Posted on by Jessica Garcete

Two former champions will carry ThorSport Racing into the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Chase presented by Mobil 1. Neither has been to Victory Lane in quite some time.

The Sandusky, Ohio-based organization enters Thursday’s Chase opener at Bristol Motor Speedway (8 p.m. ET, FS1, FOX One, NASCAR Radio Network, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) on a 43-race winless streak, dating to Ty Majeski’s victory in November 2024 at Phoenix Raceway.

Ben Rhodes won Truck Series championships in 2021 and 2023, while Majeski captured his first title in 2024. Majeski came within a second of becoming a back-to-back champion last season, finishing behind eventual champion Corey Heim in the finale.

For Rhodes, there isn’t one obvious explanation for why ThorSport has gone winless for so long.

RELATED: Truck Series standings | Bristol weekend schedule

“I wish I could put my finger on one solid thing and say, ‘That’s it,’ ” Rhodes said during Tuesday’s Truck Series Chase Media Day. “In certain instances, I can say execution. There’ve been some mistakes by me or even by others and then there’s been some bad luck that’s happened this year, but you can’t use that as an excuse to say that we don’t need to be searching for more speed.”

Layne Riggs leads The Chase standings entering Bristol, while Majeski resets sixth, 50 points behind. Rhodes, meanwhile, is ninth, 65 points back. Jake Garcia narrowly missed The Chase for the organization and enters Thursday’s race 12th in the standings.

Rhodes started 2026 strong with top fives in two of the first three races before tapering off, but he sees several Chase tracks that could play to the organization’s strengths.

“(This season) started out strong, and then we tapered off a bit,” Rhodes explained. “But I really think that The Chase has some good tracks for us. Bristol, Talladega, Martinsville, Homestead, all killer race tracks for us.”

Bristol and Martinsville are the two short tracks in The Chase, which also includes Kansas, Charlotte, Talladega, Phoenix and the Nov. 6 finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

The three-week break before The Chase allowed ThorSport to regroup before seven races in eight weeks determine the champion. For Rhodes, the time away from the track was welcome.

“I was appreciative of the break,” Rhodes said. “We have eight weeks with seven races going forward. That’s a lot for the Truck Series schedule.”

Rhodes said the break was particularly valuable for ThorSport’s road crew members, many of whom also spend long hours at the shop preparing trucks between races.

“We used (the break) as a building session,” Rhodes said. “I can go into the race shop right now, ThorSport Racing, and I can see a fleet of trucks ready to go, so that’s a really good, comforting sign.”

Rhodes has four top-five finishes and has led 147 laps this season, fourth-most among the 10 Chase drivers. But he has just one top 10 in the last eight races. He finished second at Bristol last fall and won the track’s dirt race in 2022.

Despite entering The Chase outside the top five in points, neither Rhodes nor Majeski is approaching the opening races with an anything-goes mentality.

For Majeski, he has two poles and five top-five finishes but has led only 34 laps through the regular season. He has struggled at Bristol in recent years but won at the track in 2022, his first victory in Truck Series competition.

Majeski enters The Chase with three DNFs, the most among the 10 postseason drivers, and said avoiding mistakes early will be critical before taking more chances later in the championship hunt.

Ty Majeski of ThorSport in the Craftsman Truck Series at Richmond.
Jonathan Bachman | Getty Images

“I think for us it’s about taking maybe a little bit more careful approach to the first three and then being aggressive in those last four, all the places that are more in our wheelhouse and feel like we have a good chance to win,” Majeski said.

The DNFs, along with several other regular-season races that haven’t been clean, leave Majeski with little margin for error.

“We obviously have to clean that up,” Majeski said. “If we have one of those in the next seven races, it’s over for us, right? We don’t have the luxury of a points buffer.”

Majeski said ThorSport needs both more speed and better execution to compete for another championship.

“There’s no room for a hiccup, so we’ve got to execute on all levels,” Majeski said. “We’ve obviously got to have faster trucks than what we’ve put out on the race track and up the execution level, team-wide.”

Rhodes will make his 250th consecutive Truck Series start Thursday. He already has two championships to his name, but the milestone has done little to lessen his motivation.

“I just want to win races and championships. I’m pretty hungry right now based on this winless streak we’ve had,” Rhodes said. “To go from the highest of highs to not having a win since then has been really tough, so I’m truly focused on that right now.”

Posted on by Staff Report

The NASCAR Cup Series and O’Reilly Auto Parts Series continue their respective Chases presented by Mobil 1 this weekend at Bristol Motor Speedway, while the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series begins its seven-race Chase. The Cup field features 37 entries, with 39 O’Reilly cars and 37 trucks also entered for the weekend. See the qualifying orders for Bristol here.

MORE: Weekend schedule | How to watch NASCAR on TV

Cup Series
Single-car qualifying will occur at 5:40 p.m. ET on Friday (truTV).

Pos.Car No.DriverMetric Score
166* Josh Bilicki(i)40.100
24Noah Gragson33.000
338Zane Smith33.000
435Riley Herbst32.800
510Ty Dillon31.200
621Josh Berry27.700
747Ricky Stenhouse Jr.26.900
851Cody Ware26.500
933Austin Hill(i)24.000
1034Todd Gilliland23.400
1197Shane van Gisbergen21.200
1271Michael McDowell20.000
1342John Hunter Nemechek18.900
1416AJ Allmendinger18.100
1541Cole Custer17.300
1688Connor Zilisch #15.400
1743Erik Jones15.400
186Brad Keselowski13.800
193Austin Dillon11.700
201Ross Chastain9.200
2148Alex Bowman8.600
2212Ryan Blaney (C)25.700
237Daniel Suárez (C)25.100
249Chase Elliott (C)25.000
2519Chase Briscoe (C)24.800
2617Chris Buescher (C)22.800
2745Tyler Reddick (C)19.000
2860Ryan Preece (C)15.500
2954Ty Gibbs (C)14.400
3020Christopher Bell (C)14.200
3123Bubba Wallace (C)12.800
322Austin Cindric (C)11.200
3377Carson Hocevar (C)8.300
3424William Byron (C)7.300
3511Denny Hamlin (C)6.600
3622Joey Logano (C)4.200
375Kyle Larson (C)1.300

O’Reilly Auto Parts Series
Single-car qualifying will occur at 3:05 p.m. ET on Friday (ESPN Unlimited).

Pos.Car No.DriverMetric Score
143Landon S. Huffman (143)58.700
238JJ Yeley39.800
347Natalie Decker(i)36.600
49Jake Finch33.200
553Carson Ware (153)32.900
624Harrison Burton31.100
787Nick Sanchez30.700
845Lavar Scott #30.600
942Logan Bearden29.800
1055David Starr29.700
1151Jeremy Clements28.000
1207Josh Bilicki27.200
1302Ryan Ellis26.700
140Garrett Smithley25.000
1591Stefan Parsons(i)22.800
1632Andrew Patterson22.100
1792Josh Williams21.900
1831Blaine Perkins21.800
1996Anthony Alfredo20.500
2048Patrick Staropoli #20.300
2144Brennan Poole18.700
2218William Sawalich15.400
2328Kyle Sieg15.000
2439Ryan Sieg14.600
2527Jeb Burton14.200
2626Dean Thompson14.100
2717Corey Day (C)25.800
2821Austin Hill (C)21.800
2920Brandon Jones (C)13.800
3088Rajah Caruth (C)10.100
317Justin Allgaier (C)9.400
328Sammy Smith (C)8.600
3399Parker Retzlaff (C)7.800
3419Brent Crews # (C)7.000
3554Taylor Gray (C)6.700
361Carson Kvapil (C)4.400
3741Sam Mayer (C)3.900
3800Sheldon Creed (C)2.000
392Jesse Love (C)1.900

Craftsman Truck Series
Single-car qualifying will occur at 4:05 p.m. ET on Thursday (FS2).

Pos.Truck No.DriverMetric Score
190Justin Carroll41.600
275Parker Kligerman40.700
32Luke Baldwin39.200
476Caden Kvapil34.800
522Jackson Macenko34.700
681Kris Wright32.500
756Timmy Hill31.100
833Frankie Muniz30.700
926Dawson Sutton25.300
1044Andrés Pérez24.900
114Connor Hall24.700
1214Mini Tyrrell24.500
1325Regan Smith24.300
1415Tanner Gray21.300
1513Cole Butcher20.000
1612Brenden Queen19.700
175Bayley Currey17.800
1810Corey LaJoie17.700
1998Jake Garcia15.200
2042Parker Eatmon13.900
2116Justin Haley12.600
2262William Sawalich(i)8.200
2352Stewart Friesen7.900
2445Landen Lewis (C)25.100
251Nick Leitz (C)24.600
267Connor Mosack (C)22.200
2791Christian Eckes (C)21.400
2817Gio Ruggiero (C)20.300
2999Ben Rhodes (C)16.800
3018Tyler Ankrum (C)16.000
319Grant Enfinger (C)12.700
3288Ty Majeski (C)10.700
3319Daniel Hemric (C)9.500
3477Tristan McKee (C)6.600
3511Kaden Honeycutt (C)2.700
3638Chandler Smith (C)2.300
3734Layne Riggs (C)1.000

* Required to qualify on time
# denotes series rookie
(i) denotes ineligible for driver points
(C) denotes Chase driver or participant

Posted on by Dustin Albino

Front Row Motorsports’ Chandler Smith is giddy about joining Richard Childress Racing, an opportunity years in the making that is finally coming to fruition in 2027.

When Smith departed Kaulig Racing’s NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series program at the conclusion of 2023, RCR offered the Georgia native the No. 2 Chevrolet that Jesse Love eventually took over when Sheldon Creed departed the organization. Smith, who was already negotiating with Joe Gibbs Racing, decided to stay the course and return to the Toyota camp.

RELATED: Chandler Smith driver page | Smith, Carson Brown join RCR for 2027

“They offered me that ride, but I was already so far down the road with Joe Gibbs Racing that it felt wrong to turn my back on the deal that was already far down the road,” Smith told NASCAR.com when discussing his move to RCR as driver of the No. 21 next season. “The belief and support that Danny Lawrence (vice president, alliance operations/director of the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series program) and Richard (Childress, chairman, chief executive officer) himself showed back during that time in 2023 carried out for those last few years.

“Every single year from 2023 on, 2024, 2025 and at the start of this year, it’s always been a conversation that we’ve had of, ‘How can we get you here? We would love to have you here. You literally fit the glove of Richard Childress Racing, and we want you here.’ ”

Smith was rewarded with a multiyear contract, something foreign to the NASCAR veteran. His only prior multiseason deal was with Kaulig, though he left after a single campaign.

Stability and an opportunity to build were important for the 24-year-old father of two toddlers. That awards him longevity, seeing a potential path to the NASCAR Cup Series with RCR.

“I feel like I’ve made my stance that I have what it takes to go out and win races, win championships,” Smith said. “Even when you look at Front Row Motorsports, they took a chance on me to build a brand-new truck team. It takes time. If you can help me, help you to a point, we can create something special together.

“I’m really looking forward to it because the foundation of Richard Childress Racing is already there. They’ve already had success and won a championship with Jesse last year. I’m not going in there trying to rebuild something. I’m looking at going in and locking arms.”

With Love moving to the Cup Series in 2027 with Wood Brothers Racing and Austin Hill jumping full time to the No. 33 car in Cup for RCR, the blue-collar organization had two vacancies to fill in its O’Reilly program. Smith’s interest was piqued by his previous experience with RCR as an affiliate driver with Kaulig Racing, but he also knows this opportunity will be radically different.

Chandler Smith raises his hand toward the sky at North Wilkesboro Speedway.
David Jensen | Getty Images

Unlike his lone season with Joe Gibbs Racing, Smith doesn’t view 2027 as a campaign in which he needs to prove anything. With a plethora of resources at his disposal, he believes he’ll have every opportunity to succeed and feels the situation is much more aligned with what he envisioned for himself.

“When I went to Joe Gibbs Racing, it was expected to win, and to a point, I thought this was a place I thought I could be at for a long time with my career,” Smith said. “When you looked at it on paper, it didn’t really reflect what I thought. When I look at this on paper, it reflects what I think.”

Austin Dillon, 2013 O’Reilly Auto Parts Series champion, is among those excited for Smith to join RCR.

“Chandler has won in the O’Reilly Series, won in the [Craftsman] Truck Series, so I know he’s going to perform well,” Dillon said.

The immediate goal for Smith, however, is chasing a NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series title with Front Row Motorsports, entering The Chase presented by Mobil 1 at Bristol Motor Speedway as the No. 3 seed (Thu., 8 p.m. ET, FS1, FOX One, NASCAR Racing Network Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). He has two victories this season, one at North Wilkesboro Speedway in July and a frantic last-lap drive in the season opener at Daytona International Speedway in February.

MORE: Craftsman Truck Series standings | Craftsman Truck Series schedule

Knowing what is in store for 2027 isn’t a hindrance for Smith. Instead, it allows him to put added emphasis on what is ahead over the next two months.

“It’s more of a distraction when you don’t have anything,” Smith said. “When you secure something this early in the season, it makes it so you can focus at the task at hand more clearly.”

Through the 18 regular-season events, Smith has a 10.9 average finish, nearly a full position better than his first year with Front Row in 2025 (11.8). His nine top-five finishes are nearly double what he accumulated last year.

Front Row enters The Chase with two of the top three seeds. Layne Riggs — who will return to Front Row in the Truck Series in 2027 — put on a clinic through the first 18 races, winning six times.

“I feel like our 38 team is firing on all cylinders right now,” Smith said. “At the end of the day, I’m excited that we are even in The Chase. I’m excited for the opportunity to run for a championship. With the situation I’m in, I know I have a good group of men and women around me at Front Row Motorsports and good race tracks to go out on the track to perform in.”

Posted on by John Crane

The final stretch is here. A championship trophy awaits. After a near-month-long break, the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series returns to action, with The Chase presented by Mobil 1 beginning in earnest. With 10 drivers jockeying for title glory across seven postseason races, the stakes — and excitement — will only get higher as the 2026 finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway inches closer.

That said, how do the 10 postseason contenders stack up to one another? Let’s find out, with NASCAR.com’s John Crane ranking the 10 Chase drivers before The Chase begins at Bristol Motor Speedway on Thursday (8 p.m. ET, FS1, FOX One, NASCAR Racing Network Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

RELATED: Craftsman Truck Series standings | Craftsman Truck Series schedule

Seed: No. 1

Postseason appearance: 2nd

Regular-season stats: 6 wins, 10 top fives, 11 top 10s, 4 poles, 598 laps led

Best Chase tracks: Bristol, Charlotte, Phoenix, Martinsville, Homestead

Analysis: It’s difficult (but not impossible, as you’ll see) to find a driver on as much of a heater as Riggs. After all, the No. 34 pilot has won five of the last nine races dating back to Charlotte Motor Speedway in May. It wouldn’t be shocking if the 24-year-old Riggs starts The Chase on a high note, given he has past victories at Bristol and Charlotte, two of the first three Chase tracks. Few things are scarier for the field than a driver with as much speed — and experience from his first postseason appearance last year — as Riggs.

Seed: No. 2

Postseason appearance: 2nd

Regular-season stats: 2 wins, 11 top fives, 13 top 10s, 3 poles, 319 laps led

Best Chase tracks: Kansas, Charlotte, Phoenix, Talladega

Analysis: Finishing first at Richmond Raceway and third at New Hampshire Motor Speedway to close the regular season has the 23-year-old Honeycutt on as much of a momentum swing as Riggs. The key for Honeycutt? Survive Bristol — where he only has one top 10 in seven attempts — and capitalize on the Kansas-Charlotte-Phoenix-Talladega stretch, where Honeycutt has combined for a 9.4 average finish in 15 contests. The talent is there (his 8.8 average finish led all full-timers), as is the truck (Heim won the title in it last year). Can Honeycutt capitalize just enough? Let’s see.

Seed: No. 3

Postseason appearance: 4th

Regular-season stats: 2 wins, 9 top fives, 12 top 10s, 0 poles, 145 laps led

Best Chase tracks: Bristol, Kansas, Phoenix, Martinsville, Homestead

Analysis: Smith enters his final full-time Truck postseason (he departs for the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series in 2027) on a stretch of four straight top-seven finishes, including a win. Smith’s 10.9 average finish ranks third among full-timers (behind Honeycutt’s 8.8 and Riggs’ 9.7), and he is the only full-timer aside from Riggs and Honeycutt to tally multiple wins this season. Consider these three to be the title frontrunners. For Riggs, it’s 2026 production. For Honeycutt, it’s a truck that has already won a title. Smith’s X factor? Experience: His 105 Truck Series starts easily lap the other two (Riggs, 72; Honeycutt, 77).

Seed: No. 4

Postseason appearance: 5th

Regular-season stats: 0 wins, 6 top fives, 11 top 10s, 0 poles, 173 laps led

Best Chase tracks: Bristol, Kansas, Charlotte, Phoenix, Martinsville

Analysis: When discussing Truck title contenders, there are the drivers above and then everyone else, though if a driver can break into the upper echelon, it’s the 25-year-old Eckes. Simple statistics can speak for themselves there, primarily his laps led, which rank third among full-timers. Eckes’ 2023-2024 Truck stretch — where he won eight times — is also doing some lifting here, but in terms of talent and prior winning pedigree, the upside is huge. That said, Eckes still must execute, and that means finding a way to Victory Lane once again.

Seed: No. 7

Postseason appearance: 8th

Regular-season stats: 1 win, 3 top fives, 5 top 10s, 0 poles, 35 laps led

Best Chase tracks: Kansas, Talladega, Martinsville, Homestead

Analysis: Relative to other Chase drivers, Enfinger’s 2026 was a slow brew. After finishing outside the top 20 in six of the first eight contests, Enfinger has found sturdier footing, especially of late; the 41-year-old has finished 14th or better in four of the past five races, including a Lime Rock Park victory in July. That momentum could continue into The Chase, given how the schedule stacks in the veteran’s favor. He has won at four of the seven venues, and the odd tracks out (Bristol, Charlotte, Phoenix) have also yielded solid results.

Seed: No. 5

Postseason appearance: 1st

Regular-season stats: 0 wins, 4 top fives, 9 top 10s, 0 poles, 59 laps led

Best Chase tracks: Bristol, Kansas, Charlotte, Talladega

Analysis: The 20-year-old Ruggiero has been steady from the jump, staying inside the top five of the standings all season. He now enters a postseason slate that includes the track he won at last year (Talladega), with another Victory Lane appearance not out of the question. A 7.6 average start — second only to Honeycutt’s 5.9 mark — shows the No. 17 pilot’s strong qualifying efforts, and for a young driver with fewer Truck starts under his belt than others, continuing this trend in the postseason will be vital.

Seed: No. 8

Postseason appearance: 3rd

Regular-season stats: 0 wins, 2 top fives, 8 top 10s, 0 poles, 5 laps led

Best Chase tracks: Bristol, Kansas, Martinsville, Homestead

Analysis: Save for North Wilkesboro Speedway and Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park (where he finished 20th and 34th, respectively), Hemric has been nails in the results department since late May, with the seven other starts in that span all netting top-15 finishes. Here is the not-so-good: Hemric’s five laps led rank ninth out of the 10 Chase drivers. Finding more speed will be necessary if the 35-year-old wishes to make a push for the title. Some solace: He led laps — and won — at Martinsville Speedway last season, with the track back in The Chase this year.

Seed: No. 6

Postseason appearance: 5th

Regular-season stats: 0 wins, 5 top fives, 8 top 10s, 2 poles, 34 laps led

Best Chase tracks: Bristol, Phoenix, Homestead

Analysis: After alternating finishes inside the top 15 with results outside the top 20 over the first 14 races, some week-to-week consistency has finally emerged for the 2024 Truck Series champion, with four straight results inside the top 20. Is it too little, too late? You can’t discount a former title victor entirely, but Majeski will need to string together top fives — or wins — to make a case for a second championship. If he does, watch out. If he doesn’t, then expect minimal movement up The Chase table.

Seed: No. 9

Postseason appearance: 8th

Regular-season stats: 0 wins, 4 top fives, 5 top 10s, 1 pole, 147 laps led

Best Chase tracks: Bristol, Charlotte, Phoenix, Martinsville

Analysis: Majeski’s ThorSport teammate has a similar Chase outlook based on past pedigree and recent trends. Momentum of late hasn’t been on Rhodes’ side, though, with only one top 10 in his last eight races. Again, for a former champion (in this case, a two-time champion), you can’t shrug off the chance of Rhodes going on a tear. But at this juncture, best to be in see-it-to-believe-it mode. If it does happen, look for Bristol and Charlotte (where Rhodes has average finishes of 11.9 and 7.6, respectively) to be the spark.

Seed: No. 10

Postseason appearance: 5th

Regular-season stats: 0 wins, 1 top five, 5 top 10s, 0 poles, 3 laps led

Best Chase tracks: Bristol, Martinsville, Homestead

Analysis: Overcoming faulty brakes and finding a little magic at the “Magic Mile” helped Ankrum sneak into the postseason picture. Much more magic will be needed, though, if there is any realistic chance of Ankrum hoisting the championship hardware when it’s all said and done. Ankrum’s three laps led this season rank last among Chase pilots. For a seven-race championship run, that lack of front-running speed is problematic. Never say never, but Ankrum will have to put up the best seven-race stretch of his career. It’s the only way.

Posted on by Holly Cain

Entering The Chase presented by Mobil 1 second in points, Honeycutt has plenty of reason to feel confident and optimistic heading into Thursday’s postseason opener. And he is both.

The 23-year-old Texan likes the seven-race schedule that will determine the series championship, saying he and his team really have “no weak spots” in that stretch. He led the championship (for five weeks) for the first time in his career and enters The Chase 25 points behind Riggs in the points reset – the two drivers dominating first or second place in the standings for most of the season.

RELATED: Truck Series standings | Bristol weekend schedule

It’s already been a career year for Honeycutt, whose 11 top-five finishes are nearly triple his previous best entire-season tally. Most reassuring to his title chances, he earned his first two career series wins at the Watkins Glen International road course and then the Richmond Raceway short oval only two weeks before the pre-championship stretch break.

“If we can go out and start really good at Bristol, be really consistent,” Honeycutt said, noting that Chase competition in the NASCAR Cup Series and NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series has been quite dramatic already.

“We’ve obviously seen the last couple races for Cup have completely turned upside down for most of the guys,” he added. “I feel like if we just execute, do our own deal, race our race and not try to do anything else other than that and not focus on points so much, just focus on winning, and everything kind of takes care of itself after that.”

Importantly, his No. 11 Tricon Garage Toyota team is led by one of the winningest crew chiefs in series history, Scott Zipadelli, who led Corey Heim to 12 victories and the championship last year.

“Having a crew chief like Scott and the whole team that’s a championship-caliber team is definitely very easy to get used to,” Honeycutt said. “Scott has helped me tremendously on my race craft, and he’s done a lot of things for me outside of truck racing that’s led to winning races.”

Posted on by Staff Report

Goodyear is set to bring a tested tire setup for the third race of The Chase presented by Mobil 1 on Saturday night when the NASCAR Cup Series heads to Bristol Motor Speedway (7:30 p.m. ET, USA Network, HBO Max, PRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

Cup Series teams will utilize the same left- and right-side tire combination from the Thunder Valley spring race earlier this year.

RELATED: Bristol weekend schedule

“Bristol Motor Speedway’s high-banked concrete surface is demanding and continually evolves as rubber is laid down over 500 laps,” said Rick Heinrich, Goodyear NASCAR product manager. “The Goodyear Racing Eagles we have selected for this weekend are designed to effectively rubber in the racing surface, creating multiple racing grooves. Teams already have experience with this combination from the spring race.”

O’Reilly Auto Parts Series and Craftsman Truck Series teams will also have a familiar tire setup for their respective events at the high-banked 0.533-mile Tennessee short track.

This setup for Friday night’s O’Reilly Series Chase race (7:30 p.m. ET, The CW, ESPN Unlimited, PRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) was previously used earlier this season at Pocono, Indianapolis and Iowa, with the left-side tire being used five additional times, including the Bristol spring race.

For Thursday night’s Truck Series Chase opener (8 p.m. ET, FS1, NRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) at “The Last Great Colosseum,” the left-side tire was used four times earlier this year, while the right-side tire will make its first appearance.

Tire allotments for each team competing this weekend:

  • Cup Series: 13 total sets — 10 new sets for the race, 1 for qualifying, which transfers to the race, and 2 for practice. Teams will also have 4 wet-weather sets available, if needed.
  • O’Reilly Auto Parts Series: 5 total sets — 3 new sets for the race, 1 for qualifying, which transfers to the race, and 1 for practice. Teams will also have 3 wet-weather sets available, if needed.
  • Craftsman Truck Series: 4 total sets — 2 new sets for the race, 1 for qualifying, which transfers to the race, and 1 for practice. Teams will also have 3 wet-weather sets available, if needed.
Posted on by Nathan Solomon

Layne Riggs made it plenty clear that he feels the Craftsman Truck Series Chase presented by Mobil 1 is his to lose.

But just as clear now? His future with Front Row Motorsports.

Riggs shared with reporters during the series’ media day on Tuesday that he’ll return to the organization full time next season, driving the No. 34 Ford.

RELATED: Truck Series standings | Bristol schedule               

“I can confirm with all of the media, I am returning to Front Row next year to race in the Truck Series,” Riggs said. “They have picked up my option, and looking forward to it.

“They’ve been a great team for me. I’m under contract with them. They’ve done a great job at giving me trucks. They gave me my first opportunity racing in the Truck Series and got me to where I’m at today and got me to the name that I’m at and the success I’ve had. I love racing trucks. I think it’s a lot of fun. I’m having the absolute time of my life and wouldn’t want to do it with anyone else.”

Riggs, who has expressed hope of making his NASCAR Cup Series debut in 2027, explained his desire to sprinkle in starts at the premier-series level next season. He referenced Corey Heim, who’s made sporadic Cup Series starts with 23XI Racing since 2024, back when he still competed full time in the Truck Series for Tricon Garage. But that’s not set in stone.

“I would love to sprinkle some Cup starts in there,” Riggs said. “My goal is to make a Cup Series start by the end of 2027, and I stay pretty firm on that, no matter how that turns out or how that happens.”

Speaking of Heim, there are plenty of parallels between Riggs’ career-best Truck Series season so far and what the defending champion accomplished a year ago. Through 18 races, Riggs has won six times, including five of the last nine leading into The Chase. His 598 laps led lead the series, and Riggs owns the second-best average finish (9.72) and second-most top fives (10).

At this point last year, Heim had just one more victory than Riggs and two more top fives.

A Bahama, North Carolina, native, Riggs led the standings after each of the final eight regular-season races. He solidified the elusive No. 1 Chase seed with a dominant, 106-lap-led New Hampshire triumph last month.

Riggs will have another opportunity at a championship next season. But with the No. 1 seed now in hand, his focus remains squarely on winning this year’s title.

MORE: Layne Riggs driver page | Front Row Motorsports

“We’re firing on all eight cylinders right now as a team,” Riggs said. “Any race that we had, like, a really bad result was because something happened. If we had a clean race, we finished inside the top five all year long, and I don’t see that changing in these seven races.

“Everybody wants to be me. Who doesn’t want to be the No. 1 guy with a target on your back? Somebody else said, ‘How do you like being hunted?’ and I’m like, ‘I’m not. I’m still the hunter.’ I’m still hunting for a bigger points lead. I’m not on defense. I’m on just as much offense as I have been all year long, and that’s not going to change.”

And Riggs isn’t taking his 25-point advantage to start The Chase for granted. Top-seeded Denny Hamlin surrendered 16 points to second over the first two Cup Series Chase races, notably finishing 18th at Darlington after severe wall contact. In the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series, Justin Allgaier led after every race since mid-March, but two sub-par Chase results dropped him to second in points following Gateway, completely erasing his head start.

Layne Riggs celebrates a Craftsman Truck Series win at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.
Sean Gardner | Getty Images

“It shows that 25 points is nothing, even though it sounds like it’s a decent lead,” Riggs said. “Being passive and running just top five the whole time isn’t going to win you a championship. I think that just staying on the same path we’ve been on, the same way we’ve been points racing all year, just have to stay on that exact same path and mindset, and don’t psych ourselves out about it.”

But if Riggs slips, Kaden Honeycutt and Chandler Smith will be there to capitalize. Honeycutt, the No. 2 seed, earned his first career victory at Watkins Glen International in May and followed it up with a 225-lap-led win at Richmond Raceway last month. He leads the series in both top fives (11) and top 10s (13).

Smith, Riggs’ Front Row teammate who’s departing for the O’Reilly Series next season, has also won twice in the No. 38 Ford, highlighted by a four-wide triumph in the opener at Daytona International Speedway. He earned the No. 3 seed off 12 top 10s and wiped the field for a 73-point victory at North Wilkesboro Speedway.

“Layne is a mature race car driver that he also understands that one of us needs to get (owner) Bob Jenkins a championship,” Smith said. “Selfishly, I want it to be me, and selfishly, he wants it to be him. But we both have the common understanding that one of us needs to win this championship for Bob Jenkins.”

MORE: Key players in 2026-2027 Silly Season

Honeycutt will look to play spoiler for both. But he’s only worried about the No. 11 Tricon team.

“I don’t really compare myself to anybody,” Honeycutt said. “We’re racing 35 other trucks on the race track to win every week, and that’s kind of the mindset that this team sets on, is we go out to win. No matter who’s in front of us, a Chase guy or a non-Chase guy, it doesn’t matter.

“We go out and try to win the race, and the points take care of themselves after that.”

The Chase starts Thursday at Bristol Motor Speedway (8 p.m. ET, FS1, NASCAR Racing Network Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

Posted on by Pat DeCola

NASCAR.com’s Pat DeCola ranks the 16 Cup Series drivers in The Chase presented by Mobil 1 after Kyle Larson’s win at World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway and before Saturday night’s race at Bristol Motor Speedway (7:30 p.m. ET, USA Network, HBO Max, PRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

RELATED: Cup Series Chase schedule | Cup Series standings

Analysis: Hamlin has not opened The Chase with the kind of authority his regular season suggested was coming, yet he still leaves Gateway exactly where he started it: atop the standings. Contact with Larson and a slow late pit stop complicated an otherwise respectable afternoon, but ninth was enough to preserve a nine-point lead with eight races remaining. Now comes a stretch that should suit him far better, beginning with Bristol, where Hamlin owns four Cup wins, 21 top 10s and more than 1,200 laps led. Two messy races have invited the field back into the conversation, but Bristol feels like the first real chance for Hamlin to remind everyone why he entered The Chase as the heavy favorite.

Analysis: Whatever swagger Hendrick Motorsports had misplaced over the summer appears to have resurfaced all at once and is primarily concentrated in the defending champ and his No. 5 team. Larson ended a 51-race winless streak at Gateway, personally pushed for four tires on the decisive stop and then used them to hunt down Joey Logano before surviving two overtimes for his first victory since May 2025. The payoff in the standings was enormous: Larson gained 40 points on Hamlin in one afternoon and is suddenly a scant nine tallies away from holding the championship lead. Now comes Bristol, where he has three Cup wins and led 284 of 505 laps this spring before finishing third. We’ve wondered recently whether the title version of Larson was beginning to reappear. Gateway answered pretty loudly.

Analysis: Bell’s 19th-place finish is one of those results that tells you less about the car than about the afternoon. The Southern 500 winner was still running near the front late before getting swept into the Lap 223 crash involving Bubba Wallace, Josh Berry and Tyler Reddick, leaving him 18 points behind Hamlin rather than right on his bumper as he was. Bristol should help him get right back to it — Bell won the Night Race there last year and owns seven top 10s in 10 Cup starts. His 27th-place spring result came after an early spin and stands out as the exception in an otherwise excellent Bristol resume. One chaotic Sunday did little to cool the championship case (especially where it was so chaotic for so many others, too).

Analysis: Gateway will go down as one of the ultimate “what might have been” races for Blaney. He entered as a strong favorite, looking like a good bet to finally reel in a Gateway win, scored fourth-place stage finishes in both segments and was running sixth when a brake rotor failure sent the No. 12 into the wall, turning a potential title-building afternoon into a 35th-place finish and a 17-point loss to Hamlin. The good news is that Bristol is about as logical a rebound spot as Blaney could ask for. The short-track ace led 190 laps and finished second there in April, and his career record includes five top fives, nine top 10s and 775 laps led. Gateway changed the math, not the underlying championship argument, and his first Bristol win could come at a most opportune time.

Analysis: Somehow, a 54-point afternoon still felt like the one that got away from No. 22. Logano sat on the pole, won Stage 1 and controlled large portions of Gateway before Larson’s four-tire strategy ultimately flipped the race late. Third was his fifth top-five finish in five Cup starts at the track, but a win would have been worth 21 more points, a massive swing for a driver still 51 behind Hamlin. Bristol only strengthens the sense that Logano is becoming dangerous and set to strike again soon — two career wins there, seventh in the spring and fifth last fall. We have seen this particular three-time champion build momentum at inconvenient times before, and he’s perhaps in the midst of his greatest heist yet.

Analysis: Reddick’s Gateway race was compromised almost before it started. Contact with Daniel Suárez sent the No. 45 into the wall on Lap 3, and after spending most of the day clawing back, he was collected again in the late multicar wreck that also trapped Bell and Wallace. The 25th-place finish stretched his Chase deficit to 42 points, interrupting the rebound that had started to take shape over the previous few weeks. Bristol offers a mixed read: Reddick finished fourth there this spring, but that is one of only two top 10s in 10 Cup starts. The No. 45 rediscovered its speed before The Chase, but it could now use a race where nothing gets in the way of showing it.

Analysis: Few drivers endured more Gateway chaos while still repeatedly finding their way back toward the front. Briscoe spun after contact with Wallace while running sixth, later turned Ross Chastain and was then collected when Elliott’s brakes failed while the No. 19 was again running sixth. The 32nd-place finish dropped him to 59 points behind Hamlin, right at the back edge of the leading Chase cluster before a notable 29-point gap opens to Carson Hocevar in ninth. Bristol could steady things quickly: Briscoe was fifth there in April and led 127 laps in last year’s Night Race before finishing ninth. Sunday’s result was ugly, but the speed underneath it for this championship-capable No. 19 team was not.

Analysis: Gateway gave Gibbs a little bit of everything except a clean afternoon. He spun Erik Jones, traded contact with Hocevar, lost track position amid a restart/pit strategy mix-up and eventually got collected in the Lap 228 pileup, finishing 18th. Even so, he remains tied with Logano at 51 points behind Hamlin and now heads to the site of his first Cup victory earlier this year. Gibbs won at Bristol in April after taking the lead late, and last fall he led a whopping 201 laps there before finishing 10th. Whatever drama surrounds the No. 54 right now, Bristol has been one place where performance has spoken pretty clearly above all else and he has a chance to make a huge statement on Saturday night.

Analysis: There is still almost never a dull Carson Hocevar race, but lately the results have started making the commotion easier for him to back up. Gateway included contact with Chris Buescher and Gibbs, an extra stop to retighten the right-rear wheel and another late incident — yet Hocevar still finished eighth for his career-best 10th top 10 of the season. He also moved to ninth in The Chase, though the 88-point deficit keeps him still on the wrong side of the first meaningful standings tier break. Bristol has been solid territory early in his career: 10th this spring, seventh last fall and a 14.0 average finish through six Cup starts. The pace is there, as we know. The question will always just be, apparently, how long the path around the pace will stay clean. Until someone proves otherwise on the race track (or elsewhere), it appears that he’s set to continue his smooth sailing up the standings.

Analysis: Wallace’s 14th at Gateway required quite a bit of reconstruction amidst the chaos, which honestly is a good showing of his team’s mettle. He spun after contact with Briscoe while racing four-wide, recovered into the top 10 and then triggered the late crash with Berry that also collected Bell and Reddick, but rebounded enough that the day wasn’t catastrophic. That left him 90 points behind Hamlin and still sitting at the front edge of The Chase’s increasingly separated lower half. Bristol has not historically been one of Wallace’s better tracks — just two top 10s in 14 Cup starts — though 11th there this spring was perfectly respectable. The title path is narrowing and a similar showing won’t gain him any ground, but the No. 23 has spent enough of 2026 running near the front to keep it from disappearing entirely and the possibility of a win remains.

Analysis: In a Gateway race where 14 of the 16 Chase drivers had some sort of issue, Cindric mostly stayed out of trouble and collected a useful 10th-place finish. It was his third top 10 in five races, a quietly encouraging stretch for a driver who entered The Chase buried by the reset. Bristol is where the optimism gets harder to sustain, unfortunately. Cindric has no top 10s in seven Cup starts there, finished 16th this spring and was 30th in last year’s Night Race. At 108 points back, the No. 2 is running out of opportunities for quiet progress to be enough. Bristol would be an excellent place to finally rewrite some history, but it’s a tall task.

Analysis: Elliott’s Gateway race was headed somewhere genuinely promising before the brakes disappeared. Running seventh on Lap 214, the No. 9 suffered a brake rotor failure, spun and collected Briscoe, turning one of his better afternoons into a 31st-place finish. He is now 93 points behind Hamlin, while Larson’s sudden return to Victory Lane has made the contrast inside Hendrick even sharper. Bristol is difficult to diagnose for the 2020 champ: Elliott owns five top fives and nine top 10s there, but the two most recent results are 22nd this spring and 38th last fall. There is still plenty of championship-caliber history attached to the No. 9 and he’s in no way out of this, but the current form needs to start resembling it much more consistently.

Analysis: Preece continues to hang around as he searches high and low for another Daytona-sized jolt. He brushed the wall while running 11th at Gateway, recovered to 17th and leaves the second Chase race 113 points behind Hamlin. A massive hole, but Bristol at least offers something tangible to work with. Preece finished eighth there in April and owns three career top 10s with a 14.8 average finish despite never leading a Cup lap at the track. He already changed the entire direction of his season once at Daytona, and this team has nothing to lose at this point. With the standings gap widening, another swing of that magnitude would certainly come in handy and they can’t be counted out yet.

Analysis: Gateway finally delivered the kind of clean Sunday Byron had been missing — he’s now mostly just running out of time. Starting 24th, he drove to fourth and snapped an eight-race stretch without a top five, restoring at least a little life to a Chase that opened disastrously at Darlington. The cruel part: Byron gained exactly zero points on tHamlin because the No. 11’s stage haul offset the finishing-position difference, leaving the gap at 114. Bristol is no obvious continuation spot either — he left Tennessee 30th this spring and owns just two top fives in 14 Cup starts. Gateway was badly needed evidence that the No. 24 can still run like itself, but it needs to now take inspiration from its No. 5 teammate and snap the winless skid.

Analysis: Buescher’s Gateway race went from anonymous to disastrous when a brake rotor failed entering Turn 1 with nine laps remaining, sending the No. 17 into the wall and leaving him 27th. He lost 23 points to Hamlin and now sits 111 back, one of several Chase drivers who cannot afford many more weekends that simply disappear. Bristol at least carries genuine great rebound potential: Buescher won the 2022 Night Race there and has five career top 10s, plus finishes of 13th this spring and 11th last fall. If there is a place to pull this Chase back toward relevance, a track where he has one of his signature Cup Series moments is a reasonable starting point.

Analysis: Suárez never really escaped the opening laps at Gateway, and it didn’t get much better from there. Contact with Reddick sent him into the wall on Lap 3, more nose damage followed while avoiding another crash and the afternoon eventually unraveled into a 29th-place finish. The result dropped him to last among the 16 Chase drivers, 119 points behind Hamlin. Bristol offers little statistical reassurance, either, with two top 10s in 16 Cup starts, a 19.7 average finish and 12th this spring before a crash ended last year’s Night Race. The season has already produced a couple of enormous Suárez swings, but eight races remain for another one to arrive. And he very likely needs more than one.

Posted on by Press Release

Kicking Off National Hispanic Heritage Month, Documentary Follows NASCAR Star Daniel Suárez’s Emotional Homecoming During Historic 2025 Mexico City Race Weekend.

Special Preview Airs Sept. 15 on FOX Deportes. Documentary Available on Tubi Following FS1 Debut.

Film Presented by Freeway Insurance.

LOS ANGELES — FOX Sports, Wilmer Valderrama’s WV Alternative and NASCAR Studios today announce SUÁREZ, a new documentary chronicling NASCAR star Daniel Suárez’s emotional homecoming during the 2025 Mexico City race weekend. Premiering Thursday, Sept. 17, at 10 p.m. ET on FS1 in celebration of National Hispanic Heritage Month, the film captures a defining chapter in Suárez’s groundbreaking career as Mexico and the United States rally around one driver, one race and one unforgettable moment.

The documentary will have a special preview Tuesday, Sept. 15, at 9 p.m. ET on FOX Deportes and will also be available on Tubi beginning Saturday, Oct. 17 in the U.S., Mexico and LATAM markets following its FS1 debut.

Set against NASCAR’s historic return to Mexico City and its first championship race outside the United States since 1958, SUÁREZ follows the three-time Cup Series race winner back to the country that shaped him. After leaving Mexico to pursue his NASCAR dreams in the United States, where he would go on to become the first Mexican-born driver to win a NASCAR Cup Series race, Suárez returns home, racing not just for victory, but for something greater. The full-circle moment underscores what Suárez’s rise has meant for NASCAR and for a new generation of fans.

“The most compelling sports stories are the ones that resonate far beyond the competition itself, and Daniel’s is one of them,” said Barry Nugent, vice president, development & original programming, FOX Sports. “Daniel’s journey is defined by perseverance, sacrifice and an unwavering pride in where he comes from. He has opened doors, inspired fans and has given the next generation someone to see themselves in. We are proud to partner with WV Alternative and NASCAR Studios to share this deeply personal chapter in Daniel’s life.”

Through intimate access to Suárez, his family and those closest to him, SUÁREZ traces his journey from his beginnings in Monterrey to the highest level of American motorsports, exploring the experiences, relationships and sense of identity that have shaped his career, including the many sacrifices his family made to support his racing ambitions.

“Coming back to Mexico and racing in front of my home country was something I had dreamed about for a long time, but I don’t think I fully understood what it would mean until I was there,” Suárez said. “There were so many emotions that weekend, the pressure, the support from my family and fans, and thinking about everything I had gone through to get to that point. Mexico will always be a huge part of who I am, and being able to race there at the highest level was an incredibly meaningful moment in my life. I hope people watching this film can understand where I came from, what this journey has meant to me and feel inspired to chase their own dreams, no matter where they start.”

After an accident in qualifying forces Suárez into a backup car and to the rear of the field for the 2025 NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series race, Suárez captures an emotional and historic victory with his home crowd behind him. More than a story of one driver or one race, SUÁREZ is a portrait of a man who never had to choose between where he came from and where he was going.

“Daniel’s story is one of ambition, sacrifice and perseverance, the kind of story you hope to find and have the opportunity to tell,” said Wilmer Valderrama, executive producer, WV Alternative. “We were honored to bring his journey to life and give audiences a deeper look at the person behind the driver. It’s a story that we believe will stay with you long after the film ends, and we can’t wait for audiences around the world to experience Daniel’s journey for themselves.”

“When I first started at NASCAR in the spring of 2024, Daniel’s story against the backdrop of our planned Mexico City race weekend quickly got my attention,” said John Dahl, NASCAR SVP of original content. “I had great experiences working with filmmaker Mario Diaz, and I reached out to him about doing a film on Daniel’s journey back home. We were soon connected with Wilmer Valderrama’s WV Alternative team, and it was a perfect match, both in terms of the production and the subject himself. Daniel immediately understood the impact telling his inspiring story could have. He and his wife Julia couldn’t have been more cooperative in our collective effort to bring this documentary to audiences everywhere.”

SUÁREZ is directed by Mario Diaz and is executive produced by Wilmer Valderrama and Jessica Acevedo of WV Alternative along with Tim Clark, John Dahl and Tally Hair of NASCAR Studios and Eric Shanks, Brad Zager and Nugent from FOX Sports. Ariana Rotstein, Carl Hansen, Michael Vayder, Rita O’Dea serve as producers.

The film is presented by Freeway Insurance.

FOX Sports Films is dedicated to presenting captivating global sports documentaries through an unconventional and entertaining lens. Working with FOX Sports’ league and conference partners, the brand produces original programming, connecting live sports events to sports culture.

For more information, visit FOX Sports Press Pass and follow @FOXSportsPR on X.

Posted on by Dustin Albino

When Josh Berry endured an extended slump during the 2026 NASCAR Cup Series season, his mind kept coming back to one thing: his reputation. However his tenure at Wood Brothers Racing ended, he was determined to leave the organization knowing he had emptied the tank and gone out swinging.

From the outside looking in, he thought the perception around him had changed. His journeyman-like career, winning races at local short tracks in bunches around the Southeast, led him to the national stage. But he was worried that perception was hindered by the No. 21 team’s performance this season.

“It’s amazing how quickly public opinion can change,” Berry said over the weekend at World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway before running in contention for much of Sunday’s race but ultimately finishing 28th. “There, for a while, it was bad. It’s results-based, and you can’t really see how the races play out. The things you fight because it’s hard to cover every car throughout the whole race.

“I just felt like myself. I still felt fine, but reading all the stuff, you are like, ‘How did it go this bad this quick?’ ”

RELATED: Race results | At-track photos

Berry learned in early June that Wood Brothers Racing would go in a different direction with the No. 21 team beginning in 2027, with the organization later announcing young prospect — and 2025 NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series champion — Jesse Love as his replacement. As Berry searched for his next opportunity, results remained elusive, with 17 of the first 21 races this season ending in finishes of 25th or worse. Following a 36th-place finish at North Wilkesboro Speedway, he fell to 33rd in the championship standings.

But then, a proverbial switch flipped at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, where Berry finished seventh for his first top 10 in nearly four months, dating back to Martinsville Speedway. That sparked a run of three consecutive races at shorter tracks — Berry’s bread and butter — in which he finished eighth or better, highlighted by a season-best third at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. The Tennessean added additional top-10 finishes at Daytona International Speedway and Darlington Raceway, extending his streak to six consecutive races, the longest such run by a Wood Brothers driver since David Pearson in 1976.

“And now it went completely the other way, ‘Oh yeah, this guy can drive,’ ” Berry continued about his perception after six straight top 10s. “It’s almost a joke in a way with how things get perceived. It goes to show you how competitive this is, how hard this is and how important it is to have everything going in the right direction.”

Berry began surveying the landscape of potential opportunities. With little movement in Cup, his primary focus was competing with a competitive team in the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series, though finishing a deal was an uphill battle.

Jimmie Johnson, seven-time Cup Series champion and majority owner of Legacy Motor Club, came calling. Legacy informed John Hunter Nemechek on August 31 that it was moving in a different direction, inserting Berry into the No. 42 Toyota. The deal rapidly came together.

“Very, very strong reaction. The way we operate and with how close we all are as a team, you know, not an easy decision with John Hunter,” Johnson said on “The Dale Jr. Download” last week. “But we are where we are now, and where Josh can bring in a lot of experience in building maturity, know-how, these things that a 35-year-old can bring. It’s just different.”

Digging into the analytics, Berry’s in-race performance stood out. It dates back further than the recent string of solid finishes — Berry proved he could win at the Cup level, scoring his first victory in March 2025 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

“I know that people think maybe Legacy chose to move in a direction with Josh because of what’s happened here the last five or six weeks,” Johnson said. “It’s really the data and the body of work over the last three years as we dive in and really look at that, figure out how it fits into our program.”

Ultimately, Berry will be the new pilot of the No. 42 Toyota and intends to join the organization in full soon after the checkered flag drops at the season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway in November.

MORE: Cup Series standings | Cup Series schedule

Over the next eight races, however, Berry hopes to deliver Wood Brothers Racing its 102nd Cup Series victory. And with the recent upward trajectory, he’s once again finding confidence and comfort behind the wheel.

“It’s been a hell of a lot more fun — I know that,” Berry said of his recent performance. “It’s been a lot more fun. Just crazy how the perception of me and our race team has changed. I just felt like this is what was possible for us the whole time; it was our expectation with what I could do behind the wheel. Just try to keep it up, finish strong, score as many points as we can and move up through the standings, hand this thing off and go to my new opportunity.”