Carson Hocevar
LAP 20: It’s Tanner Gray vs. Carson Hocevar for the stage win! Timing and scoring showed Tanner Gray won Stage 1 by 0.005 seconds over Carson Hocevar at Daytona — but the camera showed Hocevar ahead so he gets the stage win.
TOP 10: Carson Hocevar, Tanner Gray, Christian Eckes, John Hunter Nemechek, Michael McDowell, Kaden Honeycutt, Ty Majeski, Taylor Gray, Brenden Queen, Grant Enfinger.
LAP 19: Christian Eckes surges to nearly the lead after a lock-on push from John Hunter Nemechek. Eckes now challenges Carson Hocevar for the lead.
TOP 10 AT LAP 10: Michael McDowell, Carson Hocevar, Ty Majeski, Tanner Gray, Grant Enfinger, Kaden Honeycutt, Stewart Friesen, Jake Garcia, Ben Rhodes, Christian Eckes.
Cole Butcher runs 11th. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. is in 14th while Kaulig Ram Trucks drivers Brenden Queen and Daniel Dye restart 15th and 18th on lap 11.
LAP 7: Oh no Cleetus McFarland! He spun off of turn 4 and slammed the inside wall with the driver’s side. That is tough.
LAP 3: Carson Hocevar races Michael McDowell for the lead after making a move to the inside.
LAP 1: Michael McDowell leads in front of a stellar crowd for the Truck Series. Carson Hocevar rides second with Matt Crafton in third. They are three wide in the pack.
Tony Stewart is making his first NASCAR start in nearly 10 years. He told Fox Sports 1, “I feel like I’m the old man running the daycare tonight.”
Travis Pastrana and Cleetus McFarland are also in the race. There are also several NASCAR Cup Series drivers, including Michael McDowell, Carson Hocevar and Ricky Stenhouse Jr., who are racing.
The first stage is 20 laps with Ty Majeski and Michael McDowell on the front row. Majeski is on pole in his first-ever start in the historic, neon yellow No. 88 ThorSport Racing truck Matt Crafton made notable for 25 seasons.
Catch the race on FS1, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio. The average time of race is two hours, 17 minutes and 13 seconds.
Pit road speed is 55 mph, caution car speed is 70 mph and the fuel window is 35 laps.
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Jonathan Fjeld View All
Jonathan Fjeld is the co-owner of the The Racing Experts, LLC. He has been with TRE since 2010.
A Twin Valley, MN, native, Fjeld became a motorsports fan at just three years old (first race was the 2002 Pennsylvania 500). He worked as a contributor and writer for TRE from 2010-18. Since then, he has stepped up and covered 24 NASCAR race weekends and taken on a larger role with TRE. He became the co-owner and managing editor in 2023 and has guided the site to massive growth in that time.
Fjeld has covered a wide array of stories and moments over the years, including Kevin Harvick's final Cup Series season, the first NASCAR national series disqualification in over 50 years, Shane van Gisbergen's stunning win in Chicago and the first Cup Series race at Road America in 66 years – as well as up-and-coming drivers' stories and stories from inside the sport, like the tech it takes for Hendrick Motorsports to remain a top-tier team.
Currently, he resides in Albuquerque, N.M., where he works for KOB 4, an NBC station. He works as a digital producer and does on-air reports. He loves spending time with friends and family, playing and listening to music, exploring new places, being outdoors, reading books and writing among other activities. You can email him at fjeldjonathan@gmail.com
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