Saturday at North Wilkesboro Speedway, Chandler Smith made a statement: he is not to be forgotten or overshadowed in the battle for the 2026 NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series championship.
The Talking Rock, Georgia-native put an absolute butt-whooping on the field in the final stage of the Faith Fest 250 at the 0.625-mile racetrack, beating his competition by 8.479 seconds – the largest margin of victory on a short track in NASCAR Truck Series history.
It’s the ninth career victory in the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series for Chandler Smith, and his second of the year after the season-opener at Daytona International Speedway in February. Front Row Motorsports has now been to Victory Lane 21 times in the Truck Series.
There were some tense moments both inside and outside of the No. 38 Ford F-150 with two laps remaining in the 250-lapper, when Nathan Nicholson, making his first start on an oval for Freedom Racing Enterprises, spun around. Luckily for Smith, no caution was thrown, and the Front Row Motorsports driver was able to take the white flag.
“I was just like, ‘Come on boys. Just keep it straight. It ain’t that deep. I’m already right here.’ All glory goes to God. We’ve been in the valley the past few weeks and I was telling these guys, ‘God is good in the mountains, but he’s also good in the valleys.’ We’ve been in the valleys. Today we’re on the mountaintop. Either way, whether if we’re on the mountaintop or in the valley, we’re gonna keep raising Him. I just want to give all glory to him. He’s the source of where all blessings and all the trials flow, so I’m just grateful.”
Smith, at the finish, had an 8.479-second gap over his teammate Layne Riggs, who finished second. Both Smith and Riggs were involved in the last-lap battle for the win last season, with Riggs getting into Corey Heim, and the No. 38 capitalizing to take the victory.
“We won last year and were really good, and my truck wasn’t good. This year, our truck was good, and it reflected that.”
NASCAR Cup Series regular Shane Van Gisbergen put forward an impressive effort in Saturday’s Faith Fest 250 at North Wilkesboro, matching his career-best with a third-place finish in the No. 71. It matches the best result for SVG on an oval in any of NASCAR’s National Series.
Christian Eckes and Landen Lewis finished fourth and fifth. Gio Ruggiero, Chase Elliott, Stewart Friesen, Corey Heim, and Ty Majeski rounded out the top-10.
Leaving North Wilkesboro, Layne Riggs holds a 59-point lead over Kaden Honeycutt.
The NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series returns to action next weekend at Indianapolis Raceway Park, with coverage of the event taking place on Friday, July 24 at 8:00 PM ET on FOX Sports 1.
