Ford Racing Notes and Quotes
NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series
Fresh From Florida 250 — Daytona International Speedway
Friday, February 13, 2026
CHANDLER SMITH AND FORD F-150 WIN TRUCK SERIES SEASON OPENER
Daytona Beach, Florida, February 13, 2026 – With a little help from his friends, Chandler Smith opened the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series with a visit to Daytona International Speedway’s victory lane. In a dramatic “green-white-checker” finish, Smith used a battle at the front of the field and a push from fellow Ford F-150 driver Ty Majeski to jump from outside the top five to the win in the final quarter of the last lap of the Fresh From Florida 250. With competitors pushing on each other entering the Daytona tri-oval, Smith dropped his No. 38 TrophyCatch Ford to the bottom with Majeski’s No. 88 Ideal Doors/Menards F-150 behind. A hard push by Majeski, the 2024 NASCAR Truck Series champion, was enough to make Smith the winner in Friday evening’s race. Majeski would go on to finish fourth. This was Smith’s eighth career NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series victory.
Ford Finishing Results:
1st – Chandler Smith
4th – Ty Majeski
12th – Ben Rhodes
14th – Cole Butcher
16th – Frankie Muniz
20th – Josh Reaume
31st – Layne Riggs
32nd – 98 Jake Garcia
33rd – Jason White
34th – Corey LaJoie
CHANDLER SMITH, No. 38 TrophyCatch Ford F-150 – “First off, I want to shout out all glory to God. 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 four 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. Just super, super grateful for everybody on this No. 38 Ford F-150 group. We made some changes in the off-season. I felt like last year everybody for the most part knows how this 38 group came together last year, but we built on it and made this group so much better for this year, and I’m so excited for 2026.
Q. Take me back to the start-finish line as you’re coming up four wide and the bottom opens up. What is going through your mind when that happens and you can see the checkered flag?
“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.”
TY MAJESKI, No. 88 Ideal Doors/Menards Ford F-150 – “Us Ford Racing guys, we stay together. We have meetings before this, and we want to be a good example for Ford. We see it on Sundays all the time. And, we had a good meeting this morning and we all wanted to stick together. If we could help a Blue Oval, we did it. Obviously, we want to win for ourselves. I don’t know that there was really a position I could have put myself into to win. We were just so far behind, and my only chance to finish better was to push the 38. Glad we could help a Ford get to Victor Lane. Just very blessed to be in the spot, taking over the Menards 88 for ThorSport this year. Great way to start off the season with stage points in both stages, and sat on the pole, and solid top five finished going to Atlanta. So a great way to start the season.”
