Chandler Smith Claims Truck Series Opener in Shocking Fashion

Chandler Smith scored an exciting win in Friday night’s Fresh from Florida 250 at Daytona International Speedway. (Photo: Danny Hansen | Nigel Kinrade Photography)

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Veteran drivers tend to show up in races that come down to close, dramatic finishes. Last night’s NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series opener from Daytona International Speedway was no exception.

From the drop of the green flag of the Fresh from Florida 250, it was difficult to tell who had the best handling truck for the first half of the show. The likes of teammates Michael McDowell and Carson Hocevar were battling for the lead for the majority of the race, leading a combined 40 laps between both Spire Motorsports machines.

Along with a wide scale of competition for a potential win, last night’s race saw a Truck Series record 32 lead changes by the time the checkered flag waved, the most all-time in a Truck Series event, according to NASCAR Insights. This Daytona race certainly lived up to the cliche of “a superspeedway race never disappoints.”

For most of the first two stages, the field kept the racetrack clean, with a few exceptions. In his first Truck Series event, Garrett “Cleetus McFarland” Mitchell lost control on Lap 6 in his Greg Biffle-inspired tribute No. 4 truck down the beginning of the frontstretch and nailed the inside SAFER barrier just before the opening of pit road, ending his night prematurely.

Garrett Mitchell aka “Cleetus McFarland” was caught up in an incident in Friday night’s Fresh from Florida 250 at Daytona International Speedway. (Photo: Nigel Kinrade | Nigel Kinrade Photography)

“100 percent my fault. Terrible mistake,” Mitchell commented to NASCAR on FOX after the wreck. “It’s impressive those guys can run three wide for that long, and when that thing stepped out, I mean you just have a couple feet on either side, and I just did not have the ability to gather it up, and so I wrecked myself.”

Hocevar went on to win Stage 1 in an extremely tight finish with TRICON Garage driver Tanner Gray. When Stage 2 commenced, it was as if the race had started over again. Stage 2 was almost identical to Stage 1, with tight racing quarters and competitive spirits. On Lap 36, Jake Garcia lost control of his No. 98 ThorSport truck, driving right up into the grill of Tony Stewart’s No. 25 RAM machine, ending both of their nights in a shocking turn of events.

“It’s fun to watch the style these kids run. I mean, you could tell the guys that their trucks felt good right out of the gate, and they were aggressive,” Stewart said in his media scrum outside of the care center. “I thought the effort that Kaulig Racing made coming down here was unbelievable… the hard thing is I’m not really sure what happened that got us there, but we just ended up on the wrong end of that stick.”

Tony Stewart’s return to NASCAR ended in an accident before the end of Stage 2 in Friday night’s Fresh from Florida 250 at Daytona. (Photo: Gavin Baker | Nigel Kinrade Photography)

Chandler Smith took the green-white-checkered flag at the end of Stage 2, even though his truck did not show the best pace in the group of frontrunners at the time. That was made clear for a majority of the final 60 laps of the show.

Smith struggled to find the front of pack, keeping his truck clean in the back of the field, running from as high as the back end of the top 10 to as low as outside the top 20. It was not until the closing 30 laps that Smith started to find a little extra fire underneath his No. 38 Front Row Motorsports Ford F-150.

As the laps wound down, so did the patience that these young drivers had for most of the evening. Despite tempers running hotter, the field stayed clean, which was surprising to see in a race where chaos usually runs rampant.

With a late race caution that eventually sent the field into overtime, McDowell and Gio Ruggerio looked like the trucks to beat in the two-lap shootout. Smith, meanwhile, was sitting inside the top 10 with a chance to take the crown from the rest of the frontrunners when it mattered most.

By the white flag, Smith in his No. 38 machine had already made big strides, finding himself in the top five. The frontrunners were two-wide and about three to four rows deep through Turns 3 and 4. Coming down the frontstretch for the final time. Smith was sitting in fourth, and with a little amount of luck and good timing, Cup Series regular and race leader at that time John Hunter Nemechek lost control of his No. 62 truck, clearing a gap for Ruggerio and Christian Eckes on the top side of the track.

Unfortunately for both drivers, Nemechek tried to block their runs, slowing all three of their machines down significantly, while Smith casually drove by on the inside lane and took the checkered flag in the Fresh from Florida 250 for his first victory of the 2026 campaign.

With a giant Bass plastered on the side of his Front Row Motorsports No. 38 with sponsorship from TrophyCatch, Smith performed a burnout against the outside wall, with his entire team rushing in from the infield to celebrate with him on the track. However, Smith did not thank his team at the same level as the driver who pushed him to victory.

“Thank you, thank you, thank you, Ty Majeski!” said Smith in his post-race comments with NASCAR on FOX. “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… definitely got to owe you one on that one.”

Smith had a solid season with Front Row Motorsports last year when he piloted their No. 38 machine, but a win like this to start the season could pay huge dividends when the team looks for more speed down the road. The lesson of the night was that you are never out at Daytona, even if you think your race is over. Smith proved this to be true.

Stage 1 Top 10 Results:

1. Carson Hocevar
2. Tanner Gray
3. Christian Eckes
4. John Hunter Nemechek
5. Michael McDowell
6. Kaden Honeycutt
7. Ty Majeski
8. Taylor Gray
9. Brenden Queen
10. Grant Enfinger

Stage 2 Top 10 Results:

1. Chandler Smith
2. Layne Riggs
3. Ty Majeski
4. Taylor Gray
5. Michael McDowell
6. Nick Leitz
7. Christian Eckes
8. John Hunter Nemechek
9. Corey LaJoie
10. Ben Rhodes

Fresh From Florida 250 at Daytona International Speedway Race Results: