Nick Sanchez won the pole position for the 2026 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Championship Race at Homestead-Miami Speedway on Friday, November 6.
The event’s starting lineup was determined through an on-track qualifying session that consisted of a single-truck, single-lap qualifying format. During the session, each of the 35 competitors vying for 35 starting spots cycled around Homestead once to post the fastest lap amongst one another. The competitor who posted the fastest lap earned pole position.
During the session, Sanchez, who was the third-fastest competitor during practice that occurred on Thursday, November 5, utilized his one-lap session to post a lap at 164.855 mph in 32.756 seconds. Sanchez’s lap was enough for the Miami native to secure the top-starting spot at his home track to cap off the 2026 Truck Series season.
With the pole, Sanchez notched his eighth career pole in the Craftsman Truck Series division, his second at Homestead and his first since Darlington Raceway in 2024. The 2026 finale will mark Sanchez’s fourth Truck start of this season, including one with Henderson Motorsports and three, including Homstead, with Spire Motorsports, as his plans for next season remains to be determined.
Sanchez will share the front row with Chandler Smith, the latter of whom won last weekend’s event at Martinsville Speedway. Smith, who is making his final Truck start with Front Row Motorsports for Friday night’s finale, qualified in second place with a lap of 164.424 mph in 32.842 seconds. Corey Heim, who is making his ninth Truck start of 2026, will start in third place with a lap of 164.244 mph in 32.878 seconds. Smith is set to drive for Richard Childress Racing in the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series while Heim will drive for 23XI Racing in the Cup Series next season.
Championship contenders Layne Riggs and Kaden Honeycutt will start in fourth and fifth, respectively. Riggs, who trails Honeycutt by 20 points, will start in fourth place with a lap of 164.224 mph in 32.882 seconds. Honeycutt, who leads the standings, will start one position behind Riggs in fifth place with 163.820 mph in 32.963 seconds. One of the latter two will be crowned the Truck Series championship for the first time ever at the conclusion of Friday night’s finale.
Stewart Friesen, Giovanni Ruggiero, Tanner Gray, Connor Mosack and Ty Majeski (fastest in practice) complete the top-10 starting grid, respectively. With five Chase contenders (Smith, Riggs, Honeycutt, Ruggiero and Majeski) qualifying in the top 10, the remaining Chasers that include Grant Enfinger, Daniel Hemric, Christian Eckes, Tyler Ankrum and Ben Rhodes will start 13th, 16th, 17th, 18th and 20th, respectively.
With 35 competitors vying for 35 starting spots, all made the main event.
Homestead – Starting Lineup:
- Nick Sanchez, 164.855 mph, 32.756 seconds
- Chandler Smith, 164.424 mph, 32.842 seconds
- Corey Heim, 164.244 mph, 32.878 seconds
- Layne Riggs, 164.224 mph, 32.882 seconds
- Kaden Honeycutt, 163.820 mph, 32.963 seconds
- Stewart Friesen, 163.681 mph, 32.991 seconds
- Giovanni Ruggiero, 163.676 mph, 32.992 seconds
- Tanner Gray, 163.404 mph, 33.047 seconds
- Connor Mosack, 163.241 mph, 33.080 seconds
- Ty Majeski, 162.896 mph, 33.150 seconds
- Leland Honeyman Jr., 162.827 mph, 33.164 seconds
- Connor Hall, 162.827 mph, 33.164 seconds
- Grant Enfinger, 162.758 mph, 33.178 seconds
- Landen Lewis, 162.651 ph, 33.200 seconds
- Cole Butcher, 162.548 mph, 33.221 seconds
- Daniel Hemric, 162.450 mph, 33.241 seconds
- Christian Eckes, 162.109 mph, 33.311 seconds
- Tyler Ankrum, 161.725 mph, 33.390 seconds
- Justin Haley, 161.614 mph, 33.413 seconds
- Ben Rhodes, 161.522 mph, 33.432 seconds
- Brenden Queen, 161.021 mph, 33.536 seconds
- Andres Perez De Lara, 160.954 mph, 33.550 seconds
- Parker Kligerman, 160.810 mph, 33.580 seconds
- Jake Garcia, 160.729 mph, 33.597 seconds
- Tyler Reif, 160.333 mph, 33.680 seconds
- Corey LaJoie, 159.891 mph, 33.773 seconds
- Timmy Hill, 159.877 mph, 33.776 seconds
- Matt Crafton, 159.622 mph, 33.830 seconds
- Kris Wright, 159.593 mph, 33.836 seconds
- Spencer Davis, 159.316 mph, 33.895 seconds
- Mini Tyrrell, 159.039 mph, 33.954 seconds
- Mason Massey, 158.983 mph, 33.966 seconds
- Frankie Muniz, 158.702 mph, 34.026 seconds
- Clayton Green, 157.932 mph, 34.192 seconds
- Spencer Boyd, 153.200 mph, 35.248 seconds
*Bold indicates Chase Drivers
The 2026 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Championship Race at Homestead-Miami Speedway is scheduled to ocur on Friday, November 6, at 7:30 p.m. ET on FS1, NASCAR Racing Network and SiriusXM.
