Fresh from Florida 250

The Craftsman Truck Series kicked off the 2026 season at Daytona International Speedway for the Fresh from Florida 250. Chandler Smith in his Ford truck was in sixth place going into turn three on the final lap and kept his truck in the bottom lane, putting him in a great spot to make a pass coming to the finish line in a four wide finish. Giovanni Ruggiero finished second in his Toyota with Christian Eckes third in the top finishing Chevrolet. Ty Majeski and John Hunter Nemechek finished fourth and fifth. 

Ty Majeski started on the pole and Michael McDowell beside him. McDowell jumped out front and led until lap three when his teammate Carson Hocevar passed him but it did not last long as McDowell regained the lead on the next lap. Lap six ended the race for Cleetus McFarland as he lost control in turn four and hit the inside wall, bringing out the first caution of the night. The two teammates went back and forth for the lead until Hocevar held off Tanner Gray on the final lap of stage one for the stage win.

Stage two started with John Hunter Nemechek out front but only stayed there a couple of laps before Hocevar moved back up front. Chandler Smith brought fellow Ford drivers Layne Riggs and Ty Majeski to the front and Smith was in the lead when the next caution flag came out as Jake Garcia lost control of his truck and hit Tony Stewart, bringing the second stage to the end under caution. 

Nick Leitz only put on two tires and led the field to the green flag for the start of the final stage. Majeski made his way to the front after the restart and stayed there until Nemechek got around him. A few laps later, Hocevar made his way back up front after having a technical issue when his truck cut off while leading the race. Bad luck struck again when his left rear tire went flat while in the lead, giving the lead over to Nemechek. Gray led the field to the restart and stayed in the lead until Justin Haley brought his Ram truck to the front of the field. The caution came out with twenty laps to go when Hocevar spun out on the frontstretch when he blew another left rear tire. Gray was again in the lead as he was pushed to the front by Nemechek. McDowell worked his way back to the front and battled Christian Eckes for a couple of laps before the top lane faded. The caution flag came out once again for a three-car accident as Taylor Gray spun down the track and collected Dawson Sutton and Spencer Boyd setting up an overtime finish. McDowell started out front but coming to the white flag he spun out after making contact with Nemechek. It was a four wide finish as Chandler Smith snuck by Nemechek, Ruggiero and Eckes for the win.