{"id":59686,"date":"2026-07-18T15:13:37","date_gmt":"2026-07-18T20:13:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/?p=59686"},"modified":"2026-07-22T08:36:05","modified_gmt":"2026-07-22T13:36:05","slug":"chandler-smith-races-to-dominant-nascar-craftsman-truck-series-win","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/2026\/07\/18\/chandler-smith-races-to-dominant-nascar-craftsman-truck-series-win\/","title":{"rendered":"Chandler Smith races to dominant NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series win"},"content":{"rendered":"
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NORTH WILKESBORO, NORTH CAROLINA – JULY 18: Chandler Smith, driver of the #38 QuickTie Ford, celebrates in victory lane after winning the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Faith Fest 250 at North Wilkesboro Speedway on July 18, 2026 in North Wilkesboro, North Carolina. (Photo by David Jensen\/Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service<\/em><\/p>\n

NORTH WILKESBORO, N.C.\u2014Last year at North Wilkesboro Speedway, Chandler Smith led one lap in winning the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series over Front Row Motorsports teammate Layne Riggs.<\/p>\n

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NORTH WILKESBORO, NORTH CAROLINA – JULY 18: Chandler Smith, driver of the #38 QuickTie Ford, takes the checkered flag to win the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Faith Fest 250 at North Wilkesboro Speedway on July 18, 2026 in North Wilkesboro, North Carolina. (Photo by Meg Oliphant\/Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In sharp contrast, Smith was the quintessence of dominance on Saturday, leading the final 105 laps to claim victory in the FaithFest 250 presented by Mercer Transportation, again with series leader Riggs securing second place.<\/p>\n

Last year\u2019s race ended under caution, after the trucks of Riggs and Corey Heim collided on the last lap. On Saturday, Smith ran away with the race in the final stage, beating Riggs to the finish line by 8.479 seconds\u2014a record margin on a short track in Truck Series history.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re ready to rip,\u201d Smith said after a race run in extreme heat on the 0.625-mile asphalt surface. \u201cIf the Lord wills it, we don\u2019t plan on backing down from here going forward. We were just biding our time, keeping the fenders clean and taking what (the No. 38 Ford) would give me.\u201d<\/p>\n

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NORTH WILKESBORO, NORTH CAROLINA – JULY 18: Chandler Smith, driver of the #38 QuickTie Ford, celebrates with a burnout after winning the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Faith Fest 250 at North Wilkesboro Speedway on July 18, 2026 in North Wilkesboro, North Carolina. (Photo by David Jensen\/Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Smith took the lead off pit road for a Lap 152 restart to begin the final stage and never looked back. Riggs restarted eighth and worked his way to second on Lap 210 but had nothing for his teammate over the final 40 circuits.<\/p>\n

The race ran without a caution for the final 99 laps.<\/p>\n

\u201cPart of me wanted to have a restart,\u201d Riggs said. \u201cPart of me knew if that happened there was probably going to be some carnage. So I was very happy just finishing the race there, knowing our teammate got the win. Congratulations to Chandler. He did a great job.\u201d<\/p>\n

Riggs, who won the opening stage and led 25 laps, had to overcome the heat to hold second over third-place NASCAR Cup Series regular Shane van Gisbergen, who matched his best NASCAR national series finish on an oval track.<\/p>\n

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NORTH WILKESBORO, NORTH CAROLINA – JULY 18: Chandler Smith, driver of the #38 QuickTie Ford, celebrates after winning the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Faith Fest 250 at North Wilkesboro Speedway on July 18, 2026 in North Wilkesboro, North Carolina. (Photo by David Jensen\/Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cIt was hot today,\u201d Riggs acknowledged. \u201cI ice-bagged on every stop. My cool shirt was on\u2014I took it off already. It was probably one of the hottest races I\u2019ve ever been in. I think we need to add some heat shields to these things\u2026<\/p>\n

\u201cBut my mind stayed sharp, and I stayed in the game.\u201d<\/p>\n

Riggs extended his series lead to 59 points over 11th-place finisher Kaden Honeycutt.<\/p>\n

Christian Eckes finished fourth, followed by Landen Lewis, who scored his second straight top-five finish after a runner-up run last Saturday at Lime Rock Park.<\/p>\n

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NORTH WILKESBORO, NORTH CAROLINA – JULY 18: Chandler Smith, driver of the #38 QuickTie Ford, celebrates with the checkered flag after winning NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Faith Fest 250 at North Wilkesboro Speedway on July 18, 2026 in North Wilkesboro, North Carolina. (Photo by Meg Oliphant\/Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Giovanni Ruggiero, Chase Elliott, Stewart Friesen, Heim and Stage 2 winner Ty Majeski completed the top 10.<\/p>\n

The race for the final spots in the postseason Chase tightened on Saturday. With three races left to set the Chase field, Friesen and 19th-place finisher Tyler Ankrum are tied for the 10th and final postseason berth, with Jake Garcia just 11 points back in 12th place after coming home 13th at North Wilkesboro.<\/p>\n

Cup Series driver Carson Hocevar led 74 laps but couldn’t recover from a cut left-front tire that dropped him two laps down and relegated him to a 27th-place finish.<\/p>\n

Interview: NCTS Race Winner – Chandler Smith (No. 38 Front Row Motorsports Ford) –<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series Race – FaithFest 250 presented by Mercer Transportation<\/strong><\/p>\n

North Wilkesboro Speedway<\/strong><\/p>\n

North Wilkesboro, North Carolina<\/strong><\/p>\n

Saturday, July 18, 2026<\/strong><\/p>\n

                1. (9)  Chandler Smith, Ford, 250.<\/p>\n

                2. (1)  Layne Riggs, Ford, 250.<\/p>\n

                3. (19)  Shane Van Gisbergen(i), Chevrolet, 250.<\/p>\n

                4. (18)  Christian Eckes, Chevrolet, 250.<\/p>\n

                5. (16)  Landen Lewis, Chevrolet, 250.<\/p>\n

                6. (5)  Giovanni Ruggiero, Toyota, 250.<\/p>\n

                7. (6)  Chase Elliott(i), Chevrolet, 250.<\/p>\n

                8. (10)  Stewart Friesen, Toyota, 250.<\/p>\n

                9. (4)  Corey Heim, Toyota, 250.<\/p>\n

                10. (27)  Ty Majeski, Ford, 250.<\/p>\n

                11. (7)  Kaden Honeycutt, Toyota, 249.<\/p>\n

                12. (30)  Tyler Reif, Chevrolet, 249.<\/p>\n

                13. (15)  Jake Garcia, Ford, 249.<\/p>\n

                14. (22)  Ben Rhodes, Ford, 249.<\/p>\n

                15. (3)  Christopher Bell(i), Toyota, 249.<\/p>\n

                16. (17)  Dawson Sutton, Chevrolet, 249.<\/p>\n

                17. (12)  Nick Leitz, Toyota, 249.<\/p>\n

                18. (14)  Tanner Gray, Toyota, 249.<\/p>\n

                19. (24)  Tyler Ankrum, Chevrolet, 249.<\/p>\n

                20. (21)  Daniel Hemric, Chevrolet, 249.<\/p>\n

                21. (23)  Brenden Queen #, RAM, 249.<\/p>\n

                22. (11)  Cole Butcher #, Ford, 249.<\/p>\n

                23. (20)  Andres Perez De Lara, Chevrolet, 248.<\/p>\n

                24. (25)  Ryan Newman, RAM, 248.<\/p>\n

                25. (8)  Grant Enfinger, Chevrolet, 248.<\/p>\n

                26. (13)  Justin Haley, RAM, 248.<\/p>\n

                27. (2)  Carson Hocevar(i), Chevrolet, 248.<\/p>\n

                28. (28)  Mini Tyrrell #, RAM, 248.<\/p>\n

                29. (34)  Corey LaJoie, RAM, 247.<\/p>\n

                30. (26)  Kris Wright, Chevrolet, 247.<\/p>\n

                31. (35)  Clayton Green, Ford, 246.<\/p>\n

                32. (36)  Frankie Muniz, Ford, 246.<\/p>\n

                33. (29)  Luke Baldwin, Ford, 245.<\/p>\n

                34. (33)  Nathan Nicholson, Chevrolet, Accident, 242.<\/p>\n

                35. (31)  Kasey Kleyn, Chevrolet, Electrical, 203.<\/p>\n

                36. (32)  Donovan Strauss, Chevrolet, Overheating, 134.<\/p>\n

Average Speed of Race Winner:  91.627 mph.<\/p>\n

Time of Race:  1 Hrs, 42 Mins, 19 Secs. Margin of Victory:  8.479 Seconds.<\/p>\n

Caution Flags:  4 for 34 laps.<\/p>\n

Lead Changes:  7 among 6 drivers.<\/p>\n

Lap Leaders:   C. Hocevar(i) 1-50;L. Riggs 51-75;J. Garcia 76-97;C. Hocevar(i) 98-121;C. Elliott(i) 122;T. Majeski 123-145;C. Smith 146-250.<\/p>\n

Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Lead, Laps Led):  Chandler Smith 1 time for 105 laps; Carson Hocevar(i) 2 times for 74 laps; Layne Riggs 1 time for 25 laps; Ty Majeski 1 time for 23 laps; Jake Garcia 1 time for 22 laps; Chase Elliott(i) 1 time for 1 lap.<\/p>\n

Stage #1 Top Ten: 34,77,38,62,7,5,11,91,17,9<\/p>\n

Stage #2 Top Ten: 88,38,99,91,52,19,44,17,5,7<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

  By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service NORTH WILKESBORO, N.C.\u2014Last year at North Wilkesboro Speedway, Chandler Smith led one lap in winning the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series over Front Row Motorsports teammate Layne Riggs. In sharp contrast, Smith was the quintessence of dominance on Saturday, leading the final 105 laps to claim victory in the FaithFest 250<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":676,"featured_media":59706,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[11],"tags":[858,16,882,774],"class_list":["post-59686","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nascar","tag-chandler-smith","tag-nascar","tag-nascar-craftsmen-truck-series","tag-north-wilkesboro-speedway"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7hzTZ-fwG","jetpack_likes_enabled":false,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/GettyImages-2286661916-scaled.jpg?fit=2560%2C1706","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59686","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/676"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=59686"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59686\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":59707,"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59686\/revisions\/59707"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/59706"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=59686"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=59686"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=59686"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}