NASCAR
Chandler Smith Goes Back-to-Back in North Wilkesboro Truck Race
NORTH WILKESBORO, N.C. – The record books may say that Chandler Smith is now a two-time North Wilkesboro Speedway winner, but both victories could not have been more opposite. 2025’s race saw the Front Row Motorsports No. 38 only lead the last lap. This season, meanwhile, saw Smith have his sails in the wind for the second half of the FaithFest 250, pacing the way for all of the final stage. Now a two-time winner in 2026, Smith has asserted himself back into championship talks as the Chase draws nearer.
Truck Series points leader Layne Riggs looked strong early from the pole. The No. 34 Ford was out front to win Stage 1, although much of this opening run belonged to Carson Hocevar. The Cup Series star suffered a cut tire, however, that left his stranded two laps down and finishing in dismal 27th-place. A timely yellow late in Stage 2 allowed a few trucks to stay out, giving this win to Ty Majeski.
Trouble for the No. 77 of @CarsonHocevar, who has led 74 laps so far. pic.twitter.com/MjKb34bqMl
— NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Trucks (@NASCAR_Trucks) July 18, 2026
Smith was the first man off pit road after Stage 2 and never looked back. Thanks to no caution waving again, the No. 38 gapped the field late, eventually winning by almost nine seconds. This victory gap set a new series record for all short tracks ever. Despite intense heat and long green flag runs, Smith stayed as cool as ice to take home a second win on the season.
“Praise to God,” Smith said. “He’s the source of all this. He’s the one who keeps the wheels flowing in my career and keeps these race teams going — specifically this No. 38 race team. Our team is a Christian team. We went from the valley last weekend to the mountaintop today. Today was fun. Right off the get-go from the start of the race, I knew we had a really good truck. I could race around guys and see where they struggled and where my strong suit was. Last year went really good but speed-wise, I wasn’t very happy with my truck. This year, we were really good, speed-wise, but I also had a really good-handling race truck.”
Riggs capped off a Wilkesboro 1-2 for Front Row Motorsports for a second-straight year. The Fords just beat out Shane van Gisbergen, Christian Eckes, and Landen Lewis. The rest of the top-10 were: Gio Ruggiero, Chase Elliott, Stewart Friesen, Corey Heim, and Ty Majeski. Thanks to finishing second, Riggs extends his points gap over Kaden Honeycutt (11th-place) to 59 points. The Chase cut line battle is also now a tie between Friesen and Tyler Ankrum. Three regular season races remain for the Truckers.
Craftsman Truck Series teams will be back in action next week from another bullring – Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park. The TSPORT 200 will go green Friday at 7:30 p.m. ET on FS1, NRN, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio. Layne Riggs is the defending winner of this race and will be the man to beat again on this tight short track.
Written by Peter Stratta
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Photo Credit to David Jensen/Getty Images
