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The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR) is the sanctioning body for the No. 1 form of motorsports in the United States and owner of 14 of the nation’s major motorsports entertainment facilities. NASCAR sanctions races in three national series (NASCAR Cup Series™, NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series™, and NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series™), four international series (NASCAR Brasil Series, NASCAR Canada Series, NASCAR Euro Series, NASCAR Mexico Series), four regional series (ARCA Menards Series, ARCA Menards Series East & West and the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour) and a local grassroots series (NASCAR Local Racing Series Powered by O’Reilly Auto Parts). The International Motor Sports Association™ (IMSA®) governs the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship™, the premier U.S. sports car series. NASCAR also owns Motor Racing Network, Racing Electronics, and ONE DAYTONA. Based in Daytona Beach, Florida, with offices in five cities across North America, NASCAR sanctions more than 1,200 races annually in 11 countries and more than 30 U.S. states.


Kaden Honeycutt dominates at Kansas to take over Chase lead

getty images

September 26, 2026

 

By Reid Spencer

NASCAR Wire Service

 

KANSAS CITY, Kan. — On a near-perfect day—with the weather a notable exception—Kaden Honeycutt leaves Kansas Speedway with a victory in the Race to Stop Suicide 200 and control of the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series Chase.

 

Honeycutt led 111 of 134 laps on Saturday, won the first two stages and asserted the superiority of his No. 11 TRICON Garage Toyota late in the race to claim the series lead by 37 points over star-crossed Layne Riggs, who clipped the outside wall in the closing laps and finished 19th.

 

Riggs overcame a bungled stop on pit road to run second until contact with the wall dropped him through the field on the final two laps.

 

“We just executed,” said Honeycutt, who won for the first time at 1.5-mile Kansas, the third time this season and the third time in his career. “We executed all night. I can’t thank my pit crew enough.

 

“Sorry I didn’t do any burnouts—we’ve got to save this thing for Homestead (the final Chase race). The motors cost a lot, too.”

 

Intermittent rainstorms halted the race after 70 laps, with drivers and their crews waiting through a red-flag period of 4 hours 47 minutes for the resumption.

 

“Thanks to NASCAR and everyone for letting us finish the race,” said Honeycutt, who was third when rain interrupted the proceedings. “It started raining again in Victory Lane.”

 

When the second Chase event of the postseason restarted on Lap 78, Honeycutt resumed his dominance, passing Grant Enfinger and Ben Rhodes—who had taken the top two spots by staying out on older tires.

 

From that point, it was clear sailing until Riggs took two tires to Honeycutt’s four on the final pit stop under caution on Lap 117. Riggs restarted third and grabbed the lead on Lap 122, but Honeycutt powered past him a lap later and held the lead the rest of the way, through a caution for Enfinger’s blown tire and contact with the outside wall.

 

“I just went for it,” said Riggs, who entered the Chase as the top seed. “Went for it way to hard and went for when I shouldn’t have gone for it. I should have just settled for finishing second right there and had a shot at it later on.

 

“Just really disappointing. (My) Ford F-150 was really fast. I felt like we weren’t as good as the 11 all day. We were just too free… I had a really big run (with two laps left)—or thought I was going to get a big run—down the frontstretch. Never made it there. I got the wall instead.”

 

With Riggs fading on the final two laps, Honeycutt finished 1.358 seconds ahead of runner-up Christian Eckes. Brent Crews ran third, followed by Chase drivers Daniel Hemric, Ben Rhodes and Chandler Smith.

 

Taking the initial green flag from the fourth position, Honeycutt grabbed the lead from Nick Sanchez on the opening lap and won the first stage wire-to-wire.

 

In fact, Honeycutt didn’t surrender the top spot until Lap 48, when Riggs got to the stripe first on a restart after Connor Hall spun on the backstretch to cause the second caution.

 

Riggs’ lead was short-lived. On Lap 50, Honeycutt tapped the rear bumper of Riggs’ No. 34 Front Row Motorsports Ford—with Riggs’ truck suffering a glancing blow against the outside wall. Honeycutt passed Riggs to the inside and retook the lead.

 

When Hall spun for the second time on Lap 54, bringing the second stage to an early end, Honeycutt held the top spot and completed the sweep of the first two stages. Honeycutt pitted for tires and fuel under caution for the stage break on Lap 61 and gave up the lead, as eight trucks remained on the track for a Lap 65 restart.

 

A multicar wreck on the restart Lap slowed the field once again, with Honeycutt already having climbed to third in the running order. Four laps later, with rain falling in earnest, NASCAR brought the trucks to pit road and red-flagged the race with Enfinger leading and Rhodes running second.

 

If Honeycutt had a problem-free race to that point, Riggs endured calamity on pit road, as he had done in the Chase opener at Bristol Motor Speedway. During his Lap 61 pit stop, Riggs had to back up into his stall after the jack dropped with the lug nuts on his left-front wheel not yet tight.

 

Riggs restarted 25th and gained six spots on the restart lap before the wreck and rain stopped the race.

 

Non-Chase drivers Nick Leitz, Tanner Gray, Jake Garcia and Corey LaJoie completed the top 10 in the finishing order. Chase driver Giovanni Ruggiero was 13th. Tyler Ankrum finished 25th after a late flat tire, Ty Majeski 29th and Enfinger 31st.

 

Enfinger, who led throughout the red-flag period, suffered a pit road speeding penalty, a wreck and a two-lap penalty for intentionally causing a caution by stopping in Turn 3 after hitting the wall on Lap 123.

 

All told, Honeycutt scored 75 points, scoring every possible marker except for one point for posting the fastest lap, a distinction that went to Ankrum. Honeycutt has a 71-point lead over Smith, who is third in the standings.

 

NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series Race - Race to Stop Suicide 200

Kansas Speedway

Kansas City, Kansas

Saturday, September 26, 2026

 

                1. (4)  Kaden Honeycutt (C), Toyota, 134.

                2. (25)  Christian Eckes (C), Chevrolet, 134.

                3. (5)  Brent Crews(i), Toyota, 134.

                4. (12)  Daniel Hemric (C), Chevrolet, 134.

                5. (11)  Ben Rhodes (C), Ford, 134.

                6. (15)  Chandler Smith (C), Ford, 134.

                7. (26)  Nick Leitz (C), Toyota, 134.

                8. (16)  Tanner Gray, Toyota, 134.

                9. (2)  Jake Garcia, Ford, 134.

                10. (20)  Corey LaJoie, RAM, 134.

                11. (9)  Justin Haley, RAM, 134.

                12. (29)  Cole Butcher #, Ford, 134.

                13. (3)  Giovanni Ruggiero (C), Toyota, 134.

                14. (21)  Brenden Queen #, RAM, 134.

                15. (35)  Daniel Dye, Chevrolet, 134.

                16. (24)  Conor Daly, RAM, 134.

                17. (19)  Brennan Poole(i) (C), Chevrolet, 134.

                18. (27)  Mini Tyrrell #, RAM, 134.

                19. (22)  Layne Riggs (C), Ford, 134.

                20. (33)  Spencer Boyd, Chevrolet, 134.

                21. (6)  Stewart Friesen, Toyota, 134.

                22. (30)  Parker Eatmon, Chevrolet, 134.

                23. (34)  Clayton Green, Ford, 133.

                24. (18)  Andres Perez De Lara, Chevrolet, 132.

                25. (14)  Tyler Ankrum (C), Chevrolet, 132.

                26. (17)  Toni Breidinger, Chevrolet, 132.

                27. (23)  Stephen Mallozzi, Ford, 132.

                28. (1)  Nick Sanchez (C), Chevrolet, 131.

                29. (8)  Ty Majeski (C), Ford, 130.

                30. (7)  Leland Honeyman Jr, Toyota, 130.

                31. (10)  Grant Enfinger (C), Chevrolet, 129.

                32. (31)  Connor Hall, Chevrolet, 128.

                33. (32)  Josh Reaume, Ford, 119.

                34. (13)  Landen Lewis (C), Chevrolet, Accident, 114.

                35. (36)  Caleb Costner, Chevrolet, Accident, 86.

                36. (28)  Kris Wright, Chevrolet, Oil Pump, 9.

 

Average Speed of Race Winner:  92.996 mph.

Time of Race:  2 Hrs, 9 Mins, 41 Secs. Margin of Victory:  1.358 Seconds.

Caution Flags:  7 for 47 laps.

Lead Changes:  9 among 5 drivers.

Lap Leaders:   N. Sanchez (C) 0;K. Honeycutt (C) 1-47;L. Riggs (C) 48-49;K. Honeycutt (C) 50-60;B. Rhodes (C) 61-63;G. Enfinger (C) 64-77;K. Honeycutt (C) 78-118;D. Dye 119-121;L. Riggs (C) 122;K. Honeycutt (C) 123-134.

Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Lead, Laps Led):  Kaden Honeycutt (C) 4 times for 111 laps; Grant Enfinger (C) 1 time for 14 laps; Ben Rhodes (C) 1 time for 3 laps; Daniel Dye 1 time for 3 laps; Layne Riggs (C) 2 times for 3 laps.

Stage #1 Top Ten: 11,17,34,77,88,91,19,5,99,9

Stage #2 Top Ten: 11,34,91,77,17,88,19,18,20,99

 

Jake Garcia claims first career NASCAR Truck win as top Chase seeds falter at Bristol

BRISTOL, Tenn.—For Jake Garcia, it was a case of stealing thunder.

For the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series Chase drivers, it was blunder after blunder.

Driving the No. 98 ThorSport Racing Ford, Garcia took control in the third stage of Thursday night’s UNOH 250 Presented by Ohio Logistics at Bristol Motor Speedway and went on to win for the first time in his 94th start.

In the Chase opener for the series, Garcia led three times for 104 laps. On Lap 230 of 250, he wrested the lead from Stewart Friesen with an inside pass and held it the rest of the way. Garcia took the checkered flag 1.305 seconds ahead of Bayley Currey, who passed Friesen for the runner-up spot on Lap 247.

“I’m really proud of all my guys,” said Garcia, who started 12th on metrics per the rule book. "They brought an amazing truck tonight. It was good today (in practice), but qualifying got rained out, so we got a good strategy that helped us come from the back, get some track position… and just kind of took off from there.”

Garcia ended a drought for ThorSport dating to Ty Majeski’s victory in the 2024 Championship 4 event at Phoenix Raceway, but it was hardly clear sailing to the finish. Garcia lost the lead to Friesen on a Lap 220 restart and spent the next 10 laps trying to regain it.

“Had some adversity on that last restart, but fortunately the truck was fast enough to overcome that,” Garcia said. “ThorSport Racing’s a really strong team, especially historically, so just proud of all my guys on the 98 team to be able to end that winless streak.”

Currey finished second in his first Truck Series start of the season. With Friesen third, Justin Haley fourth and Tristan McKee fifth—at age 16 the youngest driver in series history to score a top five—no Chase driver finished better than sixth (Giovanni Ruggiero).

“I’ve still got it, I guess,” said Currey, who was driving the No. 5 TRICON Garage Toyota. “Just huge, huge thank you to everyone at TRICON, Toyota – just a great opportunity and glad we were able to make the most of it.

“I thought I was going to fumble it there at the end, but we were able to fight there and bring it home P2. Obviously wanted to win, but coming off the couch, I’m all right with it.”

In fact, the top four seeds in the Chase all experienced uncharacteristic difficulty. Top-seeded Layne Riggs started from the pole and won the first two stages wire-to-wire, leading the first 135 laps.

But Riggs was sixth out of the pits for the start of the final stage, and on Lap 156, he radioed to his crew that his No. 34 Front Row Racing Ford had a loose right rear wheel. Riggs pitted for four tires on Lap 161 but lost two laps to the leaders and never recovered.

After contact with the damaged No. 1 Toyota of Nick Leitz late in the race, Riggs was forced to pit road again and finished 32nd, 16 laps down.

The two stage wins proved to be a godsend for Riggs, who retained the Chase lead by three points over Kaden Honeycutt. The driver of the No. 11 Toyota finished eighth despite an unscheduled pit stop with a loose wheel under caution late in the race.

“There was a lot of fighting tonight,” Riggs said. “I’m just thankful that we had a fast enough truck that we won the first two stages and got some points, but we just came down pit road and had an absolute catastrophe of a stop.

“I don’t understand how we were that slow on the stop, and we didn’t get the wheels tight… I’m very frustrated. I feel like we had the truck to beat again.”

Third-seeded Chandler Smith suffered both a speeding penalty at the Stage 2 break and a tire losing air late in the final run. Smith finished 24th and leaves Bristol third in the standings, 30 points behind Riggs.

The Chevrolet of fourth-seeded Christian Eckes suffered early front-end damage and finished 30th. Eckes dropped four spots to eighth in the Chase standings, 58 points out of the lead.

Behind Ruggiero, William Sawalich, Honeycutt, Majeski and Grant Enfinger completed the top 10.

The Chase resumes for the Truck Series on Sept. 26 in the Race to Stop Suicide 200 at Kansas Speedway (1 p.m. ET on FS1, NRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

--30--

NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series Race - UNOH 250 presented by Ohio Logistics

Bristol Motor Speedway

Bristol, Tennessee

Thursday, September 17, 2026

 

                1. (12)  Jake Garcia, Ford, 250.

                2. (16)  Bayley Currey, Toyota, 250.

                3. (5)  Stewart Friesen, Toyota, 250.

                4. (9)  Justin Haley, RAM, 250.

                5. (4)  Tristan McKee (C), Chevrolet, 250.

                6. (19)  Giovanni Ruggiero (C), Toyota, 250.

                7. (6)  William Sawalich(i), Toyota, 250.

                8. (3)  Kaden Honeycutt (C), Toyota, 250.

                9. (8)  Ty Majeski (C), Ford, 250.

                10. (10)  Grant Enfinger (C), Chevrolet, 250.

                11. (14)  Ben Rhodes (C), Ford, 250.

                12. (7)  Daniel Hemric (C), Chevrolet, 250.

                13. (13)  Tyler Ankrum (C), Chevrolet, 250.

                14. (28)  Landen Lewis (C), Chevrolet, 250.

                15. (29)  Dawson Sutton, Chevrolet, 250.

                16. (20)  Tanner Gray, Toyota, 250.

                17. (27)  Andres Perez De Lara, Chevrolet, 250.

                18. (15)  Corey LaJoie, RAM, 250.

                19. (35)  Luke Baldwin, Ford, 250.

                20. (36)  Nick Sanchez, Chevrolet, 249.

                21. (17)  Brenden Queen #, RAM, 249.

                22. (31)  Timmy Hill, Toyota, 249.

                23. (23)  Regan Smith, RAM, 248.

                24. (2)  Chandler Smith (C), Ford, 247.

                25. (22)  Connor Mosack (C), Chevrolet, 246.

                26. (24)  Mini Tyrrell #, RAM, 245.

                27. (32)  Kris Wright, Chevrolet, 244.

                28. (18)  Cole Butcher #, Ford, 244.

                29. (26)  Connor Hall, Chevrolet, 243.

                30. (21)  Christian Eckes (C), Chevrolet, 242.

                31. (11)  Parker Eatmon, Chevrolet, 241.

                32. (1)  Layne Riggs (C), Ford, 234.

                33. (30)  Frankie Muniz, Ford, 231.

                34. (25)  Nick Leitz (C), Toyota, Suspension, 224.

                35. (34)  Caden Kvapil, Chevrolet, Engine, 166.

                36. (33)  Jackson Macenko, Ford, Too Slow, 39.

 

Average Speed of Race Winner:  85.295 mph.

Time of Race:  1 Hrs, 33 Mins, 44 Secs. Margin of Victory:  1.305 Seconds.

Caution Flags:  4 for 38 laps.

Lead Changes:  5 among 4 drivers.

Lap Leaders:   L. Riggs (C) 1-135;J. Garcia 136-181;K. Honeycutt (C) 182;J. Garcia 183-219;S. Friesen 220-229;J. Garcia 230-250.

Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Lead, Laps Led):  Layne Riggs (C) 1 time for 135 laps; Jake Garcia 3 times for 104 laps; Stewart Friesen 1 time for 10 laps; Kaden Honeycutt (C) 1 time for 1 lap.

Stage #1 Top Ten: 34,11,38,98,88,77,19,99,52,16

Stage #2 Top Ten: 34,11,38,98,88,52,1,15,5,77

 

 

NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series Chase Media Day Notebook

 

Notebook Items:

  • Riggs re-signs with Front Row Motorsports, sets sights on title
  • Honeycutt leans on championship-caliber team in Truck title pursuit
  • Championship would provide fitting farewell for Smith, Front Row
  • Fourth-seeded Eckes takes big-picture approach into title run
  • Championship hopefuls brace for hectic Chase opener at Bristol
  • Proven Chase-track winner Enfinger believes championship is within reach

 

September 15, 2026

 

By Holly Cain

NASCAR Wire Service

 

Riggs re-signs with Front Row Motorsports, sets sights on title

 

Layne Riggs has had a career year – winning six NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series races and earning the No. 1 seed in the seven-race Chase that will decide who hoists the big trophy at the end of the year.

 

He confirmed Tuesday during the CRAFTSMAN Truck Series Chase Media Day interview session featuring the 10 championship-eligible drivers that he had re-signed with Front Row Motorsports for next season and is eager to continue that tenure with a “champion” in front of his first name.

 

The series opens its Chase run Thursday under the bright lights on the famous Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway high banks in the UNOH 250 Presented by Ohio Logistics (8 p.m. ET on FS1, PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). The defending race winner? None other than Riggs.

 

The 24-year-old second-generation NASCAR driver was his typically friendly-self during Tuesday’s interview session, but he was also quick to emphasize that he’s absolutely ready to raise his game in the championship run. And that says a lot, considering he’s already claimed a career-best six wins this season, including the most recent race – from pole position, no less – at New Hampshire three weeks ago.

 

Three of his six wins have come from pole (also Nashville and Indianapolis Raceway Park), and he’s finished first or second in three of the last four races entering the Chase. He takes a 25-point lead over TRICON Garage’s Kaden Honeycutt into Thursday’s Chase opener.

 

“We’ve just been getting stronger and keeping our minds sharper in situations that aren’t ideal for us, and we’ve just got to keep that same mindset rolling that we’ve been doing all year long," said Riggs, who drives the No. 34 Front Row Motorsports Ford. “This is nothing new for us. We’ve been points racing the entire year.

 

“What we’ve been doing the last two months, keep doing it just have to focus on keep doing that. Don’t do anything any different if it’s working."

 

He acknowledged there may be the proverbial “target” on his back to decide this title and said he’s absolutely prepared to meet that challenge.

 

“I do [have a target] because everybody wants to be me, who doesn’t want to be the number one guy with the target on the back. Someone asks, ‘how do you like being hunted?’ I’m not, I’m still the hunter, 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."

 

Honeycutt leans on championship-caliber team in Truck title pursuit

 

Entering the Chase second in points, there’s plenty of reason for Honeycutt to enter this week’s postseason opener feeling confident and optimistic. 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 all season.

 

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, N.Y. road course and then the Richmond, Va. 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 the championship just 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.

 

Championship would provide fitting farewell for Smith, Front Row

 

Chandler Smith comes into the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series Chase ranked third in the seeding – only 35 points behind his Front Row Motorsports’ teammate Riggs atop the standings - and Smith says he’s ready to harness a whole lot of that momentum.

 

It goes beyond his innate competitive push to hoist the season trophy. Only weeks ago, the 24-year-old Georgia native was signed by Richard Childress Racing to return to the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series fulltime in 2027. So, Smith is determined to make this championship-run a celebratory farewell.

 

The driver of the No. 38 Front Row Motorsports Ford started the year with a win in the season-opener at Daytona and added his ninth career series victory in July at North Wilkesboro, N.C. He’s earned top-10 finishes in 12 of the 18 races to date, including the four leading into this Chase run.

 

“We’re 35 points out and if you look at the last few races of the regular season how we started cutting that points deficit. … I think our team is in a good spot right now and I’m driving in a good spot," Smith said.

 

“Here recently we’ve really been consistent and seen the fruits of the labor," Smith said of the team’s efforts, praising his team owner Bob Jenkins for “taking a risk” on hiring him two years ago.

 

“I’d like to leave them on a good note, leave them with a good solid foundation that whatever driver they have coming in and go out and win races and contend for championships, that they have the notebook, they have the trucks, they have everything at their disposal."

 

Smith finished third in the championship in 2022 boasting three trips to Victory Lane, but says he looks forward to the new championship format this year that rewards a season-long effort.

 

“To be a part of the Chase and be part of a format that I watched Jimmie Johnson and Kyle Busch just dominate, or Tony Stewart, those guys - to be a part of that format is really cool for me," he said. “I wanted to be a part of it and now here I am, so it’s a little bit of a dream come true.

 

"The other thing that makes it different from this year to last year is now we have a most a full other year of working as a team and the fruit of that labor has been showing here recently with the consistent finishes. Chemistry is big. It takes time and patience and I’m proud to see the 38-team growing and getting better week by week.”

 

Fourth-seeded Eckes takes big-picture approach into title run

 

Christian Eckes, driver of the No. 91 McAnally-Hilgemann Racing Chevrolet, enters the Chase ranked fourth among the 10 championship-eligible drivers – 40 points off Rigg’s lead.

 

This is the first time he’s competed in the series fulltime since 2024 when he finished third in the championship and won four races. Eckes is still winless on the year but is taking a big picture approach to this title run. Nearly half (four) of his nine career wins in the series have come at tracks in this postseason stretch. And his 11 top-10 showings on the year are as many as the points leader Riggs.

 

“For us, it’s definitely not dragging us down at all," Eckes said of going into the Chase without a victory yet. “If anything, I’d say it really puts us into a position where we don’t have anything to lose because we’re not the [championship] favorite and we haven’t been the best running truck throughout the year. So, it puts us in a spot, where whatever happens, happens and we’ll do the best we can.”

 

Championship hopefuls brace for hectic Chase opener at Bristol

 

All of the 10 drivers competing for the 2026 NASCAR CARFTSMAN Truck Series title allowed a slight smile or shook their head when asked about the challenging Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway to open the Chase this week. Many spoke of the action-packed NASCAR Cup Series and O’Reilly Auto Parts Series Chase openers that have already immediately impacted the championship standings.

 

TRICON Garage’s Gio Ruggiero, who drives the No. 17 Toyota and is making his first ever Chase appearance did not mince words. The 21-year-old finished third in the series’ Spring visit to Bristol and acknowledges the intensity will be picking up this go-round at the half-mile Bullring.

 

“We've been off for a couple weeks now and everybody's hungry to get back out there and race," said Ruggiero, who is ranked fifth in the reseeded Chase standings. “Starting up the Chase, everybody's trying to make up those points now. I feel like it's going to be a hectic race for sure. I think everybody's going to race each other hard and restarts there are super important because it can be a hard track to pass at, if the bottom lane is super gripped up. I think the restarts; you're going to see some really good racing and hopefully not too many wrecks.”

 

Proven Chase-track winner Enfinger believes championship is within reach

 

Series veteran Grant Enfinger may head into the Chase ranked seventh among the 10 drivers, but the 41-year-old Alabama-native sounded optimistic about his ability to contend in the right circumstances.

 

The driver of the No. 9 CR7 Motorsports Chevrolet is a 14-time race winner, hoisting his most recent trophy this July at the Lime Rock, Conn. road course. He’s finished seventh or better in the championship in seven of the last eight years with a career best showing of runner-up in 2023.

 

He’s won at four of the Chase tracks, including the site of the finale, Homestead Motor Speedway.

 

“We can absolutely do this," Enfinger said.

 

--30--

 

-- 

 WHELEN MODIFIED TOUR

www.nascar.com

The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR) is the sanctioning body for the No. 1 form of motorsports in the United States and owner of 14 of the nation’s major motorsports entertainment facilities. NASCAR sanctions races in three national series (NASCAR Cup Series™, NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series™, and NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series™), four international series (NASCAR Brasil Series, NASCAR Canada Series, NASCAR Euro Series, NASCAR Mexico Series), four regional series (ARCA Menards Series, ARCA Menards Series East & West and the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour) and a local grassroots series (NASCAR Local Racing Series Powered by O’Reilly Auto Parts). The International Motor Sports Association™ (IMSA®) governs the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship™, the premier U.S. sports car series. NASCAR also owns Motor Racing Network, Racing Electronics, and ONE DAYTONA. Based in Daytona Beach, Florida, with offices in five cities across North America, NASCAR sanctions more than 1,200 races annually in 11 countries and more than 30 U.S. states.


 


National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing

www.nascar.com

 

The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR) is the sanctioning body for the No. 1 form of motorsports in the United States and owner of 14 of the nation’s major motorsports entertainment facilities. NASCAR sanctions races in three national series (NASCAR Cup Series™, NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series™, and NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series™), four international series (NASCAR Brasil Series, NASCAR Canada Series, NASCAR Euro Series, NASCAR Mexico Series), four regional series (ARCA Menards Series, ARCA Menards Series East & West and the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour) and a local grassroots series (NASCAR Local Racing Series Powered by O’Reilly Auto Parts). The International Motor Sports Association™ (IMSA®) governs the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship™, the premier U.S. sports car series. NASCAR also owns Motor Racing Network, Racing Electronics, and ONE DAYTONA. Based in Daytona Beach, Florida, with offices in five cities across North America, NASCAR sanctions more than 1,200 races annually in 11 countries and more than 30 U.S. states.

 


 

CRAFTSMAN truck series Whelen Modified Tour


 Fri. Feb. 13 Fresh From Florida 250 7:30PM FS1
Sat. Feb. 21 FR8 208 1:30PM FS1
Sat. Feb. 28 Series Race at St. Petersburg 12:00PM FOX
Fri. March 20 Sober or Slammer 200 7:30PM FS1
Fri. April 3 Black’s Tire 200 4:30PM FS1
Fri. April 10 Tennessee Army National Guard 250 7:30PM FS1
Fri. May 1 SpeedyCash.com 250 8:00PM FS1
Fri. May. 8 Mission 176 at The Glen 4:30PM FS1
Sat. May 15 ECOSAVE 200 5:00PM FS1
Fri. May 22 NC Education Lottery 200 7:30PM FS1
Fri. May 29 Flote 200 8:00PM FS1
Sat. June 6 DQS Solutions & Staffing 250 1:30PM FS1
Fri. June 19 Series Race at San Diego 7:00PM FS1
Sat. July 11 LiUNA 150 1:00PM FS1
Sat. July 18 Window World 250 12:30PM FS1
Fri. July 24 TSport 200 8:00PM FS1
Fri, Aug. 14 eero 250 7:30PM FS1
Sat. Aug. 22 Team EJP 175 1:30PM FS1
Thurs. Sep. 17 UNOH 200 presented by Ohio Logistics 8:00PM FS1
Sat. Sep. 26 Heart of Healthcare 200 1:00PM FS1
Fri. Oct. 9 Series Race at Charlotte 5:00PM FS1
Fri. Oct. 16 Series Race at Phoenix 7:30PM FS1
Fri. Oct. 23 Love’s RV Stop 225 4:00PM FS1
Fri. Oct. 30 Zip Buy Now Pay Later 200 6:00PM FS1
Fri. Nov. 6 Championship race 7:30PM FS1

 

2027 NASCAR CRAFTSMAN TRUCK SERIES SCHEDULE

Date

Event / Racetrack

Friday, February 19

Daytona International Speedway

Saturday, February 27

EchoPark Speedway (Atlanta)

Saturday, March 6

Grand Prix of St. Petersburg

Friday, April 2

Darlington Raceway

Friday, April 9

Bristol Motor Speedway

Friday, April 30

Texas Motor Speedway

Saturday, May 8

Kansas Speedway

Friday, May 21

North Wilkesboro Speedway

Friday, May 28

Charlotte Motor Speedway

Friday, June 4

Nashville Superspeedway

Friday, June 11

Pocono Raceway

Saturday, June 19

Michigan International Speedway

Saturday, July 10

Lime Rock Park

Saturday, July 17

EchoPark Speedway (Atlanta)

Friday, July 23

Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park

Thursday, August 12

Bristol Motor Speedway

Friday, August 20

Bowman Gray Stadium

Sunday, September 5

Canadian Tire Motorsport Park

Saturday, September 25

New Hampshire Motor Speedway

Friday, October 1

Kansas Speedway

Friday, October 15

Charlotte Motor Speedway

Friday, October 22

Phoenix Raceway

Friday, October 29

Talladega Superspeedway

Friday, November 5

Martinsville Speedway

Friday, November 12

NASCAR Championship (Homestead-Miami Speedway)

New Smyrna Beach Area Visitors Bureau 200 New Smyrna Speedway Saturday, Feb. 7

7:30 p.m. ET

     
Virginia is for Racing Lovers 200 Martinsville Speedway Saturday, March 28

7:30 p.m. ET

     
Icebreaker 150 ^ Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park Sunday, April 12

4:30 p.m. ET

Matt Hirschman Stephen Kopcik  
J&R Precast 150 Seekonk Speedway Saturday, May 16

8 p.m. ET

     
Miller Lite Salutes Don Howe 200 Riverhead Raceway Saturday, May 30

8 p.m. ET

     
All States Materials Group 150 Oxford Plains Speedway Saturday, June 6

TBA

     
Thunder in the Mountains 200 White Mountain Motorsports Park Saturday, June 20

8 p.m. ET

     
Firecracker 150 presented by the Bethesda Leadership Group * Seekonk Speedway Wednesday, July 1

8 p.m. ET

     
2nd Annual Clash at Claremont * Claremont Motorsports Park Friday, July 10

8:30 p.m. ET

     
5th Annual Duel at the Dog 200 powered by USNE * Monadnock Speedway Saturday, July 25

7:30 p.m. ET

     
Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park ^ Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park Wednesday, Aug. 5

8 p.m. ET

     
Mohegan Sun 100 New Hampshire Motor Speedway Saturday, Aug. 22

4:30 p.m. ET

     
GAF 150 ^ Stafford Speedway Friday, Aug. 28

8 p.m. ET

     
Oswego Speedway Oswego Speedway Saturday, Sept. 5

8 p.m. ET

     
Eddie Partridge 206 Riverhead Raceway Saturday, Sept. 19

8 p.m. ET

     
Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park ^ Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park Sunday, Oct. 11

4:30 p.m. ET

   

 

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This site is dedicated to my father " hoot " who introduced me to the Great sport of auto racing when I was a very young child

Thru the years I have befriended several people Thru Racing that have passed on and I honor them here

Larrt Criss. Charlie Patterson. Carrol Horton, Todd shaffer, gary lee and Judy Morris