2026 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series midsummer superlatives

We're just around the corner from the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series postseason! Only two races remain until the field of 10 tailgaters is set in The Chase for the championship, but not before a two-week break ahead of Richmond Raceway (Aug. 14, 7:30 p.m. ET, FS1, FOX One, NRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

As we reach the heart of summer, the NASCAR.com staff -- with help from Racing Insights -- hands out some mid-season awards. 

RELATED: Truck Series schedule | Truck Series standings 

Mr. Momentum

The data: Layne Riggs leads all drivers with five victories in 2026, with four of them coming in the last seven races. Additionally, he's won the pole for each of the last three, the longest streak of the season. 

Comment: As it's gotten hotter outside, so has Riggs. He's been stellar since mid-May, finishing worse than fourth just once since Watkins Glen -- an eight race stretch. With his ability to dominate at all types of tracks, especially short tracks, it's hard not to think that it's his championship to lose as the No. 34 Front Row Motorsports driver closes in on the No. 1 seed for The Chase. 

Point maximizer

The data: Layne Riggs earned the maximium 76 points at Nashville Superspeedway and Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park this season, the only Truck Series driver to do so -- twice, nonetheless. 

Comment: In this new points format, it's pretty difficult to earn every possible point in a given race, but Riggs has mastered it. His dominant performances at both Nashville and IRP further prove that the No. 38 team is the favorite to emerge from The Chase with the title. 

11 for 11

The data: Kaden Honeycutt leads all drivers with 11 top-10 finishes, all while driving the No. 11 Tricon Garage Toyota.

Comment: A longtime late-model ace, Honeycutt's enjoying the best opportunity of his racing career and making the most of it. He earned his first national-series victory in May at Watkins Glen, which came just hours after his maiden ARCA Menards Series victory at the same track. Without a doubt, he has massive shoes to fill after Corey Heim's dominant 12-win season with the same team a year ago, but generally speaking, he's living up to it. If there's anyone who can challenge Riggs for the series title, Honeycutt certainly rises to the top of the list. 

By a landslide

The data: Chandler Smith's 8.479-second margin of victory at North Wilkesboro was the largest on a short-track in Truck Series history. 

Comment: Smith has been rock solid in his second season with Front Row Motorsports, wheeling the No. 38 Ford to two wins -- including the dominant North Wilkesboro triumph. We know he's departing the organization after 2026, but regardless, he's still one of the top championship threats, and is almost untouchable when the series hits short tracks. 

Iron Man

The data: Gio Ruggiero has completed all but six laps through 16 races in 2026. 

Comment: The second-year Tricon Garage driver has taken a major jump from 2025, and could be considered a championship dark horse. He's finished inside the top 10 eight times in 2026, and even though he hasn't won since Talladega last fall, Ruggiero constantly finds himself in the mix. It certainly feels like a bunch of victories are on the horizon.

Close, but no cigar

The data: Ty Majeski has two runner-up finishes in 2026, the most among winless drivers. 

Comment: Without a doubt, this season has been defined by feast or famine for the 2024 champion. Majeski has eight top 10s -- a solid number -- but seven finishes of 23rd or worse. He quite literally had alternating top 10s all the way until Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park, where for the first time, he finished inside the top 10 in consecutive weeks. It's certainly notable that ThorSport Racing as an organization hasn't found Victory Lane since Majeski's 2024 title triumph at Phoenix, but certainly keep an eye on the veteran as he looks to make a late-season surge. 

Streak broken!

The data: Grant Enfinger won the Truck Series race at Lime Rock Park, ending a 40-race winless streak. 

Comment: The longtime series veteran earned a season-altering victory at the Connecticut road course, fending off youngster Landen Lewis late for his first win since 2024. A two-time Championship 4 qualifier, the victory vaulted Enfinger above The Chase cutline, and the CR7 Motorsports driver is now well positioned to fight for a title. He's currently eighth in points, so it'll take a hurculean effort over the final nine races, but you certainly can never count out the 13-time series victor. 

The freelancer

The data: Corey Heim has the most wins among part-time drivers in both the Cup Series and Craftsman Truck Series this year. 

Comment: Heim Time has taken the NASCAR world by storm in 2026 after his 12-win Truck Series campaign just a year ago. Running a part-time slate for Tricon Garage this season, he's won three times, of course in addition to his pair of Cup Series triumphs. And those Cup wins could not have come on bigger stages than the inagurual Naval Base Coronado race and the crown jewel Brickyard 400. We're expected to see Heim again in Tricon equipment later this year before officially moving to Cup full-time, and it's certainly likely that he'll keep adding wins before taking over the 23XI Racing No. 35 Toyota in 2027. 

The crossover we never knew we needed

Best paint scheme: Frankie Muniz's No. 33 Malcolm in the Middle Life's Still Unfair Ford. 

Comment: How's this for a crossover? At Bristol Motor Speedway, Frankie Muniz donned a paint scheme for the rebooted "Malcolm in the Middle" television series -- which he starred in! The longtime actor began competing in the ARCA Menards Series in 2023, and is now in his second season driving for Team Reaume in the Truck Series. 

Four-wide thriller

Best race: Fresh From Florida 250

Comment: Talk about setting a tone for the season. On the final lap of the opener at Daytona, the seas parted for Chandler Smith, who went from sixth to first in the final set of corners to win in a wild four-wide finish. The race also featured a plethora of superstars, including several Cup regulars, Hall of Famer Tony Stewart and motorsports legend Travis Pastrana. 

Over 30 years in the making

Best moment: Truck Series' first ever street-course race at St. Petersburg

Comment: In over 30 years of existance, the Craftsman Truck Series had never raced on a street course. That was until Feb. 28, when the tailgaters visited St. Petersburg for a doubleheader weekend with the NTT IndyCar Series. Layne Riggs won in thriller, holding off the ThorSport duo of Ty Majeski and Ben Rhodes. In June, Riggs doubled down with another street course win at Naval Base Coronado, dubbing himself "Layne van Riggsbergen" after unofficially becoming the series' king of the road.