Noah Gragson | Todd Gilliland | Zane Smith
Daytona 500 Race Report
Daytona 500
Date: Sunday, February 15, 2026
Event: Race 2 of 38
Series: NASCAR Cup Series
Location: Daytona International Speedway (2.5-miles)
Length of Race: 200 laps over three hours, 23 minutes, 56 seconds
FRM Finish:
● Zane Smith (Started 30th, Finished 6th / Running, completed 200 of 200 laps)
● Noah Gragson (Started 25th, Finished 11th / Running, completed 200 of 200 laps)
● Todd Gilliland (Started 18th, Finished 39th / DNF, completed 123 of 200 laps)
FRM Points Standings:
Zane Smith (4th)
Noah Gragson (16th)
Todd Gilliland (35th)
Zane Smith Key Takeaways
Stage One: 1st / Stage Two: 26th / Race Result: 6th
Zane Smith earned his career best Daytona 500 finish yesterday in his fourth attempt at “The Great America Race”, finishing sixth. Smith also earned his first ever NASCAR Cup Series stage win, finishing first in Stage One. Smith now sits fourth in the Driver Championship points standings.
“It’s painful that the 45 was, I guess, in my position, but I know I didn’t have the run on the 9 that I needed to win and so I tried backing up to any help I could get, and then obviously it fell apart there at the end,” said Smith. “All in all, it’s a great growing day for us and some great points scored, but frustrating to be that close and just miss out. It’s not every day you have a shot to win the Daytona 500, so that feels great and I feel like there were some great points scored, just not quite enough.”
Noah Gragson Key Takeaways
Stage One: 10th / Stage Two: 20th / Race Result: 11th
“We fought hard all day in our Rush Truck Centers / Cummins Ford Mustang Dark Horse,” said Gragson. “It didn’t start out the way we hoped getting damage early, but everyone stayed focused, got the car back to where it needed to be, to be competitive, and put us in a spot to be in contention late in the race. That’s all that I could have asked for. I’m proud of the hard work and I’m excited to build on our solid finish next week at Atlanta.”
Todd Gilliland Key Takeaways
Stage One: 26th / Stage Two: 39th / Race Result: 39th
“I don’t know what happened, but that’s two incidents that were completely out of my control,” said Gilliland. “The first one only really got me and the second one was in my lap again. I guess that’s how these things go sometimes. It just really sucks. We made our way all the way back up there in our Love’s Travel Stops Ford Mustang Dark Horse and that was really impressive, but we’ll just have to do what we can next week.”
ABOUT FRONT ROW MOTORSPORTS
Front Row Motorsports (FRM) is a winning organization competing in the NASCAR Cup Series and the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series. Founded in 2004 by entrepreneur Bob Jenkins, FRM has earned top honors including a 2021 Daytona 500 victory and the 2022 CRAFTSMAN Truck Series championship. Based in Mooresville, N.C., FRM fields the No. 4, No. 34, and No. 38 entries in the NASCAR Cup Series, along with the No. 34 and No. 38 teams in the CRAFTSMAN Truck Series. For more information, visit teamfrm.com and follow Front Row Motorsports on social media — X: @Team_FRM, Instagram: @teamfrm, Tik Tok: @Team_FRM, YouTube: @FrontRowNASCAR, and Facebook: facebook.com/FrontRowMotorsports.
