As Motorsport.com reports, Chandler Smith grabbed his tenth career NASCAR Truck win and his third of the 2026 season at Martinsville Speedway, conquering a chaotic short-track battle that completely shook up the championship picture.
Layne Riggs controlled the vast majority of the evening in his No. 38 Front Row Motorsports Ford, sweeping both stages and looking well on his way to a dominant victory. But the final restart changed everything. Smith snatched the lead away from his Front Row Motorsports teammate on the outside line, leaving Riggs crossed up and ultimately tumbling to a third-place finish behind runner-up Ben Rhodes, who crossed the line 0.574 seconds back.
Behind the leaders, the championship fight took a brutal hit. Points leader Kaden Honeycutt found himself battling Tristan McKee for a top-five position in the closing laps when the two made contact. Honeycutt got pushed violently up the track and lost nearly ten positions, tumbling all the way back to 14th at the checkered flag. The turbulent finish leaves Honeycutt with a narrowing 20-point lead over Riggs heading into the season finale. After the race, Honeycutt and McKee hashed it out on pit road to discuss the late-race incident.
The race itself was a war of attrition, featuring multiple red flags and heavy carnage. Sixteen-year-old Tristan McKee started on pole—becoming the youngest pole-sitter in Truck Series history—before Riggs quickly took over. Mid-race chaos saw incidents involving Frankie Muniz, Conner Jones retiring with smoke pouring from his No. 4 truck, and a massive backstretch wreck involving Timmy Hill, Stewart Friesen, and several others that forced a red flag. Tay. Reif was later penalized and held two laps for reckless driving following contact with Matt Ferguson.
When the dust finally settled, Ty Majeski finished fourth, with Tristan McKee rounding out the top five. Andres Perez, Tyler Ankrum, Gio Ruggiero, William Sawalich, and Christian Eckes filled out the rest of the top ten. For Smith, delivering a grandfather clock trophy to team owner Bob Jenkins was a deeply emotional moment after grinding through a tough patch since the Chase began.
