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Chandler Smith wins Martinsville as NASCAR Truck title fight tightens
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- Chandler Smith wins Martinsville as NASCAR Truck title fight tightens
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Chandler Smith earned his tenth career NASCAR Truck win and his third of the 2026 season in a critical championship race at Martinsville Speedway.
Smith's Front Row Motorsports teammate Layne Riggs dominated the race, but it was Smith who snatched the lead away on the final restart. Behind them, championship leader Kaden Honeycutt got pushed up the track while battling Tristan McKee for a top-five position, losing nearly ten positions after they collided.
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"Ah, just God's plan," said Smith after climbing from the truck. "All praise and glory to the Lord. I mean, we've been through a very rough patch since the Chase started and we've kept our heads down ... I'm just, truly humbled right now for this experience. Martinsville has been one on my bucket list that went for quite a while and I struggled here for a while. Then when I went to Joe Gibbs Racing, we had some really fast cars there. Then came here and had some really fast trucks and tonight, the car just felt exactly how they needed it to be ... thankful to Front Row Motorsports. We got one more race to do with them. It's very bittersweet, but man, I'm very happy that we can deliver a clock to Bob Jenkins (team owner).
Smith won the race over Ben Rhodes , with Riggs third, Ty Majeski fourth, and McKee fifth. Andres Perez, Tyler Ankrum , Gio Ruggiero , William Sawalich , and Christian Eckes filled out the remainder of the top ten.
Honeycutt fell back to 14th, and leaves Martinsville with a 20-point lead over Riggs ahead of the season finale.
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Stages 1 & 2
McKee led the field to the green flag as the 16-year-old became the youngest pole-sitter in Truck Series history, but Riggs quickly took the top spot away.
The first caution of the night was for a spinning Frankie Muniz , who was on the outside of a three-wide situation while being lapped. Eckes tried to squeeze under Honeycutt, who slid up into Muniz and spun him around.
Riggs went on to win Stage 1 over McKee, C. Smith, Rhodes, Majeski, Eckes, Honeycutt, Ankrum, Perez, and Ruggiero.
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During the stage break, all of the leaders stayed out on track. Riggs continued to control the race, as Conner Jones was forced to pit under green as smoke erupted from his No. 4 truck.
Riggs went on to sweep the stages, winning Stage 2 over McKee, C. Smith, Rhodes, Majeski, Honeycutt, Eckes, Ankrum, Perez, and Garcia.
Stage 3
Chandler Smith wins, No. 38 Front Row Motorsports Ford
Chandler Smith wins, No. 38 Front Row Motorsports Ford
Friesen took the lead on an alternate strategy, but Riggs quickly moved back into the race lead.
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Behind them, a big wreck broke out as Tay. Reif went spinning, collecting the Ram trucks of Haley and Queen. Other trucks were involved in the stack-up as well, with Monty Tipton suffering big nose damage.
During the red flag that followed, Sammy Smith took his truck to the garage with suspension issues.
McKee took the lead on the next restart, as Honeycutt caught title rival Riggs for the first time in the race while battling for second.
There were back-to-back yellows for some spins in the mid-pack, and then a major incident on the backstretch, forcing the second red flag of the race.
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Timmy Hill went for a spin in the middle of the backstretch, collecting multiple trucks. Friesen and Butcher had nowhere to go, as Carroll and Ferguson plowed into it. Boschele and Reaume also came to a stop as they were collected in the mess near the inside wall.
The next restart was critical for Riggs, as he took the lead and Honeycutt slipped back to sixth, with another yellow flying for a spin by Kasey Kleyn with 35 laps to go.
Riggs was cruising out, but the caution came back out for a crash involving Reif and Ferguson on the backstretch, setting up a 12-to-go restart. Reif was later held two laps for reckless driving, after officials judged his contact with Ferguson to be reckless.
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On the final restart, Smith powered by Riggs from the outside line and took the lead away. Riggs got crossed up trying to fight back and fell back to third, and that was the end of the battle for the win.
Battling around fifth, Honeycutt slammed doors with McKee and ended up out of the groove, dropping all the way down to 14th. Honeycutt and McKee also talked on pit road after the race, discussing the incident.
At the checkered flag, Smith took the win by 0.574s over Rhodes.
Tristan McKee and Kaden Honeycutt talk after race
Tristan McKee and Kaden Honeycutt talk after race
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