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Chandler Smith Clutch at Daytona in Trucks Photo Finish

Chandler Smith Clutch at Daytona in Trucks Photo Finish
Photo Credit to Sean Gardner/Getty Images

NASCAR

Chandler Smith Comes Out on Top in Stacked Fresh From Florida 250

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Twenty-four hours after failing to qualify for the Daytona 500, Chandler Smith put on a Truck Series stunner. The Front Row Motorsports No. 38 Ford was fifth in turn four on the last lap. From there to the line, Smith found a hole on the bottom and had enough help to edge ahead in a four-wide photo finish. Winning by only 0.044 seconds, Smith takes his biggest Truck victory yet at The World Center of Racing.

A race filled with superstar drivers, both stages saw one of these larger-than-life personalities wreck out. First up was Cleetus McFarland, who self-spun out of turn four only seven laps in. Thirty laps later, Tony Stewart was taken out after contact from Jake Garcia.

Both stages would be split between Carson Hocevar and Chandler Smith. The Spire No. 77 eventually took two separate spins to take himself out of contention.

On the overtime restart, Cup veteran Michael McDowell lined up against winless Truck star Kaden Honeycutt. Both drivers were passed by a hard-charging pack on the last lap, with Gio Ruggiero making a monster save into turn three. John Hunter Nemechek appeared to be in the catbird seat but couldn’t block enough lanes down the stretch. Making a pass look easy on the inside lane, Chandler Smith stole the win.

“First off, I want to shout out all glory to God,” Smith said. “Without Him, none of this would be possible. And I am super, super grateful that I serve such a loving God that blessed me with such a good group of men and women around me at Front Row Motorsports. Ty Majeski, one of my best Ford teammates I’ve ever worked with. He is all credit to how we just won that race truthfully. He stayed committed to a Ford and pushed a blue oval to a win.”

“Have some people back at home that’s struggling a little bit. Rory Smith, buddy, I know we talked about maybe making it to the Daytona 500, but hopefully this does a little better justice for you.”

“Really happy we got a trophy here. This is our first ever NASCAR race, and was debating on if they were going to do more. Hopefully those guys, I know they’re Raising Cain up in the stands right now, having a great time.”

“Just super, super grateful for everybody on this No. 38 Ford F-150 group. We made some changes in the offseason. I felt like last year everybody for the most part knows how this 38 group came together. But we built on it and made this group so much better for this year, and I’m so excited for 2026.”

“I was surprised the 62 didn’t block it. I was just — the seas literally just parted, and the 88 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.”

Gio Ruggiero was left in a heartbreaking runner-up for a second straight year at Daytona. He just edged ahead of Christian Eckes, Ty Majeski, and Nemechek. The rest of the top-10 were: Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Brendan ‘Butterbean’ Queen, Kaden Honeycutt, Tyler Ankrum, and Stewart Friesen. Hear from a few of these drivers and others below.

The Craftsman Truck Series returns to action next week from EchoPark (Atlanta) Speedway. The Fr8 Racing 208 goes green Saturday, February 21 at 1:30 p.m. ET on FS1, NRN, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio. Kyle Busch will be chasing a third-straight win in this race with Spire Motorsports.

Written by Peter Stratta

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Photo Credits to Sean Gardner/Getty Images

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