Chandler Smith Wins In Electric Finish To Daytona Truck Race

DAYTONA BEACH, Florida -- What a finish. Chandler Smith took the win in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series season-opening Fresh From Florida 250 at Daytona International Speedway in one of the most thrilling crescendos to a race in NASCAR Truck Series history.

"I was like, 'Oh my gosh, we just won Daytona,' like it was instant. Just like that," Chandler Smith said in his post-race press conference.

Smith continued, "I feel like I've came so close to winning one of these superspeedway races in a few different divisions, and to finally get one, get that monkey off my back, they always say once you get that first win, the floodgates open. So I'm curious to see if that will transfer over superspeedway racing with my career."

While official lead changes are only scored at the finish line, Friday night's race featured three different drivers, who took a turn as the leader on the final lap. Kaden Honeycutt began the final lap as the race leader, but down the backstretch, things got wild.

What a finish! Chandler Smith wins the NASCAR Truck Series race at Daytona! pic.twitter.com/s5qy9td9v1
— FOX: NASCAR (@NASCARONFOX) February 14, 2026

Gio Ruggiero, who was attempting to mount a charge, collided with John Hunter Nemechek, who was receiving a massive shove from behind courtesy of Christian Eckes. Ruggiero got turned sideways, but did an amazing job to save his truck.

However, as Ruggiero went sideways, Nemechek was pushed clear into the race lead at the end of the backstretch. But the race was far from over. Smith, who was running fifth on the entry of Turn 3, utilized an incredible draft from fellow Ford Racing driver Ty Majeski to slice his way through the field to the third position.

Ruggiero had recovered to the runner-up spot, and attempted to work his way around Nemechek for the win, but that stalled both drivers out, which allowed Smith to cruise by on the inside lane to take the win in a four-wide finish through the tri-oval.

Did Smith think he had a shot to win as he was sitting in fifth in Turn 3?

"The truthful answer is no," Smith admitted. "I thought they were just going to start wrecking in front of me, truthfully."

Smith continued, "It's just crazy, the seas parted, the 88 stayed committed to me, and I know everybody at the blue oval right now is smiling ear-to-ear because another Ford pushed another Ford to victory lane, and that's what we've been trying to get to happen in the truck series for the past few years from an OEM standpoint."

As he scorched his Goodyear tires into Daytona International Speedway's frontstretch pavement in celebration, Smith officially notched his eighth career NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series victory, and the incredible victory came just one day removed from Smith's heartbreak of missing the Daytona 500 field through the America 250 Florida Duels.

However, Smith says his faith helped him push past the defeat on Thursday evening.

"Truthfully, I pray a certain prayer before every race, and most of my prayers are very consistent in the certain sense of I'm always going to submit myself to the Lord's plan and whatever His will is for me," Smith explained. "And I am a firm believer that I wasn't meant to be in the Daytona 500, 110 percent.

He may not have been meant to start the 2026 Daytona 500, but Smith was certainly meant to lead the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series point standings. After the season's opening race, Smith holds a 19-point advantage over Christian Eckes, thanks to the race win, and a Stage Win that he picked up in the event.

Ruggiero, who scored his first NASCAR Truck Series win at Talladega last Fall, held on in the scrum to finish second, while Eckes would be credited with a third-place finish, Majeski would come home fourth, and Nemechek, who had the race lead coming off of Turn 4, would be credited with a fifth-place result.

While it wasn't a win, Ruggiero was happy to rebound from near disaster on the backstretch to finish runner-up.

"Yeah, I mean, I was just foot to the floor, looking for the checkered flag," Ruggiero explained, "and definitely made a good move on the frontstretch there to go to the outside of the 62, but just didn't have the run behind us that we needed."

Ricky Stenhouse Jr. finished sixth in his first-career NASCAR Truck Series race, and he was followed by Rookie of the Year contender Brenden Queen, who led the way for the new Ram Trucks brigade with a seventh-place result.

Kaden Honeycutt, Tyler Ankrum, and Stewart Friesen rounded out the top-10 finishers in Friday night's electrifying race.

While action-sports superstar Travis Pastrana would manage a 15th-place result in his first NASCAR Truck Series start since 2023, and actor turned race car driver Frankie Muniz would finish 16th, things didn't go as smoothly for the other two big celebrity stars in the race -- three-time NASCAR Cup champion Tony Stewart and YouTuber Cleetus McFarland.

McFarland lost control of his truck in Turn 4 on the sixth lap of the race, and plowed hard into the inside wall. The hard impact ended McFarland's night immediately, and ended any chance the driver had of gaining valuable superspeedway experience.

"100% my fault. Terrible mistake," McFarland said after exiting the infield care center. "Man, it's impressive that those guys can run three wide for that long. And when that thing stepped out, I mean, you just have a couple of feet on either side, and I just didn't have the ability to gather it up, and so I wrecked myself."

Stewart parked his No. 25 Kaulig Racing Ram 1500 after he was the victim of an incident not of his doing. The driver known affectionately as Smoke was running in the outside lane when Jake Garcia got loose, and skidded up the track into the side of Stewart's truck on the exit of Turn 4.

The crash caused significant damage to the left and right sides of Stewart's truck, and the driver and No. 25 team mutually agreed to park the truck as their chance to contend for the win had evaporated with the extensive damage.

While it wasn't how he planned the race to end up, Stewart says he had a great time in Daytona.

"The whole week was fun, it started driving the motorhome down here," Stewart said. "I mean, my drafting practice was drafting the No. 10 and 16 Cup haulers on I-75 and I-95 coming down here. But it's nice to see a lot of people that I know, and it's not like we haven't been down here as an owner, but it's nice to come back down here as a driver and know for two days, I got to be a racecar driver at Daytona again."

Next up for the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series is the FR8 Racing 208 at EchoPark Speedway, which is scheduled for Saturday, February 21. That race will be televised on FS1, and coverage will begin at 1:30 PM ET. The NASCAR Radio Network and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio will provide the radio broadcast of the race.

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