While NASCAR fans have enjoyed plenty of action so far into the 2026 racing season, the Craftsman Truck Series will finally jump back into action this weekend after a three-week hiatus. After only three races so far into the Truck Series, early leaders on the driver, owner, and manufacturer levels are already materializing with a pattern of dominance for the Ford racing teams. Will this early-season trend continue as the weather warms up and drivers, along with tracks, start getting hotter into the summer?
The Grand Prix of St. Petersburg provided early-season excitement.
NASCAR in general, and the Craftsman Truck Series in particular, tends to rely on the trusted oval track as the familiar and friendly confines of racing. However, the addition of the street race Grand Prix of St. Petersburg, along with a partnership of the NTT IndyCar Series, provided plenty of early-season excitement for NASCAR truck racing fans. With Layne Riggs blasting through the streets of St. Petersburg, the number 34 Ford truck of Front Row Motorsports sealed a key win in the 2026 Craftsman campaign. Indycar fans were treated to sights and sounds of Ford, Chevrolet, Toyota, and Ram trucks blasting through city streets before the traditional open-wheel race. The biggest winners in St. Petersburg had to be racing fans who got treated to hearing the “thunder” of NASCAR trucks and the “lightning” of Indycars all in one jam-packed weekend.
The 2026 Craftsman Truck Series leaders are stepping up early.
Chandler Smith, driving the number 38 Ford truck for Front Row Motorsports, has emerged as the early leader in the 2026 Craftsman Truck Series with a win in Daytona and a top-five finish in St. Petersburg. Sitting on the current leader board standings with 152 points, Smith is poised to continue his winning ways this coming week at the Darlington Raceway. Another driver to watch early on this season is Layne Riggs. After a convincing win in St. Petersburg, Riggs, driving the number 34 Ford for Front Row Motorsports, secured a top-five spot after three races and helped Front Row take an early-season lead with two wins out of three races so far in 2026.
While Kyle Busch won at EchoPark in Atlanta with his number Seven Chevrolet for Spire Motorsports, Busch’s appearances in both the O’Reilly and Craftsman series will be limited due to NASCAR rules regarding “regular” Cup drivers from taking driver seats away from younger racers working their way up through the NASCAR echelons. Could other Cup drivers be making “guest” appearances from time to time this season? The answer to that question invariably is yes – depending on schedules. With the O’Reilly and Cup series moving on without truck races these past few weeks, most Cup drivers are settling into another grueling Cup season, and while Darlington provides an opportunity. However, Cup drivers including AJ Allmendinger, Ross Chastain, Christopher Bell, and Carson Hocevar, are slated to drive this Friday evening in the Buckle Up South Carolina 200 race at Darlington.
Ford holds the Manufacturer lead early on in the 2026 Craftsman Truck Series.
While it’s certainly too early to tell how the 2026 Craftsman Truck Series will unfold, one thing is certain at this point: Ford and Chevrolet trucks are making their presence felt on each race podium. Ford drivers have won two out of the three opening races this season, while Chevrolet brings up the pack with a Kyle Busch win at EchoPark last month. Ford currently leads the Craftsman manufacturer standings with 143 points, while Chevy comes up second with 120 points, followed by Toyota with 101 and Ram with 85 points, respectively. On the manufacturer’s side, Ram is making a comeback in NASCAR while flying under the banner of Kaulig Racing with no less than five trucks running this season in the Craftsman Truck Series.
Early predictions for Darlington this weekend.
After a three-week hiatus, the Craftsman Truck Series finally gets its proverbial engines roaring again and sets the stage on March 20th with a Friday night race to start the Darlington race weekend off with both the O’Reilly and Cup series in town as well. While I’m not playing a betting man on the Top Ten racers this weekend, I’ve decided to come up with a prediction based on the results from the past three races and the addition of multiple Cup drivers in the mix this Friday night as well. Here are my predicted Top Ten finishers this week:
1. Chandler Smith
2. Layne Riggs
3. Ty Majeski
4. Ben Rhodes
5. Gio Ruggiero
6. Ross Chastain
7. Kaden Honeycutt
8. Carson Hocevar
9. Christian Eckes
10. Christopher Bell
