Sammy Smith achieves first Truck career victory at Talladega

Sammy Smith made his incoming presence as a full-time NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series competitor for next season known to the competition by navigating his way to his first series victory in the Love’s RV Stop 225 at Talladega Superspeedway on Friday, October 23.

The two-time ARCA Menards Series East champion from Johnston, Iowa, led six times for a race-high 21 of 86 laps in an event where he qualified on the front row, led six laps throughout the first stage period and rallied from being shoved out of the draft to settle in ninth place at the first stage’s conclusion. 

After getting shoved out of the draft and settling in 18th place at the second stage’s conclusion, Smith returned atop the leaderboard with 13 laps remaining. Leading three times for 13 laps in the final laps, Smith, who restarted with the lead for a two-lap shootout, dueled for nearly the entirety of the shootout with pole-sitter Ty Majeski before the latter and Kaden Honeycutt appeared to have the edge by motoring ahead of Smith within the draft with two turns remaining. With both Honeycutt and Majeski attempting to slingshot one another, Smith executed a race-winning move on Majeski through the tri-oval to achieve his first checkered flag in the Truck division and his second NASCAR national touring series victory at Talladega.

With on-track qualifying determining the starting lineup on Friday, Ty Majeski secured his third Truck pole of the 2026 season with a pole-winning lap of 177.389 mph in 53.983 seconds. Sammy Smith qualified in second place and started alongside Majeski on the front row with a lap of 177.173 mph in 54.049 seconds.

Prior to the event, Thomas Annunziata dropped to the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments to his No. 5 TRICON Garage Toyota entry.

When the green flag waved and the event commenced, pole-sitter Ty Majeski was pushed by Kaden Honeycutt ahead of the field from the inside lane through the first two turns. Through the backstretch, Sammy Smith gained a run with drafting help from Giovanni Ruggiero and drew alongside Majeski before he quickly transitioned to the inside lane in front of Majeski. As the field scrambled and began to fan out while navigating back to the tri-oval, Ruggiero managed to motor ahead of Smith and lead the first lap from the outside lane.

As the field fanned out to three-wide formation for the second lap, Smith regained the advantage and led the latter lap from the inside lane while Ruggiero fought back to Smith’s right side. Amid the three-wide action, Justin Haley tried to form a third drafted lane towards the outside lane before he had teammate Corey LaJoie move in front of him from the draft. By the fourth lap, Ben Rhodes jumped in front of the Kaulig Racing RAM entries as he tried to motor his way to the front, but the drafted lane towards the outside wall could not motor to the front as a majority of the field opted to remain behind Smith and Ruggiero through the two-stacked lane. At the front, Smith and Ruggiero continued to duel for the top spot for the following lap. 

Through the Lap 10 mark, newcomer Austin Green motored his way into the lead for the first time as he had Layne Riggs, Ruggiero, Ben Rhodes, Smith and Haley, the latter of whom led the previous lap, following in single-file formation and ahead of the stacked field. Smith would then get pinned in the middle lane and lose a bevy of spots through the tri-oval prior to the Lap 12 mark. Shortly after, Haley dropped off the pace due to a flat tire on his entry. After nearly getting sideways through Turns 3 and 4 while the field scrambled, bumped and jostled to avoid Haley’s entry, Haley managed to enter pit road and the event proceeded without drawing a caution. With Christian Eckes limping his entry below the apron with right-side damage and a flat right-front tire, after hitting the tri-oval’s outside wall, Green retained the lead by the Lap 15 mark.

Then on Lap 16, the event’s first caution flew when a multi-truck erupted through the first two turns. The carnage started when Stewart Friesen, who was racing in the middle lane towards the top-10 mark and was beginning to fall off the pace due to a flat tire, got sideways off the front nose of Andres Perez De Lara. This caused Friesen to get sideways, barely clip Kris Wright, with Wright shooting up the track and colliding into Corey LaJoie against the outside wall, before Friesen shot back up the track and into the path of Tony Stewart. Among other competitors involved were Cole Butcher, Daniel Hemric, Perez De Lara, Thomas Annunziata, and Cleetus McFarland, the latter of whom had eased off the throttle when the carnage occurred in front of him, but only to get bumped and turned as McFarland spun and hit the backstretch’s inside wall head-on. The wreck was enough for the event to be placed in a red flag period for 10 minutes and three seconds to have the carnage cleared.

The multi-truck wreck was also enough for the first sage period to conclude under caution as Ruggiero, who had assumed the lead prior to the carnage, was awarded his first Truck stage victory of the 2026 season. Teammate Honeycutt settled in second ahead of Green, Corey Heim and Riggs while Rhodes, Tanner Gray, Majeski, Sammy Smith and Mini Tyrrell were scored in the top 10, respectively. With Chase contenders Ruggiero, Honeycutt, Riggs, Rhodes and Majeski notching the event’s first round of stage points by being scored in the top-10 mark, the remaining Chasers that include Tyler Ankrum, Chandler Smith, Enfinger, Hemric and Eckes were mired in 14th, 17th, 18th, 34th and 36th, respectively.

Under the event’s first stage break period, the lead lap field led by Ruggiero pitted for service. Following the pit stops and with mixed pit strategies ensuing, Green, who only opted for fuel to his entry, exited pit road first ahead of teammate Smith while Majeski, Heim (the first with two fresh tires), Riggs, Tanner Gray, Brenden Queen, Landen Lewis, Grant Enfinger and Mini Tyrrell followed suit, respectively. During the pit stops, Riggs nearly ran over his front-tire changer while Ruggiero was mired with being stuck in reverse on exit while trying to navigate past Tyrrell as he tried to exit his pit stall. Ruggiero’s issues kept him mired in his pit stall, which dropped him out of the lead lap category, as Honeycutt pitted to have his front splitter assessed.

The second stage period started on Lap 22 as Green and Majeski occupied the front row. At the front, Majeski was pushed ahead of Green by Heim through the first two turns as Ruggiero’s entry was pushed behind the wall to have a new transmission installed. As the field navigated through the backstretch, Green fought back and muscled ahead from the outside lane through Turns 3 and 4. With teammate Smith pushing from behind, Green led the next lap before Majeski motored back ahead from the inside lane. 

By lap 25, Majeski led the next lap while Heim, who was pushing Majeski, was pinned in the middle lane as he also dropped off the pace when he reported a tire issue to his entry. Amid Heim’s issues as the latter pitted under green, teammates Green and Smith dueled for the lead in front of two stacked lanes while Majeski and Riggs pushed from behind. Green and Smith continued to duel for the lead amid the draft over the next four laps before Riggs seized a run through Turns 3 and 4 while trying to duel Smith for the lead from the inside lane.

Prior to the Lap 31 mark, Smith was shoved out of the draft. This allowed Grant Enfinger to carve his way to the front and battle Riggs for the lead while Chandler Smith, who fell off the pace after losing a right-rear tire, pitted under green for repairs. Riggs would then motor ahead with a slight advantage and from a push by Green while Enfinger tried to reel in from the outside lane while being pushed by Rhodes. Enfinger proceeded to use a strong run through the first two turns to move in front of Riggs for the lead by Lap 33 as both Riggs and Rhodes fought back from the outside lane. Amid the latter two’s charges, Enfinger led the Lap 35 mark.

Then on Lap 37, the leader Enfinger dropped off the pace when he lost a right-rear tire and had the tire carcass slip out from his entry through Turns 3 and 4 as the field was about to enter the tri-oval. With Green pushing Enfinger at the time of Enfinger’s issues, he and the rest of the field, including Sutton as Sutton hit the tire carcass, scattered and barely avoided Enfinger as the latter limped around the track and was losing pace of the field. By then, Jake Garcia was also off the pace as the caution flew due to the debris from Enfinger’s tire carcass.

At the time of caution, which concluded the second stage period, Tanner Gray had cycled to the lead and was awarded his first Truck stage victory of the 2026 season. Riggs, Rhodes, Honeycutt, Majeski, Landen Lewis, Dawson Sutton, Green, Haley and Queen were scored in the top 10, respectively. With Chasers Riggs, Rhodes, Honeycutt and Majeski notching the event’s second round of stage points, the remaining Chasers that include Ankrum, Enfinger, Smith and Eckes were mired in 13th, 23rd, 25th and 27th, respectively, while Ruggiero and Hemric were behind the wall.

During the event’s second stage break period, the field led by Gray returned to pit road for service. Following the pit stops, Dawson Sutton, who opted for only fuel to his entry, exited pit road first while Majeski, the first who pitted for four fresh tires, followed suit along with Riggs, Lewis, Green, Gray, Haley, Ankrum, Queen and Tyrrell, respectively.

With 40 laps remaining, the final stage period commenced as Sutton and Majeski occupied the front row. At the front, the latter two dueled for nearly a full circuit before Majeski motored ahead from the inside lane and led the next lap. Another two laps later, trouble struck for Sutton as he pitted under green with a flat tire spotted on his entry. Majeski retained the lead over Riggs and the field before the caution returned with 37 laps remaining due to debris on the backstretch. During the latest caution, the field pitted primarily for fuel and Riggs managed to cycle to the lead by exiting pit road first.

The event’s next restart with 32 laps remaining featured Riggs and Tanner Gray dueling for the lead through the first two turns before the latter used a push from Brenden Queen to gain the upper advantage through the backstretch. Queen then darted to the left to make a move on Gray, but the latter also darted left and nearly forced Queen off the track, though Gray was able to prevail out in front. Gray led the next two laps before he was shuffled back within the top-five mark. At the front, Honeycutt was pushed over Landen Lewis by Rhodes into the lead. Honeycutt maintained the lead just before the caution flew with 32 laps remaining. The latest caution occurrence was for Jake Garcia getting bumped in the rear by Conner Jones and going head-on into the backstretch’s outside wall. With Jones also losing control and spinning his Niece Motorsporst entry, Garcia darted back across the track to the left and ran into the side of Chandler Smith, which got Smith sideways and he was hit again by Jones.

Down to the final 22 laps, the event restarted as Honeycutt dueled with Rhodes in front of two-stacked lanes through the first two turns. Rhodes would then dart to the left and move in front of Honeycutt after he received a strong push by Tanner Gray through the first two turns on the outside lane. Gray would lead the next two laps before Rhodes led the following three from the inside lane. Gray then reassumed the top spot for the following lap before Riggs was push to the lead by Majeski with 15 laps remaining. 

As the event reached its final 10-lap mark, Smith was leading over Chasers Riggs, Majeski, Rhodes, Honeycutt and Ankrum while Tanner Gray, Thomas Annunziata, Green and Lewis occupied the top-10 spots in front of Queen, Frankie Muniz, Cory Roper, Sutton and Enfinger, respectively. By then, the top-19 competitors were separated by one-and-a-half seconds of one another while Chandler Smith was mired 11 seconds behind in 20th place. 

Three laps later, the caution flew when Annunziata, who was drafted into the lead seconds earlier through the tri-oval, got turned off the front nose of teammate Honeycutt entering the first turn. The contact caused Annunziata to hit the outside wall head-on before his wrecked entry was hit by Enfinger.

With the event restarting with two laps remaining, Sammy Smith and Riggs occupied the front row in front of Majeski, Honeycutt, Green, Ankrum and the rest of the field. Through the first two turns, the inside lane led by Smith gained the advantage as the latter was pushed by Majeski and Green entering the backstretch. Exiting the backstretch, Majeski made a move to Smith’s right and he was picked up by Riggs as he challenged Smith, who was being pushed by teammate Green, in a side-by-side duel through Turns 3 and 4 along with the tri-oval. 

When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Majeski was ahead of Smith by a nose. As the field stacked up entering the first two turns, a wreck ensued that involved Sutton, Timmy Hill, Rhodes, Cory Roper, Jason White and Clay Greenfield. This incident did not generate a caution as Riggs got shuffled out of the draft amid his late drafting work with Majeski.

Riggs being shuffled out allowed Honeycutt and four competitors within a small lead pack to overtake Riggs as Majeski and Smith continued to duel for the lead through the first two turns and the backstretch. Majeski was then pushed by Honeycutt ahead of Smith exiting the backstretch before Honeycutt darted beneath Majeski’s left side and tried to motor ahead through Turns 3 and 4. Entering the tri-oval, Majeski received a strong push from Smith to overtake Honeycutt, but he darted to the left. This allowed Smith to overtake Majeski from the outside lane as the lead pack fanned out. With the checkered flag waving, Smith emerged victorious by 0.091 seconds.

With the victory, Smith, who will pilot Spire Motorsports’ No. 7 Chevrolet entry next weekend at Martinsville Speedway, became the 130th competitor overall to achieve a Truck Series win, the third first-time winner of the 2026 season and the eighth to achieve a first career Truck victory at Talladega. He also achieved his second NASCAR national touring series victory at Talladega after he won the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series’ fall event at ‘Dega in October 2024 with his current O’Reilly team, JR Motorsports.

Smith’s Talladega victory was the fifth of the 2026 Truck season for Chevrolet, and the manufacturer’s eighth series win at Talladega. He also achieved the fourth Truck victory of this season and the 13th overall for Spire Motorsports. Smith’s Talladega victory capped off an eventful day for the Iowa native, where he was announced to be joining TRICON Garage for a full-time Truck Series campaign in 2027.

*This season marks the 10th time in 11 consecutive seasons where the Truck Series’ Chase event at Talladega was won by a non-Chase contender.

“Yeah, just a great team, honestly, [crew chief] Brian Pattie and the whole No. 7 Spire crew,” Smith said on the frontstretch on FS1. “Michael Fisher did a great job up on the spotter stand. The truck was fast. I felt like we did a good job putting ourself there in a good spot. Obviously, we lost track position, but man, thanks to Spectrum, everyone for coming on board. Spire for giving me this opportunity. I’m looking forward to racing trucks next year. I just want to win races, and that’s what I want to do. I am a winner, and I know I can win. I got another shot tomorrow with my No. 8 boys [in the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series].”

Tyler Ankrum navigated his way to a runner-up result over newcomer Austin Green while Ty Majeski and Kaden Honeycutt finished fourth and fifth, respectively. Landen Lewis, Brenden Queen, Layne Riggs, Spencer Boyd and Corey Heim completed the top 10 in the final running order.

The fifth Craftsman Truck Series Chase event of the 2026 season at Talladega saw 32 lead changes among 15 leaders, and five cautions over 26 laps. In addition, 17 of 36 starters finished on the lead lap.

Results:

1. Sammy Smith, 21 laps led
2. Tyler Ankrum
3. Austin Green, 14 laps led
4. Ty Majeski, seven laps led
5. Kaden Honeycutt, eight laps led
6. Landen Lewis
7. Brenden Queen
8. Layne Riggs, six laps led
9. Spencer Boyd
10. Corey Heim
11. Tanner Gray, nine laps led
12. Frankie Muniz
13. Jason White
14. Chandler Smith
15. Clay Greenfield
16. Timmy Hill, one lap led
17. Ben Rhodes, three laps led
18. Cory Roper – OUT, Accident
19. Dawson Sutton, one lap down, one lap led
20. Justin Haley, two laps down, two laps led
21. Christian Eckes, three laps down
22. Josh Reaume, four laps down, one lap led
23. Thomas Annunziata – OUT, Accident, one lap led
24. Grant Enfinger – OUT, Accident, four laps led
25. Giovanni Ruggiero, 29 laps down, five laps led
26. Jake Garcia – OUT, Accident, three laps led
27. Conner Jones – OUT, Accident
28. Mini Tyrrell – OUT, Radiator
29. Cole Butcher – OUT, Accident
30. Stewart Friesen – OUT, Accident
31. Andres Perez De Lara – OUT, Accident
32. Kris Wright – OUT, Accident
33. Corey LaJoie – OUT, Accident
34. Tony Stewart – OUT, Accident
35. Daniel Hemric – OUT, Accident
36. Cleetus McFarland – OUT, Accident

*Bold indicates Chase Drivers

After the fifth Chase event of the 2026 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series season, Kaden Honeycutt continues to lead the standings by 43 points over Layne Riggs. The rest of the 10-Truck Chase field is displayed below.

1. Kaden Honeycutt
2. Layne Riggs -43
3. Ty Majeski -141
4. Chandler Smith -142
5. Christian Eckes -144
6. Giovanni Ruggiero -177
7. Daniel Hemric -194
8. Ben Rhodes -203
9. Tyler Ankrum -214
10. Grant Enfinger -219

Next on the 2026 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Chase schedule is Martinsville Speedway in Ridgeway, Virginia, for the Black’s Tire 250. The event is scheduled for next Friday, October 30, and will air at 6 p.m. ET on FS1, NASCAR Racing Network, and SiriusXM.