Chandler Smith snares NASCAR Trucks opener at Daytona
Photo by James Gilbert/Getty Images
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla.—Chandler Smith came from the middle of nowhere to win Friday’s Fresh from Florida 250 at Daytona International Speedway and immediately gave credit where credit was due.
“Thank you, thank you, thank you, Ty Majeski!” Smith shouted after taking the checkered flag in the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series season opener at the 2.5-mile superspeedway.
In a star-studded race salted with five full-time NASCAR Cup Series drivers, NASCAR Hall of Famer Tony Stewart, daredevil Travis Pastrana and Youtube sensation Cleetus McFarland, the two Truck Series regulars combined to put a Ford in Victory Lane.
Driving the No. 38 Front Row Motorsports F-150, Smith was sixth as the lead group rounded Turn 3 on the second lap of overtime, with John Hunter Nemechek out front. But as Nemechek moved up the track to attempt a late block on Gio Ruggiero, Smith steamed through in the open bottom lane with a strong push from Majeski.
“He is all credit to how we just won that race, truthfully,” Smith said of Majeski’s push. “He stayed committed to a Ford and pushed a blue oval to a win…
“I was surprised the 62 (Nemechek) didn’t block it. I was just … the seas literally just parted, and the 88 (Majeski) stayed committed to me, and like I said, thank you, thank you, thank you, Ty Majeski. Definitely got to owe you one on that one.”
Ruggiero came home second in his No. 17 TRICON Garage Toyota, 0.044 seconds behind Smith at the stripe. Christian Eckes was third, with Majeski and Nemechek in a virtual dead heat for fourth and fifth.
“Yeah, it was tight there at the end of the race,” said Ruggiero, who also finished second in last year’s Daytona opener. “Everybody was trying to do whatever it takes to win, and that’s what I did for myself and my team.
“Probably would have pushed John Hunter to the win there, but he almost wrecked me twice. I think overall as a group, we need to do better as Toyotas. I thought me and Tanner (Gray) and Taylor (Gray) worked together really well, but everybody else just seemed like they were out there on their own.”
Cup driver Ricky Stenhouse Jr. was sixth, followed by Brenden “Butterbean” Queen, the highest finishing Ram driver in the brand’s first NASCAR competition since 2012.
The Truck Series debut of Garrett Mitchell, a.k.a. Cleetus McFarland, didn’t last long.
Approaching the tri-oval on Lap 6, McFarland’s No. 4 Chevrolet broke loose, spun out of control, slammed into the inside wall and plowed through the infield grass, cutting a swath more than 100 yards long.
After a trip to the infield care center, Cleetus summed up his first Truck Series race succinctly.
“I’m an idiot,” he said.
An accident on Lap 36 took another marquee driver out of the equation. Jake Garcia, running in the middle lane, lost control of his No. 98 Ford on the frontstretch and pinched the No. 25 Ram of Stewart into the outside wall.
Attempted repairs to Stewart’s truck proved futile, and the three-time NASCAR Cup Series champion took the No. 25 to the garage.
“I felt comfortable being three-wide on the top there,” said Stewart, competing in a NASCAR event for the first time since 2016. “I didn’t feel like we were putting ourselves in jeopardy. Hard thing is, I’m not really sure what happened that got us there, but we just ended up on the wrong end of that stick.”
Midway through the second stage Daniel Hemric, running seventh at the time, was black-flagged for a missing spoiler brace and lost three laps under repairs.
The race featured a record 32 lead changes among 12 drivers and six cautions for 31 laps. Michael McDowell, Carson Hocevar and Justin Haley each led 20 laps but none of the three finished in the top 10.
NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series Race Number 1
Race Results for the Fresh From Florida 250 - Friday, February 13, 2026
Daytona International Speedway - Daytona Beach, FL - 2.5 - Mile Paved
Total Race Length - 102 Laps - 255. Miles
Provided by NASCAR Statistics - Friday, 2/13/2026 @ 10:52 PM Eastern
Fin Str Trk Driver Team Laps Stage 1 Pos Stage 2 Pos Pts Status Tms Laps Playoff Pts
1 10 38 Chandler Smith TrophyCatch Ford 102 1 65 Running 2 8
2 9 17 Giovanni Ruggiero JBL Toyota 102 35 Running
3 11 91 Christian Eckes Columbia Bank Chevrolet 102 3 7 46 Running 1 1
4 1 88 Ty Majeski Ideal Door/Menards Ford 102 7 3 45 Running 1 5
5 19 62 John Hunter Nemechek(i) DriveValue.com Toyota 102 4 8 0 Running 3 10
6 30 45 Ricky Stenhouse Jr(i) J.F. Electric/Utilitra Chevrolet 102 0 Running
7 22 12 Brenden Queen # Cummins RAM 102 9 32 Running
8 7 11 Kaden Honeycutt Safelite Toyota 102 6 34 Running 1 1
9 6 18 Tyler Ankrum LiUNA! Chevrolet 102 28 Running
10 24 52 Stewart Friesen Halmar International Toyota 102 27 Running
11 25 5 Nick Leitz SEM Products Toyota 102 6 31 Running 1 3
12 27 99 Ben Rhodes TYM Ford 102 10 26 Running
13 28 44 Andres Perez De Lara Acceptance Insurance Chevrolet 102 24 Running
14 23 13 Cole Butcher # Atlantic Tilt Load Ford 102 23 Running
15 13 42 Travis Pastrana BRUNT Workwear Chevrolet 102 22 Running 1 1
16 33 33 Frankie Muniz Lucid Trading Ford 102 21 Running
17 31 10 Daniel Dye Mopar RAM 102 20 Running
18 17 95 Clay Greenfield Backyard Blues Pools/Lure Chevrolet 102 19 Running
19 37 14 Mini Tyrrell # Ram RAM 102 18 Running
20 29 22 Josh Reaume Aerial Titans Ford 102 17 Running
21 34 76 Spencer Boyd Freedom Warranty Chevrolet 102 16 Running
22 16 16 Justin Haley Celsius RAM 102 15 Running 2 20
23 3 15 Tanner Gray Black's Tire Toyota 102 2 23 Running 2 11
24 2 7 Michael McDowell(i) Tibbetts Lumber Chevrolet 101 5 5 0 Running 8 20
25 26 81 Kris Wright F.N.B. Corporation Chevrolet 101 12 Running
26 32 19 Daniel Hemric NAPA Auto Care Chevrolet 101 12 Running
27 20 26 Dawson Sutton WAR Shocks/Rackley Roofing Chevrolet 101 10 Running
28 14 1 Taylor Gray(i) Top Liner Toyota 101 8 4 0 Running
29 5 9 Grant Enfinger Grant County Mulch Chevrolet 100 10 9 Running
30 21 97 Jason Kitzmiller A.L.L. Consruction Chevrolet 100 7 Running
31 35 34 Layne Riggs Love's Travel Stops Ford 98 2 15 Running 2 2
32 8 98 Jake Garcia Quanta Services/Curb Records Ford 98 5 Running
33 36 2 Jason White More Core Ford 98 4 Running
34 18 75 Corey LaJoie(i) Built Chevrolet 92 9 0 Engine
35 4 77 Carson Hocevar(i) IKEA/Best Buy Chevrolet 88 1 0 Suspension 8 20
36 15 25 Tony Stewart Ram RAM 39 1 Accident
37 12 4 Cleetus Mitchell Black Rifle Coffee Company Chevrolet 5 1 Accident
Fastest Lap Bonus: # 19 lap 89 / 46.479
,Time of Race: 2 Hrs, 6 Mins, 0 Secs. Average Speed: 121.429 MPH Margin of Victory: 0.044 Seconds
Stage 1 Top 10: 77, 15, 91, 62, 7, 11, 88, 1, 12, 9
Stage 2 Top 10: 38, 34, 88, 1, 7, 5, 91, 62, 75, 99
Race Comments: Chandler Smith has won the Fresh From Florida 250 at Daytona International Speedway, his eighth victory in the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series. Prior to the start of the race, no vehicle(s) dropped to the rear of the field under penalty.
Failed to Qualify: (8) 28 Bryan Dauzat, 56 Timmy Hill, 90 Justin Carroll, 69 Tyler Tomassi, 6 Norm Benning, 27 Toni Breidinger, 35 Greg Van Alst, 35 Greg Van Alst.
Caution Flags: 6 for 31 laps; Laps: 7-10 (#4 Incident Frontstretch [None]); 22-27 (Stage 1 Conclusion [2]); 37-45 (#25, 98 Incident Frontstretch / Stage 2 Conclusion [19]); 60-63 (#77 Spin Turn 4 [19]); 81-84 (#77 Spin Frontstretch [None]); 97-100 (#1, 14, 26, 42, 76 Incident Turn 4 [19]).
Lead Changes: 32 among 12 drivers; M. McDowell(i) 1-2; C. Hocevar(i) 3; M. McDowell(i) 4-9; C. Hocevar(i) 10; M. McDowell(i) 11; C. Hocevar(i) 12; M. McDowell(i) 13; C. Hocevar(i) 14; M. McDowell(i) 15-16; C. Hocevar(i) 17; M. McDowell(i) 18; C. Hocevar(i) 19-23; J. Nemechek(i) 24-28; C. Hocevar(i) 29-33; L. Riggs 34; C. Smith 35-41; L. Riggs 42; N. Leitz 43-45; T. Majeski 46-50; J. Nemechek(i) 51-52; C. Hocevar(i) 53-57; J. Nemechek(i) 58-60; T. Pastrana 61; J. Haley 62-63; T. Gray 64-65; J. Haley 66-83; T. Gray 84-92; M. McDowell(i) 93; C. Eckes 94; M. McDowell(i) 95-100; K. Honeycutt 101; C. Smith 102.
(i) Ineligible for driver points in this series
Next Race: February 21, 2026 - Atlanta Motor Speedway
NASCAR Integrated Marketing Communications @ P.O. Box 2875, Daytona Beach, FL 32120-2875
CURRENT NASCAR CRAFTSMAN TRUCK SERIES STANDINGS
Daytona International Speedway
Fresh From Florida 250
UNOFFICIAL Provided by NASCAR Statistics - Friday, 2/13/2026 @ 10:57 PM Eastern UNOFFICIAL
Rank Driver Car Starts GL Points Ldr Nxt Race Wins Stage Wins Playoff Pts
1. Chandler Smith 38 1 -1 65 0 0 1 1 0
2. Christian Eckes 91 1 -2 46 -19 19 0 0 0
3. Ty Majeski 88 1 -3 45 -20 1 0 0 0
4. Giovanni Ruggiero 17 1 -4 35 -30 10 0 0 0
5. Kaden Honeycutt 11 1 -5 34 -31 1 0 0 0
6. Brenden Queen # 12 1 -6 32 -33 2 0 0 0
7. Nick Leitz 5 1 -7 31 -34 1 0 0 0
8. Tyler Ankrum 18 1 -8 28 -37 3 0 0 0
9. Stewart Friesen 52 1 -9 27 -38 1 0 0 0
10. Ben Rhodes 99 1 -10 26 -39 1 0 0 0
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