It took ninety-four starts, but Jake Garcia is finally a winner in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series. Driving the No. 98 ThorSport Racing machine, he drove brilliantly on Thursday evening at Bristol Motor Speedway, taking the lead in the final stage and pacing the field for 104 laps to claim his first career victory.
Behind the breakthrough winner, Bayley Currey finished second, followed by Stewart Friesen, Justin Haley, and Tristan McKee to complete the top five. Gio Ruggiero led the Chase contingent by coming home sixth, with William Sawalich, Kaden Honeycutt, Ty Majeski, and Grant Enfinger rounding out the top ten.
Things went entirely differently for the championship contenders, especially during a chaotic final stage. Top Chase seed Layne Riggs had swept the opening stages before a slow stop during the Stage 2 caution cost him the lead. Shortly after the restart, the No. 34 Front Row Motorsports driver radioed in with a loose wheel, forced to pit under green and dropping two laps down in the process.
That was far from the end of the misery for Riggs, who later tangled with Tricon Garage competitor Nick Leitz in the closing laps. He ultimately crossed the line sixteen laps down in thirty-second position.
Front Row teammate Chandler Smith suffered a similar fate. The No. 38 Ford driver picked up a speeding penalty during the same Stage 2 caution stops, then fought a loose wheel late in the race that forced an unscheduled pit stop. Smith ended up three laps down in twenty-fourth place.
Meanwhile, Tricon's Kaden Honeycutt entered the event as the No. 2 seed and faced his own vibration issues, pitting during a late-race caution. He managed to salvage a top-ten result and leaves Bristol just three points behind Riggs in the standings. The Truck Series will now travel to Kansas Speedway next Saturday for the second race of the 2026 Chase.
