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Kyle Larson scores second consecutive O’Reilly victory at Texas

By
Andrew Kim
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Photo by Jake Daugherty for SpeedwayMedia.com.

Kyle Larson prevailed in a 17-lap shootout and a late challenge from teammate Justin Allgaier to win the Andy’s Frozen Custard 340 at Texas Motor Speedway on Saturday, May 2.

The reigning two-time NASCAR Cup Series champion from Elk Grove, California, led five times for a race-high 93 of 200-scheduled laps in an event where he took the green flag from third place and spent the early portions of the event racing towards the front. After finishing in the top-five mark during the event’s first two stage periods and having a brief sniff at the lead during the second stage period, Larson executed a bold three-wide move in between teammate Connor Zilisch and Brent Crews that even involved on-track contact to storm to the lead with 95 laps remaining.

No. 88
Photo by Ron Olds for SpeedwayMedia.com

After dominating the final stage period, Larson held a steady advantage over teammate Justin Allgaier when a late-race caution with 22 laps remaining briefly stalled his run to victory. Through a 17-lap shootout, Larson utilized defensive driving to fend off Allgaier throughout the run to pilot the No. 88 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro entry from JR Motorsports to his second NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series victory of the 2026 season and his second in a row at Texas.

With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Friday, May 1, Justin Allgaier nabbed his first O’Reilly pole position of the 2026 season with a pole-winning lap at 188.607 mph in 28.631 seconds. Allgaier shared the front row with Brandon Jones, the latter of whom posted the second-fastest qualifying lap at 188.075 mph in 28.712 seconds.

Prior to the event, Ryan Sieg and Ryan Ellis dropped to the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments to their respective entries. Lavar Scott also started at the rear of the field due to an engine change to his No. 45 Alpha Prime Racing Chevrolet Camaro entry.

When the green flag waved, and the event commenced, pole-sitter Justin Allgaier and Brandon Jones briefly dueled through the frontstretch until Allgaier motored his No. 7 Roto-Rooter Chevrolet Camaro entry ahead from the inside lane and with the lead through the first two turns. Shortly after, the event’s first caution flew when Taylor Gray, who was racing within the top-15 mark, got clipped sideways by Carson Kvapil, as both he and teammate William Sawalich, the latter of whom got hit by Jeb Burton, spun through the first two turns.

At the front of this incident, Corey Day, who started in sixth place and was coming off his first O’Reilly career victory at Talladega Superspeedway, washed up the track entering the backstretch and smacked the outside wall. Day’s incident damaged the right side and the decklid of his No. 17 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro entry and evaporated his hopes of winning the fourth Dash 4 Cash $100,000 bonus of this season as he dropped out of race contention.

The next restart on the sixth lap featured Allgaier motoring away from the field through the frontstretch and from the inside lane before he continued to lead through the first two turns and the backstretch. As Allgaier led the next lap, Brandon Jones retained second place over Connor Zilisch while Kyle Larson, who had an early stab for the runner-up spot, dropped to fourth place in front of Brent Crews as Crews recovered from being dead sideways a lap prior.

The caution, however, returned seconds later due to Austin Green getting hit by Josh Williams and spinning through the first two turns, where the former then barely clipped Mason Maggio and sent Maggio for a spin towards the backstretch’s outside wall. During the caution period, the driver of the Chevrolet Corvette pace car had to take evasive action to avoid Maggio’s wrecked entry as Maggio tried to pull up the track and drive away from the carnage scene in the backstretch.

As the event restarted on Lap 12, Allgaier used the inside lane to motor away from the field through the frontstretch for a second consecutive time. He proceeded to lead the next lap over Jones while Larson navigated his way up to third place in front of Zilisch. While Brent Crews and Sheldon Creed battled for fifth place, Allgaier stretched his lead to eight-tenths of a second over Jones by Lap 15.

On Lap 17, the event’s third caution flew due to Brad Perez getting loose off of Turn 4 and hitting the right side of Austin Green while trying to straighten his entry. As a result of the contact with Green, Perez then shot back across the track and hit the frontstretch’s outside wall head-on, which further damaged the front end of his entry, and slid through the frontstretch as Lavar Scott spun to avoid Perez.

When the event restarted under green on Lap 24, Allgaier fended off teammate Larson through the frontstretch and the first two turns with the lead. As teammate Connor Zilisch, who restarted fifth and used a bold move beneath Crews and Jones to move into third, overtook Larson for the runner-up spot, Allgaier led the next lap. Meanwhile, Jones dropped to fifth place behind teammate Brent Crews before both Jones and Creed dropped Crews out of the top-five mark. Sam Mayer, Austin Hill, Jeremy Clements and Jesse Love pursued in the top-10 mark as Allgaier stretched his lead to more than a second.

Through the first 30 laps, Allgaier was leading by nearly two seconds over Zilisch and by three seconds over Larson while Jones and Crews pursued in the top five ahead of Sheldon Creed, Mayer, Hill, Clements and Love. Behind, Kyle Sieg, Anthony Alfredo, Parker Retzlaff, Harrison Burton, Austin Dillon, Dean Thompson, William Sawalich, Rajah Caruth, Ryan Sieg and Carson Kvapil trailed in the top-20, respectively, as Allgaier added another second to his advantage, where he led by more than three seconds over Zilisch at the Lap 35 mark.

When the first stage period concluded on Lap 45, Allgaier, who was leading by more than three seconds, captured his fifth O’Reilly stage victory of the 2026 season. Teammates Zilisch and Larson settled in second and third, respectively, while Jones, Crews, Creed, Mayer, Hill, Clements and Parker Retzlaff were scored in the top 10, respectively. By then, 28 of 38 starters were scored on the lead lap.

Under the event’s first stage break period, the lead lap field led by Allgaier pitted for service. Following the pit stops, Allgaier retained the lead by exiting pit road first ahead of Zilisch, Larson, Jones and Crews. Amid the pit stops, Brennan Poole was penalized for vehicle interference.

The second stage period started on Lap 53 as teammates Allgaier and Zilisch occupied the front row in front of teammate Larson, Jones, Crews and Creed. At the start, Allgaier and Zilisch dueled for the lead before Zilisch used the outside lane to briefly motor his No. 1 Registix/TruckClub Chevrolet Camaro entry ahead. With Allgaier slipping to third place, Larson went beneath Zilisch through the backstretch and motored ahead with the lead, where he led the next lap. Zilisch and Larson swapped the lead three times over the next three laps before the former retained it for good by Lap 57.

Just past the Lap 60 mark, Zilisch was leading by more than a second over Larson, Allgaier and Crews while fifth-place Jones trailed by two seconds. Behind, Mayer, Retzlaff, Hill, Creed and Ryan Sieg were racing in the top-10 mark ahead of Sawalich, Sammy Smith, Jesse Love, Dean Thompson, and Kvapil, as Harrison Burton, Taylor Gray, Clements, Caruth and Alfredo were mired in the top-20 mark ahead of Kyle Sieg, Austin Dillon, Lavar Scott, Blaine Perkins and Josh Williams, respectively.

Following another caution that flew from Laps 68 to 71 due to debris that was detected across the backstretch and occurred due to Austin Dillon shredding a right-front tire, the event restarted on Lap 71. At the start, Zilisch motored ahead with the lead from the inside lane and after he received a strong push from Crews. Through the first two turns, Allgaier used the outside lane to battle Crews for the runner-up spot. As the field led by Zilisch cycled back to the frontstretch to complete another lap, Allgaier prevailed in the battle for second place and Mayer joined the battle by overtaking Crews for third place.

During the next lap, Allgaier motored away with the runner-up spot and tried to reel in Zilisch. Behind, Crews fended off Mayer and Larson for third place and Larson engaged in a tight battle with Mayer for fourth place while Jones and Retzlaff tried to reel in from behind.

At the Lap 80 mark, Zilisch stretched his advantage to more than a second over teammate Allgaier and Crews while Larson and Mayer trailed in the top five, respectively. As Jones, Retzlaff, Hill, Creed and Sawalich trailed by as far back as six seconds in the top-10 mark, Zilisch maintained his advantage to a full second over Crews while third-place Allgaier trailed by one-and-a-half seconds.

When the second stage period concluded on Lap 90, Zilisch fended off a late charge from Crews by a tenth of a second to capture the stage victory. Crews settled in second ahead of Allgaier, Larson and Mayer while Jones, Retzlaff, Hill, Creed and Sawalich were scored in the top 10, respectively. By then, 27 of 38 starters were scored on the lead lap.

During the event’s second stage break period, the lead lap field led by Zilisch returned to pit road for a second round of pit service. Following the pit stops, Zilisch retained the lead by exiting pit road first ahead of Crews, Larson, Allgaier and Jones, respectively.

With 103 laps remaining, the final stage period commenced as Zilisch and Crews occupied the front row in front of Larson, Jones, Allgaier and Retzlaff. At the start, Zilisch gained the upper hand through the frontstretch and the first two turns as he led from the inside lane. As the field fanned out through the backstretch, Zilisch cycled back to the frontstretch and led the next lap over Larson and Crews while Allgaier occupied fourth place in front of a bevy of competitors that included Hill, Mayer, Retzlaff, Sammy Smith, Sawalich, Kvapil, Creed, Ryan Sieg and Love.

At the event’s official halfway mark with 100 laps remaining, Zilisch retained the lead by half a second over teammate Larson while Crews, who trailed by seven-tenths of a second, dropped to third place. Then four laps later, Larson got underneath Zilisch as both drag-raced through the backstretch. Their side-by-side battle allowed Crews to reel in and join the battle. Seconds later, Larson got loose underneath Zilisch and slightly went up the track, which allowed Crews to get beneath both Larson and Zilisch amid a tight three-wide move. With the trio making contact against one another, Larson, who was pinned in the middle of the three-wide scuffle, managed to motor ahead and lead with 95 laps remaining.

Down to the final 75 laps of the event, Larson continued to lead by three seconds over runner-up Crews and by more than four seconds over third-place Allgaier. Meanwhile, Jones and Retzlaff cracked the top-five mark while Zilisch, who trailed the lead by nearly eight seconds, dropped to sixth place in the leaderboard. Hill, Mayer, Kvapil and Sammy Smith occupied the remaining top-10 spots over Sawalich, Creed, Clements, Love and Ryan Sieg as Larson stabilized his lead to three seconds over Crews with 70 laps remaining.

With 60 laps remaining, Larson increased his advantage to four seconds over Crews as Allgaier, Jones, Retzlaff, Hill, Kvapil, Mayer, Sammy Smith and Sawalich all raced in the top-10 mark, with the latter trailing as far back as 16 seconds. Meanwhile, Zilisch, who had been methodically losing spots and pitted five laps earlier under green flag conditions due to a flat right-front tire, was mired two laps down in 28th place.

A lap later, a late cycle of green flag pit stops ensued as Kvapil surrendered his spot within the top-10 mark by pitting his No. 9 Arby’s BBQ Chevrolet Camaro entry. Richard Childress Racing’s Hill and Love pitted during the next two laps before Allgaier, Retzlaff and Mayer pitted their respective Chevrolet entries with 56 laps remaining.

The leader, Larson, along with Crews and Jones, pitted simultaneously shortly after as Sawalich, Alfredo, Dean Thompson, and others pitted. At the conclusion of the pit stops, Larson cycled back on track ahead of Allgaier, Jones, and Crews. Larson then officially cycled back to the overall lead with 51 laps remaining after Rajah Caruth pitted.

With 40 laps remaining, Larson was leading by more than two seconds over Allgaier while Crews trailed in third place by five seconds. Fourth-place Jones trailed the lead by nearly seven seconds, and fifth-place Retzlaff trailed by nine seconds while Hill, Kvapil, Mayer, Sammy Smith, and Creed occupied the remaining top-10 spots ahead of Love, Clements, Alfredo, and Zilisch, all of whom were scored on the lead lap.

Ten laps later, Larson’s advantage slightly decreased to 1.889 seconds over Allgaier, though the latter was unable to gain significant ground on the former. Meanwhile, third-place Crews trailed by nearly five seconds while top-five competitors Jones and Retzlaff both trailed by as far back as nine seconds in the top-five mark.

Then, with 22 laps remaining, the caution flew due to Rajah Caruth getting loose entering Turn 2. He then veered to the right, hit the outside wall, spun down the track, and hit the inside wall on the right side while facing backwards. At the time of caution, Larson was leading by 1.617 seconds over Allgaier, while only 12 competitors were scored on the lead lap. During this latest caution period, the lead lap field led by Larson pitted. Larson retained the lead by exiting pit road first over Jones, Allgaier, Crews, and Hill, respectively.

The ensuing restart with 17 laps remaining featured Larson muscling ahead of the field through the frontstretch and using the preferred inside lane as the field fanned out to multiple lanes entering the first two turns. Amid a series of late jostling for spots, Larson led the next lap by two-tenths of a second over Allgaier and Jones. As Mayer jumped to third place in front of Crews, Jones, Creed, Retzlaff, Hill, Love and Clements, Larson methodically added one-tenth of a second to his advantage over the next three laps. By the time the event reached its final 10-lap mark, he was leading by half a second over Allgaier.

Down to the final five laps of the event, Larson, who had his advantage shrink to a tenth of a second a lap prior, went on the defensive. He kept Allgaier trailing behind, maintaining the lead by two-tenths of a second over a hard-charging Allgaier. Allgaier reduced his deficit to a tenth of a second during the next lap, and Larson grew it back to two-tenths for the following lap before Allgaier reeled in to trail by a tenth of a second with two laps remaining.

When the white flag waved, and the final lap started, Larson remained in the lead by a tenth of a second over Allgaier. Through the first two turns, Larson went on defensive mode as he kept Allgaier squarely behind his rear bumper. With Allgaier trying to reel Larson back down through the backstretch, he tried to use the outside lane to draw even with Larson through Turns 3 and 4.

But Larson used the inside lane to maintain the lead and slightly pull away. With Allgaier unable to recover, Larson cruised back through the frontstretch and claimed the checkered flag by two-tenths of a second over Allgaier.

With the victory, Larson, who led a race-high 93 laps, notched his 19th NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series career victory in his 124th series start, his second of the 2026 season and his third overall at Texas Motor Speedway. Larson, who achieved the victory in his fourth and final O’Reilly scheduled start of the 2026 season, also won for the fourth time driving the No. 88 Chevrolet Camaro entry for JR Motorsports. Larson’s Texas O’Reilly victory marked the seventh win of this season for JR Motorsports and the 10th for Chevrolet.

No, 88
Photo by Jake Daugherty for SpeedwayMedia.com.

“I really didn’t think I had a chance there with Justin [Allgaier] behind me,” Larson said on the frontstretch on the CW Network. “He was really good and catching me there on that long run after the green flag stop. [I] Was just hoping cleaner I could kind of stretch away like I did the run before to start Stage 3. He was just really good behind me, and he could run a lot of different lanes back there, too. I was trying to do what I could to take his air away while also maintaining a good corner for myself, but man, he was always closing on me. Thanks to him for racing me clean there. He could have easily got in the back of me. I could tell he was trying to pack some air to get me free. That was a great little run to the end there.”

Meanwhile, Allgaier, who led 54 laps, was left disappointed on pit road after he was outdueled by Larson, which prevented him from winning at Texas for the first time ever. Amid the disappointment, Allgaier increased his points lead to 121 over Sheldon Creed.

“I felt like the shot run for us is a little bit of a struggle, I guess, all day,” Allgaier said. “We were on the splitter a little too hard to fire off on those runs, and really, that was the difference maker at the end of the race. I’m disappointed. Without contact, I don’t know that there’s any way to get around [Larson], and I tried every lane I could possibly try and just unfortunately come up short. I’m gonna go back and watch this [race] a bunch and try to figure out what I could have done better…One of us had to win, right? We very could have easily wrecked there and either one of us won. We both finished one, two. It’s a good points day for us again, and we’ll move on to next week.”

As Larson celebrated an O’Reilly race victory, rookie Brent Crews emerged victorious in his own form. By emerging as the highest-finishing Dash 4 Cash contender in fourth place on the track and ahead of Sheldon Creed, Sammy Smith, and Corey Day, Crews pocketed the fourth and final $100,000 bonus of the 2026 season. Crews, who achieved the bonus for the first time ever in his inaugural O’Reilly campaign, also notched his fourth consecutive top-five result and sixth top-10 result through eight starts this season.

“This Mobil 1 Toyota GR Supra was as fast as it could be,” Crews said. “Just needed a little bit there more at the end. Just go a little tight, but other than that, I had a blast there at the end, getting to race Larson and Allgaier and Sam [Mayer]. Great points day for this team. Ready to keep learning.”

Sam Mayer came home in third place ahead of Crews, while Parker Retzlaff notched his second top-five result of the 2026 season by finishing in fifth place. Sheldon Creed, Austin Hill, Brandon Jones, Jesse Love, and Jeremy Clements completed the top 10 in the final running order.

There were 13 lead changes for six different leaders. The event featured seven cautions for 36 laps. In addition, 20 of 38 starters finished on the lead lap.

Following the 12th event of the 2026 NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series season, Justin Allgaier continues to lead the standings by 121 points over Sheldon Creed, 167 over Jesse Love, 198 over Corey Day, and 204 over Brandon Jones.

Results:

  1. Kyle Larson, 93 laps led
  2. Justin Allgaier, 54 laps led, Stage 1 winner
  3. Sam Mayer
  4. Brent Crews, two laps led
  5. Parker Retzlaff
  6. Sheldon Creed
  7. Austin Hill
  8. Brandon Jones
  9. Jesse Love
  10. Jeremy Clements
  11. Carson Kvapil
  12. Anthony Alfredo
  13. Sammy Smith
  14. Ryan Sieg, one lap led
  15. William Sawalich
  16. Dean Thompson
  17. Patrick Staropoli
  18. Josh Williams
  19. Lavar Scott
  20. Brennan Poole
  21. Connor Zilisch, one lap down, 48 laps led, Stage 2 winner
  22. Harrison Burton, one lap down
  23. Austin Dillon, one lap down
  24. Ryan Ellis, one lap down
  25. Blaine Perkins, one lap down
  26. Jeb Burton, one lap down
  27. Josh Bilicki, two laps down
  28. Joey Gase, two laps down
  29. David Starr, three laps down
  30. Kyle Sieg, four laps down
  31. Garrett Smithley, six laps down
  32. Mason Maggio, 11 laps down
  33. Taylor Gray, 12 laps down
  34. Rajah Caruth – OUT, Accident, two laps led
  35. Austin Green – OUT, Accident
  36. Brad Perez – OUT, Accident
  37. Corey Day – OUT, DVP
  38. Dawson Cram – OUT, Engine

Next on the 2026 NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series schedule is the Mission 200 at The Glen (Watkins Glen International) in Watkins Glen, New York. The event is scheduled to occur next Saturday, May 9, and air at 4 p.m. ET on the CW Network, MRN, and SiriusXM.

TOYOTA RACING – NOAPS Texas Post-Race Report – 05.02.26

By
Official Release
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CREWS WINS DASH 4 CASH WITH FOURTH-PLACE FINISH IN TEXAS
18-year-old registers fourth consecutive top five result

FORT WORTH (May 2, 2026) – Brent Crews was the top-finishing Toyota driver in the NASCAR O’Reilly Series race at Texas Motor Speedway, winning the Dash 4 Cash $100,000 bonus with a fourth-place result on Saturday afternoon.

Eighteen-year-old Crews has recorded four consecutive top five finishes and six top 10s in eight series starts. Brandon Jones also earned a top-10 finish for Toyota in Texas with an eighth-place result on Saturday.

TOYOTA RACING Post-Race Recap
NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series (NOAPS)
Texas Motor Speedway
Race 12 of 33 – 300 miles, 200 laps

TOYOTA FINISHING POSITIONS

1st, Kyle Larson*

2nd, Justin Allgaier*

3rd, Sam Mayer*

4th, BRENT CREWS

5th, Parker Retzlaff*

8th, BRANDON JONES

15th, WILLIAM SAWALICH

16th, DEAN THOMPSON

22nd, HARRISON BURTON

33rd, TAYLOR GRAY

*non-Toyota driver

TOYOTA QUOTES

BRENT CREWS, No. 19 Mobil 1 Toyota GR Supra, Joe Gibbs Racing

Finishing Position: 4th

Can you take us through your experience for your first time at Texas Motor Speedway?

“Today was a blast. I just want to thank the good Lord for keeping us safe today. It’s a beautiful day today here in Texas. The Mobil 1 Toyota GR Supra was as fast as it could be. Some mistakes on my part learning green-flag stops and stuff but that comes with it. I had a blast and thankful to bring this team home some money. They deserve it with how hard they’ve been working in the shop. Congrats to Kyle (Larson) and Justin (Allgaier). It was really fun getting to race some of the best guys in our sport.”

What grade would you give yourself today in your first start at Texas?

“You asked me this question at Bristol, and I don’t remember what I gave myself. I don’t know – maybe like an A minus – somewhere in there – maybe a B plus. I feel like my car was really, really good today. I just want to thank the good Lord above for keeping us safe. The weather was absolutely gorgeous today. It warmed up from yesterday, so it was a little bit tougher in the car. This Mobil 1 Toyota GR Supra was as fast as it could be. I just needed a little bit more there at the end. It just got a little bit tight, but I had a blast there at the end getting to race Larson and Allgaier and Sam (Mayer). I told Sam this the other week – I grew up watching Sam in the class ahead of me racing go-karts so it’s like full circle getting to race against all of these guys. Great points day for this team. I want to thank Seth and this team and everybody at Mobil 1. They did such a great job.”

What does an 18-year-old do with $100,000?

“That’s a great question. Unfortunately, I don’t think my mom or my dad will let me do anything exciting so I’ll see what I can do.”

BRANDON JONES, No. 20 Menards/Sylvania Toyota GR Supra, Joe Gibbs Racing

Finishing Position: 8th

How was your race and what did you need more of today?

“We qualified really good and had a great practice yesterday. We came into a little hotter track today. Our short run speed was kind of our kryptonite and our weakness, but our long run speed was where we were really good. I didn’t really want to see that yellow at the end, but the yellow was also our shot to try to go and win the race again. Looking back at the race again and the whole event, maybe I pick behind the 88 (Kyle Larson) to have a slightly better chance at it but I don’t know. I think our balance was still just slightly off even on that last run to kind of end. We did all we could. The guys did a really good job of trying to make swings at it and make adjustments. Looking forward to the next couple weeks. We’ve got some great tracks coming up. It was a good points day. I know we want to be better than that and we were fourth capable so eighth was worst case scenario but all in all it was still a solid day.”

About Toyota

Toyota (NYSE:TM) has been a part of the cultural fabric in North America for nearly 70 years, and is committed to advancing sustainable, next-generation mobility through our Toyota and Lexus brands, plus our more than 1,800 dealerships.

Toyota directly employs nearly 64,000 people in North America who have contributed to the design, engineering, and assembly of over 50 million cars and trucks at our 14 manufacturing plants. In 2025, Toyota’s plant in North Carolina began to assemble automotive batteries for electrified vehicles.

For more information about Toyota, visit www.ToyotaNewsroom.com.

Front Row Motorsports: Texas Motor Speedway NCTS Race Report- Layne Riggs / Chandler Smith

By
Official Release
-

Layne Riggs | Chandler Smith
Texas Motor Speedway NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series Race Report
SpeedyCash.com 250
Date: Friday, May 1, 2026
Event: Race 7 of 25
Series: NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series
Location: Texas Motor Speedway (1.5-miles)
Length of Race: 172 laps over two hours, 17 minutes, 5 seconds

FRM Finish:

Layne Riggs (Started 34th, Finished 6th / Running, completed 172 of 172 laps)
Chandler Smith (Started 8th, Finished 10th / Running, completed 172 of 172 laps)

FRM Points Standings:

Chandler Smith (2nd)
Layne Riggs (3rd)

Layne Riggs Key Takeaways

Stage One: 8th / Stage Two: 25th / Race Result: 6th

“I thought we had a shot at it there, just kind of got used up at the end,” said Riggs. “Nothing went our way all day, from not getting to qualify, having to fix repairs to the back window under caution. Man, I just think everything that could have gone wrong went wrong, and somehow we still finished up front and had a shot to win. Good points day, but definitely one that got away. This stings a lot, but thank you, Aaron’s. Thank you to Ford Racing. Thank you to everybody at Front Row Motorsports for trying their hardest, and we’ll go get them next week.”

Chandler Smith Key Takeaways

Stage One: 5th / Stage Two: 9th / Race Result: 10th

“It was a good night, I suppose,” said Smith. “I wish we were out there celebrating but didn’t have a lot of things go for us tonight. The No. 38, Speedy Cash Ford F-150 was fast but it just wasn’t meant to be. We’ll take our solid 10th-place finish and move on.”

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 FrontRowMotorsports.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.

Carson Hocevar nabs second consecutive Cup pole at Texas

By
Andrew Kim
-
Photo by Ron Olds for SpeedwayMedia.com.

Carson Hocevar saved his best lap for last as he edged teammate Daniel Suarez and claimed the Busch Light Pole Award for the Würth 400 at Texas Motor Speedway on Saturday, May 2.

The event’s starting lineup was determined through a single-car, single-lap qualifying format. In this format, all 38 competitors vying for 38 starting spots cycled around Texas Motor Speedway once to post the fastest lap amongst one another. The competitor who posted the fastest single lap was awarded the pole position.

During Saturday’s qualifying session, Hocevar, who was the 22nd-fastest competitor during Saturday’s practice session and was the 38th and final competitor to qualify, clocked in a single-qualifying lap at 191.340 mph in 28.222 seconds. Hocevar’s lap was enough to knock his Spire Motorsports teammate Daniel Suarez off the top of the qualifying chart and claim his first first-place starting spot of the 2026 season by 0.003 seconds.

With the pole, Hocevar, a 23-year-old native of Portage, Michigan, and driver of the No. 77 Spectrum/Spire Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 entry, recorded his second NASCAR Cup Series career pole for his 92nd series start, as his first and previous pole occurred at Texas a year ago. He also recorded the third-ever pole for Spire Motorsports and the second of the 2026 season for the Chevrolet manufacturer.

Ironically, Hocevar became the first competitor to back up a first Cup career victory with a pole for a next-scheduled event since Chase Briscoe achieved the previous feat between his first Cup victory at Phoenix Raceway, followed by a pole at EchoPark Speedway in March 2022. Having won Friday night’s Craftsman Truck Series event, Hocevar will attempt to double down with two NASCAR national touring series victories in the same weekend for the first time as he strives for a second consecutive Cup victory for Sunday’s main event.

“It feels pretty good right now,” Hocevar said. “It’s so awesome. I was watching 2008 when Dale [Earnhardt] Jr. got the pole here and I was watching that footage before and I knew we were going out last.” He continued, “I was like, man, I really wanna get the pole again and be the last car and get it. I didn’t expect to steal it from our teammate, but it’s just the coolest thing when I was a fan, for sure, when the last car goes out and steals at the last second. A testament to all the Spire [Motorsports] guys, though. This is a front row; this is a team effort here. Two cars on the front row right after a win. Hopefully, we can do it at a non-superspeedway right now.”

Hocevar will share the front row with teammate Daniel Suarez, the latter of whom clocked in the second-fastest single-lap qualifying run at 191.320 mph in 28.225 seconds. For Suarez, this marks his first time starting on the front row for an upcoming Cup event since he started on pole position at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course in August 2023.

Chris Buescher, Denny Hamlin and Chase Briscoe will start in the top five, respectively. Kyle Busch, Christopher Bell, Tyler Reddick, Alex Bowman and Ty Gibbs completed the top-10 starting grid, respectively.

Notably, William Byron, who was the fastest competitor in practice, will start in 15th place while Joey Logano, the reigning winner at Texas, will start in 23rd place.

In addition, Bubba Wallace and Austin Dillon were the only two competitors who were unable to post a qualifying lap. Wallace will start in 37th place in a backup car after he wrecked his primary car during practice. Dillon will start at the tail end of the field in 38th place due to an engine failure that also occurred in practice.

With 38 competitors vying for 38 starting spots, all made the main event.

Texas – Qualifying Position, Best Speed, Best Time:

  1. Carson Hocevar, 191.340 mph, 28.222 seconds
  2. Daniel Suarez, 191.320 mph, 28.225 seconds
  3. Chris Buescher, 190.981 mph, 28.275 seconds
  4. Denny Hamlin, 190.786 mph, 28.304 seconds
  5. Chase Briscoe, 190.786 mph, 28.304 seconds
  6. Kyle Busch, 190.611 mph, 28.330 seconds
  7. Christopher Bell, 190.456 mph, 28.353 seconds
  8. Tyler Reddick, 190.416 mph, 28.359 seconds
  9. Alex Bowman, 180.382 mph, 28.364 seconds
  10. Ty Gibbs, 190.168 mph, 28.396 seconds
  11. Kyle Larson, 190.067 mph, 28.411 seconds
  12. Connor Zilisch, 189.940 mph, 28.430 seconds
  13. Austin Cindric, 189.860 mph, 28.442 seconds
  14. Chase Elliott, 189.780 mph, 28.454 seconds
  15. William Byron, 189.693 mph, 28.467 seconds
  16. Ross Chastain, 189.427 mph, 28.507 seconds
  17. Corey Heim, 189.341 mph, 28.520 seconds
  18. Riley Herbst, 189.228 mph, 28.537 seconds
  19. Michael McDowell, 189.155 mph, 28.548 seconds
  20. Ryan Preece, 189.129 mph, 28.552 seconds
  21. Erik Jones, 188.950 mph, 28.579 seconds
  22. Ricky Stenhouse Jr., 188.772 mph, 28.606 seconds
  23. Joey Logano, 188.692 mph, 28.618 seconds
  24. Josh Berry, 188.686 mph, 28.619 seconds
  25. Brad Keselowski, 188.442 mph, 28.656 seconds
  26. AJ Allmendinger, 188.403 mph, 28.662 seconds
  27. Cole Custer, 188.311 mph, 28.676 seconds
  28. Noah Gragson, 188.193 mph, 28.694 seconds
  29. Cody Ware, 187.983 mph, 28.726 seconds
  30. Shane van Gisbergen, 187.905 mph, 28.738 seconds
  31. Ryan Blaney, 187.800 mph, 28.754 seconds
  32. Todd Gilliland, 187.682 mph, 28.772 seconds
  33. John Hunter Nemechek, 187.669 mph, 28.774 seconds
  34. Zane Smith, 187.669 mph, 28.774 seconds
  35. Ty Dillon, 185.350 mph, 29.134 seconds
  36. Chad Finchum, 176.396 mph, 30.613 seconds
  37. Bubba Wallace, 0.000 mph, 0.000 seconds
  38. Austin Dillon, 0.000 mph, 0.000 seconds

The 2026 Würth 400 at Texas Motor Speedway is scheduled to occur on Sunday, May 3, and air at 3:30 p.m. ET on FS1, PRN Radio, SiriusXM and HBO MAX.

TOYOTA RACING – NCS Texas Quotes – John Hunter Nemechek – 05.02.26

By
Official Release
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TOYOTA RACING – John Hunter Nemechek
NASCAR Cup Series Quotes

FORT WORTH (May 2, 2026) – LEGACY MOTOR CLUB driver John Hunter Nemechek was made available to the media on Saturday prior to the NASCAR Cup Series race from Texas Motor Speedway.

JOHN HUNTER NEMECHEK, No. 43 Pye Barker Fire & Safety Toyota Camry XSE, LEGACY MOTOR CLUB

What are your thoughts on the season so far?

“I feel good and disappointed all at the same time. I feel like the potential that we’ve had, the speed that we’ve been able to have in our race cars at times has definitely been better than years past. I feel that overall, we have made major gains, they’re just not showing up on paper from finishing results, from the point standings and things of that sort right now. We’ve gotta definitely change that a little bit. I feel like overall, performance-wise and potential-wise it’s better than it has been at LEGACY MOTOR CLUB. It’s just now about execution and finishing where we feel like we should. The 43 (Erik Jones) has had a couple decent runs. We’ve had some pretty decent runs. Like I said, but the finishes don’t always show that, so we’ve figure that out.”

How do you come into the weekend with a fresh mindset and fresh approach when it’s snowballing like that?

“It’s hard to be honest with you. I work with a great lady in North Carolina on the sports psych side just trying to clear mental and being as fresh as I can be every single week. You do it long enough, you’re going to have ups and downs and how you get through those is how you perform as a race car driver. I feel like it would be completely different if the potential wasn’t there for sure. I would say, for us, I’ve had some of the best practice sessions I’ve had as far as car speed, fire off speed, long run speed, all of that – throughout this year, so that’s a check in my book. Qualifying – there still has to be a decent amount of effort put in to understand why we’re qualifying where we are rather than just going out early. When you get into that snowball effect, the metrics definitely hurt you from the qualifying side of going out early and then you’ve got to kind of dig out of that hole and we haven’t been able to do that yet. But then you look at the race and by stage 2 and stage 3 we’re pretty good. Our cars drive really good, we’re looking for more potential things of that sort, but the potential is there, right? It’s trying to hit for qualifying and hit it for the first run of the race. I feel like those are my two Achilles heels within LEGACY MOTOR CLUB right now and if we can figure out that first run of the race and figure out qualifying, I think we can have some really strong runs put together.”

What’s the situation with your pit crews and who is developing them?

“It is in house right now. Chris Hall is our pit crew coach. He is the one that’s helped develop all of our guys. We have some new guys and also some veteran guys. I think my front tire changer Scottie (Brzozowski), I think pitted for my dad back in the early 2000’s. He’s been changing tires for 20 plus years and still some of the best metrics as far as tire changers go. It’s pretty cool to be able to have a group of guys like that. It’s the same group that I’ve had the last two years as well. We took everything in-house, I think it was ’25 I think it was when we started taking everything in house. I feel confident in what we’re doing, I feel confident in kind of the procedure and structure of what is going on. Do we need to get better? Yes. But that’s in every forefront within LEGACY MOTOR CLUB. It’s still continuing to build. Your only two years into having pit crews in house and trying to develop guys and things of that sort. It’s tough – it comes down to tenths of a second on pit road. I do feel confident in it. I feel that we can continue to get better. I feel like we are consistent for sure, we’ve just got to get a little bit faster on the racetrack, on pit road, off the race track, kind of everything.”

How do you feel like it compares to last year when there was a lot of promise shown?

“I still feel like there’s a lot of promise. I feel like the potential is there. I feel like we’ve had some of the better cars that we’ve had but it’s taken longer to get there this year as far as in the race. Like I said, I think that our Achilles heel has kind of been our first run of the race. With qualifying, if you qualify towards the back and you’re not close on starting balance or whatever it may be, you’re fighting to stay on the lead lap. The leaders in clean air are coming so fast the first stage. If you go a lap down normally, your kind of stuck a lap down most of the day. It’s frustrating for sure. You look back at lap times on the race track through stage 2 and stage 3 and we’re top 15, top 10 lap times most of the time depending on where we’re at. With that, we know the potential is there. How do we get better to start? How do I get better to start as a driver? As a team how do we get to that point, right? And where are the gains that we’re making throughout the race and how do we implement those pre-race to be able to start closer and get through traffic and things of that sort. Part of it is digging ourselves out of this rut for sure. You look at Talladega and we probably should’ve finished top 10 there at the end and had our right rear tire go flat from a spring in the valve stem core failing with 20 to go or whatever it may be. We’ve just got to get these little bugs worked out and hopefully kind of change our luck. I know that I’ve always said you make your own luck right? But, just trying to put yourselves in position to actually get the full potential and the finishing results that we feel like we deserve.”

Is there any part of you that enjoys the process of digging yourself out of a rut?

“Yeah, I think for me it’s frustrating at times, right? I want to dig myself out of the rut and stay out of the rut to be honest with you. It seems like this year has kind of just been in the rut as far as finishing positions and going out early in qualifying and being group one in practice and things of that sort. I think for me, it’s just continuing to push as hard as I know how. As Jimmie (Johnson) tells me every week, just go be yourself. From getting to this level and winning races through the Truck Series, the Xfinity Series, and everything else. I was just myself. I wasn’t overthinking it, I wasn’t overdoing it. At times, I was pushing too hard, right? But, in the end, it’s all about just being yourself and going out and maximizing your day. The Cup Series is hard for sure. It’s a building process at LEGACY MOTOR CLUB from the ground up. To answer your question, yeah, it can definitely get frustrating being out of the rut, back in it and out of the rut again. I feel like we continue to get better and continue to push. We just need to get that to show up on paper nowadays.”

What adjustments have you made within the organization to help you navigate the changes that are currently going on?

“That’s a great question. I feel like there’s definitely been a lot of changes internally with shuffling people around to different roles and things of that sort. There was another shuffle I guess over the offseason I would say with Erik’s (Jones) crew chief Ben Bayshore moving over to the simulation department. Engineering side, Chad Johnston moving over as technical director and Michael Guttilla now coming over as President. There’s a lot of really familiar faces for me of guys that I’ve worked with in the past in the organization. It’s just a matter of finding out where they fit and how everyone works together and how everyone continues to push to build to get to where we want to be each and every week. So, I feel like with that it’s hard to hit that overnight, right? It’s long-term building and trying to continue to build from the ground up. You think about it, LEGACY MOTOR CLUB really, I guess, started in 2024 and I would say you could kind of throw 2024 out the window and we restarted in 2025. With that, it’s two years now I feel like with the same personnel within the organization and adding a couple new hires that will continue to push our team.”

About Toyota

Toyota (NYSE:TM) has been a part of the cultural fabric in North America for nearly 70 years, and is committed to advancing sustainable, next-generation mobility through our Toyota and Lexus brands, plus our more than 1,800 dealerships.

Toyota directly employs nearly 64,000 people in North America who have contributed to the design, engineering, and assembly of over 50 million cars and trucks at our 14 manufacturing plants. In 2025, Toyota’s plant in North Carolina began to assemble automotive batteries for electrified vehicles.

For more information about Toyota, visit www.ToyotaNewsroom.com.

Spire Motorsports SpeedyCash.com 250 Race Report

By
Official Release
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SpeedyCash.com 250

Race Notes:

  • Carson Hocevar won the SpeedyCash.com 250, his sixth victory in 87 NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series races. It was his first victory and third top-10 finish in 2026, and second victory and third top-10 finish in five races at Texas Motor Speedway.
  • Kyle Busch (second) posted his 12th top-10 finish in 16 races at Texas Motor Speedway. It is his third top-10 finish in 2026.
  • Hocevar and Busch earned Spire Motorsports’ third one-two finish in CRAFTSMAN Truck Series competition. The most recent occurrence was in February’s Fr8 Racing 208 at Atlanta Motor Speedway when Busch bested Hocevar.

Kyle Busch – Driver, No. 7 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet Silverado RST

START: 6TH
FINISH: 2ND
OWNER POINTS: 1ST

Kyle Busch battled back from an early incident in Friday night’s NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series race, which saw him make contact with the wall and go a lap down, to battle for the win in the closing laps before ultimately finishing runner-up to his Spire teammate Carson Hocevar in the SpeedyCash.com 250 at Texas Motor Speedway.

Busch started sixth and was battling side-by-side for position when the HENDRICKCARS.COM Chevrolet Silverado RST slid up the track and made contact with the outside wall, causing damage to the right-side fender wells. The talented wheelman settled into the 10th position despite the contact, but four laps later he felt a tire going down and made his way down pit road for right-side tires. After the team cleared the fenders, the six-time Texas winner returned to the track and finished the opening stage one lap down in the 31st position.

Veteran crew chief Brian Pattie summoned his driver to pit road between stages for further damage repair and a fresh set of left-side tires. The Las Vegas native was in position for the free pass when a caution waved 20 laps into Stage 2. Before visiting pit road, he reported that his Chevrolet was better, but still needed adjustments in order to make his way forward.
Busch restarted 28th and continued to push forward, ultimately completing the second stage in the 16th spot.

After restarting 17th, Busch immediately made his way into the top 10 in the opening laps of the Final Stage. He stalled out at the ninth position as the field began green-flag pit stops on Lap 121. Pattie was the second-to-last crew chief to call his driver to pit road, hoping it would give his team a tire advantage for the end of the event. A speedy four-tire stop moved Busch up to the sixth position when stops had cycled through with 35 laps remaining. A slew of cautions would ensue, allowing the two-time Cup Series champion to move up the running order prior to a caution on Lap 157 that brought out the red flag. When the yellow flag was once again displayed, Busch lined up on the outside of the front row, next to Hocevar. The eighth caution of the night set up overtime, with the No. 7 HENDRICKCARS.COM Chevrolet lining up on the inside of the third row. Busch catapulted from fifth to second and crossed the line 0.730 seconds behind Hocevar in the runner-up position. The hard-fought second-place result allowed the No. 7 team to retain the lead in the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series owner standings. After seven races, the team leads the No. 11 by two tallies.

Kyle’s Post-Race Comments
“We had an eventful night, but Brian (Pattie) and everybody made some really good calls on this HENDRICKCARS.COM Silverado and got us a lot faster there at the end. We fired off really good on that final set of tires and had a lot of speed during the long green-flag run. We were really fast. The quickest truck on the track. We finally got the grip in the truck that I was looking for. So that moon thing doesn’t, doesn’t really work. It took too long for all that to come in and we came up a little short in the end. Thanks to Dan (Towriss), Jeff (Dickerson) and Rick (Hendrick), and everybody at Spire for letting me have this chance to go out and have some fun in the Truck Series.”

Carson Hocevar – Driver, No. 77 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet Silverado RST

START: 11TH
FINISH: 1ST
OWNER POINTS: 8TH

Carson Hocevar, driver of Spire Motorsports’ No. 77 Chili’s Ride the ‘Dente Chevrolet Silverado RST, secured his sixth CRAFTSMAN Truck Series victory in Friday evening’s SpeedyCash.com 250 at Texas Motor Speedway. Hocevar paced the field five times for a career-high 76 laps.

Hocevar qualified 11th but wasted no time moving forward, reaching the fourth position before a Lap-23 caution. He restarted fourth with 12 laps remaining in Stage 1, and despite a spirited battle with race leader Ben Rhodes, settled for the second position in the opening segment. During the ensuing stage break, veteran crew chief Chad Walter brought his driver down pit road for four tires and a slight air pressure adjustment to address a slight loose-handling Silverado.

The Portage, Mich., native restarted Stage 2 in 12th on Lap 47 but made quick work of the field, reaching fifth by Lap 48 and moving into the runner-up spot two circuits later on Lap 50. Hocevar took the lead on Lap 59 and paced the field for the next 17 laps until a caution on Lap 75 sent the majority of the field to pit road. The slow down set up a two-lap sprint to the green-and-white checkered flag, and despite lining up sixth for the restart, Hocevar took the lead in just one lap, driving off to the Stage 2 win. His effort in the opening 80 laps of the event accumulated 19 stage points, the most of any team in the field, which will aid in the No. 77 crew’s pursuit of a CRAFTSMAN Truck Series owners’ championship.

The 23-year-old driver led the field at the start of the Final Stage, holding the position for another 37 laps before relinquishing the top spot to hit pit road for service under green-flag conditions on Lap 121. An issue on pit road during the stop caused the team to lose the lead during the green-flag pit cycle, returning to the track in fourth, six seconds behind the leader. Fortunately, a Lap-145 caution brought Hocevar to the tailgate of the lead trio. After returning to racing action on Lap 149, he made the move for the top spot once again in just four laps. Hocevar survived multiple late-race restarts, including one NASCAR Overtime attempt, to snag his sixth career victory in the CRAFTSMAN Truck Series just five days removed from his career-first NASCAR Cup Series win.

Carson’s Post-Race Comments

“This is unbelievable, it means a lot. We are going to go burn down a Chili’s somewhere here in Texas. What a fun race. It is cool to get another Spire Motorsports one-two finish, but we had to reverse the order from Atlanta a couple months back. I’ve watched Kyle (Busch) win a lot of truck races, so it is fun to put an end to his Texas streak.

“I could say the difference tonight was the driver in the seat, but we were just really good on restarts. The No. 77 team has done a really good job. It has been a struggle the last couple races, we just haven’t had the race-winning speed we are expecting to have. I am so thankful to get it done here.”

Up Next…
The NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series heads to Watkins Glen (N.Y.) International on Friday, May 8. The Bully Hill Vineyards 176 at The Glen will be televised live on FS1 at 4:30 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time (EDT).

The eighth of 25 points-paying races on the CRAFTSMAN Truck Series calendar will be broadcast live on the NASCAR Racing Network and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.

To stay up-to-date on all the latest news and exclusive content, follow Spire Motorsports on Facebook, X and Instagram, and visit Spire-Motorsports.com.

About Spire Motorsports …
Spire Motorsports fields full-time entries in the NASCAR Cup Series, NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series and Interstate Batteries High Limit Racing.

The team, co-owned by longtime NASCAR industry executive Jeff Dickerson and TWG Motorsports CEO Dan Towriss, earned its inaugural NASCAR Cup Series victory in its first full season of competition when Justin Haley took the checkered flag in the Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway July 7, 2019. Less than three years later, William Byron drove Spire Motorsports’ No. 7 Chevrolet Silverado its first NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series win April 7, 2022, at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway. The team’s most recent win came April 27, 2026, when Carson Hocevar earned his inaugural Cup Series win in the Jack Links 500 at Talladega Superspeedway.

In 2026, Spire Motorsports campaigns the Nos. 7, 71 and 77 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1s in the NASCAR Cup Series and the Nos. 7 and 77 Chevrolet Silverado RSTs in the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series. The Mooresville, N.C., organization will also field the No. 77 410 sprint car in Interstate Batteries High Limit Racing competition.

TOYOTA RACING – NCTS Texas Post-Race Report – 05.01.26

By
Official Release
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TWO TUNDRA TOP-FIVES IN TEXAS
Honeycutt, Jones Lead Toyota with Third and Fourth Place Finishes

FORT WORTH (May 1, 2026) – TRICON Garage teammates Kaden Honeycutt and Brandon Jones led the Toyota Tundra contingent with third and fourth-place results, respectively, on Friday night at Texas Motor Speedway.

Gio Ruggiero also ran among the top five throughout much of the race, pacing the field for 22 laps late in the race. Tundra drivers led a total of 43 laps (of 172) around the 1.5-mile Texas oval on Friday evening.

TOYOTA RACING Post-Race Recap
NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series (NCTS)
Texas Motor Speedway
Race 7 of 23 – 250.5 Miles, 167 Laps

TOYOTA FINISHING POSITIONS

1st, Carson Hocevar*

2nd, Kyle Busch*

3rd, KADEN HONEYCUTT

4th, BRANDON JONES

5th, Ben Rhodes*

14th, GIO RUGGIERO

17th, WILLIAM SAWALICH

19th, STEWART FRIESEN

28th, TANNER GRAY

34th, CORY ROPER

*non-Toyota driver

TOYOTA QUOTES

KADEN HONEYCUTT, No. 11 Safelite + Foster Love Toyota Tundra TRD Pro, TRICON Garage

Finishing Position: 3rd

What are some things you can be proud of after today’s race?

“I’m proud to be able to drive a truck like this. It’s disappointing that I just keep failing. There’s no excuse for it. As soon as I got the lead, I didn’t protect it right, I didn’t do the right things and ultimately that’s what led us to lose. I just want to thank this whole 11 crew, Safelite, Foster Love, Toyota Racing, TRICON. All my guys have done such an excellent job. Scott (Zipadelli, crew chief) did really good adjustments all day to help me out and I felt like once we got the track position at that last stage I thought we were one of the best trucks. I thought I could’ve run the 17 (Gio Ruggiero) down on that green flag run and pass him and if it went green, I thought I would’ve won it. Just gotta figure out how to get restarts done. I’ve gotta figure out how to win races. It’s eating me alive, I can promise you that. Just want to thank everyone at Toyota Racing – Toyota Tundras are built here in Texas, and I just wanted to get a win for them today because we definitely had a truck to do it. I’m disappointed that we didn’t but thanks to Scott’s leadership and everyone that we’ll keep on going.”

BRANDON JONES, No. 1 Sprecher Toyota Tundra TRD Pro, TRICON Garage

Finishing Position: 4th

How was your race?

“Heck, I’ll take that. What a long, crazy night that was. Just trying to learn these trucks again. This was our first of four this year, and just fun to come over to TRICON and have Sprecher Root Beer come on board. They ran some races with us last year and really enjoyed themselves. It was fun to get them a top five and a really nice way to kick off my Truck Series run here. I think we had a really fast truck here tonight and circumstantial – could’ve won the race. It all just depended on what lane you were in. There was a lot of chaos at the end of that race obviously. A lot of beating and banging so it was just about picking the right lane and being in the right place at the right time. I was happy with that. Gio (Ruggerio) almost had one too, so we were really close as an organization, I think. Just really, really fun tonight.”

GIO RUGGIERO, No. 17 JBL Toyota Tundra TRD Pro, TRICON Garage

Finishing Position: 14th

Can you talk about your race tonight after leading late in the race?

“It was a good race. I definitely held onto track position the whole time. We had a fast truck so it was easy to do that. But yeah, definitely just didn’t finish anywhere near where we should’ve with the truck we had. I’m happy with how good the truck was. I think that’s really good as a team moving forward into the next few races to have that speed. If we can run like that every race, we’ll win a lot of races. Definitely a positive note on that side. Just was tough on those restarts there at the end of the race. It’s so hard to break away from the trucks behind you here. I feel like the draft – they can get such a huge run on you. You just have to really be super aggressive on defense mode. It was tough at the end there. Just have to execute the last restart better and probably would’ve won the race.”

About Toyota

Toyota (NYSE:TM) has been a part of the cultural fabric in North America for nearly 70 years, and is committed to advancing sustainable, next-generation mobility through our Toyota and Lexus brands, plus our more than 1,800 dealerships.

Toyota directly employs nearly 64,000 people in North America who have contributed to the design, engineering, and assembly of over 50 million cars and trucks at our 14 manufacturing plants. In 2025, Toyota’s plant in North Carolina began to assemble automotive batteries for electrified vehicles.

For more information about Toyota, visit www.ToyotaNewsroom.com.

Carson Hocevar wins wild Truck event in overtime at Texas

By
Andrew Kim
-
Photo by Jake Daugherty for SpeedwayMedia.com.

Carson Hocevar doubled down with the Ride the ‘Dente scheme, prevailing through a wild overtime shootout to win the SpeedyCash.com 250 at Texas Motor Speedway.

The 23-year-old Hocevar from Portage, Michigan, led five times for a race-high 76 of 172 overscheduled laps. He qualified in 11th place and spent a bulk of the event racing at the front. He led 20 laps during the first two stages, finishing second in the first stage and winning the second.

Hocevar was mired with a slow green flag pit service with less than 45 laps remaining, costing him time and the lead. But, Hocevar utilized two late-race cautions due to on-track carnages to engage himself within tight battles for the lead that involved teammate Kyle Busch, Giovanni Ruggiero, Kaden Honeycutt, Layne Riggs and Brandon Jones.

Then, through an overtime shootout, Hocevar prevailed in another late duel with Ruggiero to clear the field prior to the final lap and motor away from the field to achieve his second NASCAR national touring series victory in recent weeks, but his first in the Craftsman Truck Series division under the lights and at the Lone Star State.

On-track qualifying determined the starting lineup on Friday. Ben Rhodes secured his first pole position of the 2026 season with a pole-winning lap at 185.096 mph in 29.174 seconds. Teammate Jake Garcia started alongside Rhodes after he posted the second-fastest lap at 184.925 mph in 29.201 seconds.

Before the event, Cory Roper was the lone competitor who started at the rear of the field due to repairs made to his No. 62 Halmar Friesen Racing Toyota Tundra TRD Pro entry after he hit the Turn 4 outside wall during Friday’s practice session.

When the green flag waved and the event commenced, Ben Rhodes, who elected to start on the inside lane, fended off teammate Jake Garcia and Giovanni Ruggiero through the frontstretch and the first two turns to take an early stab of leading the field through the backstretch. As the field fanned out and jostled for early spots, Rhodes cycled back to the frontstretch and led the first lap. Behind, teammate Garcia fended off Ruggiero to retain the runner-up spot while Ruggiero retained third place in front of Chandler Smith, Tanner Gray, Cole Butcher, Kyle Busch, Stewart Friesen and a hard-charging Carson Hocevar.

Over the next four laps, Rhodes maintained a steady advantage over his hard-charging teammate of Garcia, with Garcia using the turns and straightaways to reel in with every opportunity on deck, while Ruggiero, Smith and Gray remained within pursuit in the top-five mark. Behind, Hocevar moved up into seventh place behind Butcher, Kyle Busch dropped to eighth place, Kaden Honeycutt was scored in 10th place and Layne Riggs carved his way into the top-20 mark after he started towards the tail end of the field. Meanwhile, Rhodes led by two-tenths of a second over Garcia at the Lap 10 mark.

Through the first 20-scheduled laps, Rhodes, who grew his advantage to two seconds over the previous 10 laps, continued to lead teammate Garcia, Smith, Ruggiero and Gray while Hocevar, Kaden Honeycutt, Stewart Friesen, Butcher and Tyler Ankrum trailed in the top 10, respectively. Grant Enfinger, Daniel Hemric, Layne Riggs, Brandon Jones and Ross Chastain were racing in the top 15 while Christian Eckes, Andres Perez De Lara, Ty Majeski, Conner Jones, and Dawson Sutton were mired in the top 20, respectively. Meanwhile, Kyle Busch was mired a lap down and at the tail end of the field in 35th place after he made an unscheduled pit stop on Lap 18 due to getting loose and scraping the Turn 4 wall on his right side earlier.

On Lap 23, the event’s first caution flew when Cory Roper spun in Turn 2 and wrecked his No. 62 Drydene/Halmar Friesen Racing Toyota Tundra TRD Pro entry against the inside wall. During the event’s first caution period, some led by the runner-up Garcia and including Gray, Riggs, Christian Eckes, Ty Majeski, William Sawalich, Parker Kligerman, Kris Wright, Brandon Jones and Toni Breidinger pitted their respective trucks while the rest led by Rhodes remained on the track. Among those who also pitted was Corey LaJoie, whose No. 10 Kaulig Racing pit crew spent extensive time diagnosing an issue beneath the right front of LaJoie’s entry.

The start of the next restart on Lap 29 featured Rhodes and Smith briefly dueling for the lead exiting the frontstretch before Rhodes gained the advantage from the inside lane entering the first two turns. Rhodes’ advantage was due to Hocevar trying to throw a three-wide move beneath Smith and Ruggiero. As Rhodes led the next lap, Hocevar muscled his way into the runner-up spot and Ruggiero trailed in third place while Honeycutt navigated his way into fourth place over Smith, Friesen, Enfinger, Ross Chastain and Ankrum, respectively. Amid a variety of battles around the field, Rhodes continued to lead by the Lap 35 mark despite having Hocevar reeling in and challenging for the top spot.

When the first stage period concluded on Lap 40, Rhodes fended off Hocevar to claim his third Truck stage victory of the 2026 season. Ruggiero fended off teammate Honeycutt to settle in third while Smith, Friesen, Enfinger, Riggs, Majeski and Ross Chastain were scored in the top 10, respectively. By then, 29 of 35 starters were scored on the lead lap while rookie Brenden Queen, who served a pass-through penalty due to pulling out of line before the previous restart, was scored the first competitor a lap down in 30th place over Kyle Busch.

Under the event’s first stage break period, a majority of the field led by Rhodes pitted for service while the rest led by Brandon Jones and including Gray, Kligerman, Sawalich, Kris Wright and Spencer Boyd remained on the track. Following the pit stops with mixed strategies ensuing, Majeski, who only pitted for fuel, exited pit road first over Riggs and Clayton Green while Rhodes, Honeycutt, Enfinger, Ruggiero, Hocevar, Garcia and Friesen followed suit, respectively.

The second stage period started on Lap 47 as teammates Brandon Jones and Tanner Gray occupied the front row. At the start, Jones emerged with the lead from the inside lane through the first two turns while Hocevar, who restarted in 12th place and the sixth truck in line on the outside lane, used the outside lane and four fresh tires to rocket his way through the field. As the field fanned out and jostled for spots, Hocevar rocketed up to fifth place by the next lap as Jones retained the lead over teammate Gray and Kligerman. Hocevar, however, gained another four spots and moved into the runner-up spots over the next two laps.

Then, as Hocevar started to challenge Brandon Jones for the lead with Riggs reeling from behind, the caution returned on Lap 50. This was due to Cole Butcher spinning, wrecking against the outside wall in Turn 2 and destroying the rear end of his No. 13 Atlantic Tilt Load/ThorSport Racing Ford F-150 entry. At the time of caution, Kyle Busch was awarded the free pass to cycle back on the lead lap as he was the first competitor who was scored a lap down.

As the event restarted on Lap 56, Jones received a strong push from Riggs from the inside lane to boost ahead of Hocevar and lead through the first two turns. The field jostled through the backstretch as Jones led the next lap while Riggs fended off Hocevar to claim the runner-up spot. As Rhodes battled Hocevar for third place, Riggs then tried to get beneath Jones and overtake him for the lead. With Riggs unable to clear Jones through the backstretch, Hocevar reeled in the latter two as Jones maintained the lead during the next lap.

Hocevar then used the outside lane and battled dead even with Jones. As both Chastain and Rhodes tried to make the battle for the lead into a tight four-truck battle, Hocevar capitalized on Lap 59 to motor ahead with the lead. Behind, Rhodes moved into second over Chastain, Jones, Gray, and Riggs, the latter of whom hit the backstretch’s outside wall, while Hocevar led the next lap, Lap 60.

At the Lap 65 mark, Hocevar maintained the lead by four-tenths of a second over Rhodes while Riggs and Chastain fiercely battled for third place. Meanwhile, Jones retained fifth place ahead of teammates Gray, Honeycutt and Sawalich while Enfinger and teammate Ruggiero followed suit ahead of Smith, Kligerman, Ankrum, Majeski and Conner Jones. As Riggs overtook Rhodes for the runner-up spot on Lap 69, Hocevar retained the lead by half a second during the next lap.

Following another caution on Lap 73 due to an incident involving Kris Wright in Turn 3, nearly the entire field pitted while Dawson Sutton, Mini Tyrrell and Spencer Boyd remained on the track. Chastain, Honeycutt, Rhodes, Hocevar, Enfinger, Ruggiero, Ty Majeski, Tanner Gray, Chandler Smith and Tyler Ankrum were the first 10 competitors to exit pit road, respectively, while Riggs, who spent extra time in his pit stall to have braces that kept his rear window taped and secured, dropped to the tail end of the lead lap field in 29th place.

With the second stage period restarting with two laps remaining, the field fanned out to four lanes deep as Mini Tyrrell led through the first two turns. Through the backstretch, Tyrrell led through the backstretch before Hocevar used the outside lane and fresh tires through Turns 3 and 4 to reassume the lead as he led the next lap.

When the second stage period concluded on Lap 80, Hocevar captured the stage victory over Honeycutt and Ruggiero. Sutton and Ankrum settled in the top five over Tyrrell, while Enfinger, Tanner Gray, Smith and Andres Perez De Lara were scored in the top 10, respectively. By then, 28 of 35 starters were scored on the lead lap while Riggs was mired back in 26th place. During the event’s second stage break period, Sutton and Tyrrell, along with Chastain, Riggs and Eckes, pitted their respective trucks. The rest, led by Hocevar, remained on the track.

With 81 laps remaining, the final stage period commenced as Hocevar and Honeycutt occupied the front row in front of Ankrum, Ruggiero, Tanner Gray and Enfinger. At the start, Hocevar rocketed ahead with the lead as he led through the first two turns and the backstretch while Ankrum pursued in the runner-up spot. With the field fanning out and jostling for spots around every turn and straightaway, Hocevar led the next lap and nearly lost the lead after he briefly got loose while Ankrum tried to gain a run beneath Hocevar. Hocevar, though, maintained his momentum and continued to lead with less than 80 laps remaining over Ankrum, Honeycutt, Ruggiero and Smith.

Down to the final 75 laps of the event, Hocevar stretched his late lead to a second over a side-by-side battle between teammates Ruggiero and Honeycutt while Ankrum and Smith remained within striking distance of the latter two. As Gray, Enfinger, Friesen, Rhodes and Kligerman raced in the top 10, respectively, Riggs was up into 15th place and Kyle Busch was mired in 12th place while Garcia and Chastain were mired in 17th and 22nd, respectively.

With 70 laps remaining, the battle for the lead started to intensify as Ruggiero reeled in and trailed the leader, Hocevar, by a tenth of a second. Amid Ruggiero’s late surge, teammate Honeycutt pursued within close distance in third place while Hocevar maintained a steady lead through every turn and straightaway. Honeycutt then gained a run and dueled with Ruggiero with 66 laps remaining through the frontstretch before the former assumed the runner-up spot. Despite moving into the runner-up spot, Honeycutt could not reel in close enough towards Hocevar’s rear bumper as the latter led by up to six-tenths of a second with 60 laps remaining.

As the event reached its final 55-lap mark, Hocevar continued to lead by eight-tenths of a second over Honeycutt while third-place Ruggiero remained within striking distance. Meanwhile, Riggs charged all the way back up to fourth place while Hocevar, who made a bold overtake on three lapped competitors two laps earlier, maintained the lead by a second over Honeycutt with 50 laps remaining.

Then, with 46 laps remaining, a late wave of green flag pit stops commenced as teammates Honeycutt and Ruggiero pitted their respective TRICON Garage Toyota Tundra TRD Pro entries. The leader, Hocevar, pitted a lap later, as more names that included Sawalich, Rhodes and Justin Haley pitted. During Hocevar’s pit service, he endured a slow pit service as his pit crew had issues changing the right-front wheel.

While both Ruggiero and Honeycutt cycled ahead of Hocevar on the track, Riggs, who assumed the lead when Hocevar pitted, retained the top spot until he pitted under green flag conditions with 40 laps remaining. Kyle Busch, Ankrum, Jones, Daniel Hemric, Jones and Garcia also pitted with Riggs, while more names that included Friesen and Queen pitted over the next handful of laps. With nearly the entire field having made at least one pit stop, Gray, Eckes and Dawson Sutton were the remaining trio of competitors who had yet to pit.

With 34 laps remaining, Ruggiero cycled to the lead after Sutton pitted. By then, Ruggiero was leading by a second over teammate Honeycutt, while Hocevar’s late, slow pit service proved to be costly as he trailed the lead by more than five seconds in third place. Riggs also trailed by five seconds in fourth place, but he overtook Hocevar for third place shortly after while Honeycutt tried to reel in teammate Ruggiero for the lead.

Down to the final 25 laps of the event, Ruggiero, who was navigating through lapped traffic, led by only two-tenths of a second over his hard-charging teammate, Honeycutt, through every turn and straightaway. Meanwhile, third-place Riggs trailed by more than three seconds and fourth-place Hocevar trailed by more than seven seconds.

A lap later, the caution flew when Ankrum, who was racing in ninth place, was sent spinning through Turn 2 after he made contact with Rhodes, though he managed to straighten his entry and proceed without sustaining any significant damage nor make any contact with the wall. During this latest caution period, some, including Eckes, Kligerman, Sawalich, Chastain and Ankrum pitted while the rest, led by Ruggiero, remained on the track.

The next restart with 19 laps remaining featured an eight-lap shootout of intense side-by-side repetitive battling and swapping between Hocevar, Ruggiero, Kyle Busch, Riggs and Honeycutt for the lead, with the latter five dueling inside of the top-five mark. Throughout this stretch, Honeycutt, who initially reported concerns of having a loose wheel within his No. 77 Chili’s Ride the ‘Dente Chevrolet Silverado RST entry, led the first four laps of the battle before Hocevar assumed the lead with 16 laps remaining.

Then, with 11 laps remaining, the caution returned when Friesen, who was battling Jones for fifth place, ran over the track’s bumpy surface through Turns 3 and 4, spun and had the rear end of his entry hit the outside wall. As Friesen spun back across the track and towards pit road, Enfinger veered to the left and dodged Friesen’s wrecked entry, but he plowed his entry through the frontstretch’s grass and damaged the front splitter. The incident was enough to draw a red flag period for eight minutes and 33 seconds.

When the red flag lifted and the race restarted with six laps remaining, a tight six-truck battle at the front ensued between Hocevar, Busch, Ruggiero, Jones, Honeycutt and Riggs, with neither lifting off the throttle and giving an inch through every turn and straightaway. As Hocevar primarily led since the restart, Ruggiero, who fended off Busch for second place with five laps remaining, reeled in and spent a full lap dueling with Hocevar before he gained the edge with three laps remaining.

Just as Ruggiero began to motor ahead of Hocevar, the caution returned after Garcia, who had made contact with Tanner Gray since the previous restart, blew a tire and hit the outside wall entering Turn 3. As Garcia tried to steer his wrecked entry onto pit road, he was plowed into by Conner Jones while Justin Haley, who just dodged Garcia’s entry, plowed through the frontstretch’s grass. The incident placed the event in a second red flag period for six minutes and 12 seconds.

As the event restarted in overtime, Ruggiero and Hocevar spent nearly a full lap dueling against one another before Hocevar had the upper hand and motored away from Ruggiero entering the frontstretch. By then, Ruggiero lost slight momentum and that allowed teammate Honeycutt and Riggs to pin him in a tight three-wide battle for second place.

When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Hocevar remained in the lead ahead of a three-wide battle between Riggs, Ruggiero and Honeycutt. Then, Ruggiero made slight contact with Riggs and got sideways through the first two turns. Despite keeping his entry straight, Ruggiero lost a bevy of spots as Kyle Busch capitalized on the tight three-wide racing to move into second place. All of the battles, though, allowed Hocevar to motor away from the field. With no competition reeling in through the final two turns, Hocevar cycled back to the frontstretch and claimed the checkered flag by seven-tenths of a second over Busch.

Hocevar, who achieved his first NASCAR Cup Series career victory this past weekend at Talladega Superspeedway, recorded his sixth NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series career win in his 87th series start. He also recorded his second victory at Texas Motor Speedway. It’s the track where he recorded his first Truck victory in 2023. And it’s also his first in the series overall since he won at Kansas Speedway in May 2025.

Hocevar’s latest Truck victory at Texas was the first for Spire Motorsports’ No. 77 entry. It was the second ever for crew chief Chad Walter and the second time this season where the organization’s Nos. 7 and 77 entries finished first and second in a Truck event.

Photo by Ron Olds for SpeedwayMedia.com.

“I mean, it’s unbelievable,” Hocevar said to the fans on the frontstretch on FS1. “Thank you, everybody. It means a lot. I’m going to go burn down Chili’s. I can’t leave, so we go to go burn down Chili’s here somewhere. I don’t know where it’s going to be, but everybody on the fence, thank you. What a fun race.

“We had to reverse order, obviously, the one, two [finish] with Kyle [Busch]. I watched him win a lot of truck races and it’s finally good to put an end to his Texas streak. We were really good on restarts. These [No. 77] guys do a really, really good job. It’s been a struggle on the truck side…great to do it, though, with Spire [Motorsports] and [co-owner] Jeff [Dickerson] and get a one, two [finish].”

Kyle Busch, who rallied from losing a lap and making an early unscheduled pit stop to have his entry’s right side repaired from hitting the frontstretch’s outside wall, settled in second place in his third of eight Truck starts this season.

“We had an eventful night,” Busch said. “[The race] didn’t start off very well. We were just really, really loose and made a lot of adjustments to get [the truck] close. When we put tires on our last set of tires there, we were really fast, felt really good. Finally felt in the racetrack and better, so that moon thing doesn’t work. I was struggling with grip all night long, but [crew chief] Brian [Pattie] and the [No. 7] guys made a lot of good calls to get us dialed back in.”

Kaden Honeycutt, who was in contention for his first Truck career victory, settled in third place for his fourth top-five result of the 2026 season while Brandon Jones and pole-sitter Ben Rhodes finished in the top five.

Layne Riggs, Daniel Hemric, Christian Eckes, Ty Majeski, and Chandler Smith completed the top 10 in the final running order. Notably, Giovanni Ruggiero fell back to 14th place following his last-lap slip through the first two turns.

There were 14 lead changes for nine different leaders. The event featured eight cautions for 39 laps. In addition, 16 of 35 starters finished on the lead lap.

Following the seventh event of the 2026 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series season, Kaden Honeycutt leads the standings by 14 points over Chandler Smith, 19 over Layne Riggs, 31 over Giovanni Ruggiero, and 34 over Ben Rhodes.

Results:

  1. Carson Hocevar, 76 laps led, Stage 2 winner
  2. Kyle Busch
  3. Kaden Honeycutt, three laps led
  4. Brandon Jones, 16 laps led
  5. Ben Rhodes, 41 laps led, Stage 1 winner
  6. Layne Riggs, six laps led
  7. Daniel Hemric
  8. Christian Eckes
  9. Ty Majeski
  10. Chandler Smith
  11. Parker Kligerman
  12. Ross Chastain
  13. Brenden Queen
  14. Giovanni Ruggerio, 14 laps led
  15. Tyler Ankrum
  16. Dawson Sutton, five laps led
  17. William Sawalich, one lap down
  18. Toni Breidinger, one lap down
  19. Stewart Friesen, one lap down
  20. Spencer Boyd, two laps down
  21. Mini Tyrrell, two laps down, one lap led
  22. Josh Reaume, three laps down
  23. Frankie Muniz, four laps down
  24. Caleb Costner, four laps down
  25. Corey LaJoie, seven laps down
  26. Clayton Green, seven laps down
  27. Justin Haley – OUT, Accident
  28. Tanner Gray – OUT, Accident, two laps led
  29. Jake Garcia – OUT, Accident
  30. Andres Perez De Lara – OUT
  31. Kris Wright, nine laps down
  32. Grant Enfinger – OUT, Accident
  33. Conner Jones – OUT, Accident
  34. Cory Roper – OUT, Suspension
  35. Cole Butcher – OUT, Accident

Next on the 2026 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series schedule is the Bully Hill Vineyards 176 at The Glen (Watkins Glen International) in Watkins Glen, New York. The event is scheduled for next Friday, May 8, and will air at 4:30 p.m. ET on FS1, NASCAR Racing Network and SiriusXM.

Justin Allgaier wins first O’Reilly pole of 2026 at Texas

By
Andrew Kim
-
Photo by Ron Olds for SpeedwayMedia.com.

Justin Allgaier rode to his first NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series pole position of the 2026 season for the Andy’s Frozen Custard 340 at Texas Motor Speedway on Friday, May 1.

The event’s starting lineup was determined through a single-car, single-lap qualifying format. In this format, all 38 competitors vying for 38 starting spots cycled around Texas Motor Speedway once to post the fastest lap amongst one another. The competitor who posted the fastest single lap was awarded the pole position.

During Friday’s qualifying session, Allgaier clocked in a single qualifying lap at 188.607 mph in 28.631 seconds. The lap was enough for Allgaier and his No. 7 Roto-Rooter/JR Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro team to claim the top-starting spot for an upcoming O’Reilly event for the first time this season.

With the pole, Allgaier achieved his 13th O’Reilly career pole for his 516th series start and his first at Texas. The 2024 O’Reilly champion currently leads the 2026 driver’s standings by 105 points over Sheldon Creed as he strives to both extend his early momentum and contend for his first victory at Texas during Saturday’s main event.

Allgaier will share the front row with Brandon Jones, the latter of whom posted the second-fastest single-qualifying lap run at 188.075 mph in 28.712 seconds. Like Allgaier, Jones is still striving for his first victory at Texas. The latter is also pursuing his first victory of 2026 and first since he won at Kansas Speedway in September 2025.

Kyle Larson, who is scheduled to make his fourth and final O’Reilly start this season in the No. 88 HendrickCars.com/JR Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro entry, qualified in third place at 187.852 mph in 28.746 seconds. Larson is the reigning O’Reilly winner at Texas, where he piloted the No. 88 entry when he achieved the feat.

Ironically, Connor Zilisch, whom Larson substituted for a year ago, will share the second row with Larson. Zilisch, who is driving the No. 1 Registix/TruckClub/JR Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro entry and is making his first O’Reilly start at Texas, posted the fourth-fastest qualifying lap at 187.357 mph in 28.822 seconds.

Rookie Brent Crews is one of four competitors competing for the fourth and final $100,000 bonus of this season. He will start in fifth place and will share the third row with rookie Corey Day. Day, a Dash 4 Cash contender, achieved his first O’Reilly career victory last weekend at Talladega Superspeedway. Sheldon Creed and Sammy Smith, the remaining two Dash 4 Cash contenders, will start 11th and 15th, respectively.

Austin Hill, Jeremy Clements, Ryan Sieg and Parker Retzlaff completed the top-10 starting grid.

With 38 competitors vying for 38 starting spots, all made the main event.

Texas – Qualifying Position, Best Speed, Best Time:

  1. Justin Allgaier, 188.607 mph, 28.631 seconds
  2. Brandon Jones, 188.075 mph, 28.712 seconds
  3. Kyle Larson, 187.852 mph, 28.746 seconds
  4. Connor Zilisch, 187.357 mph, 28.822 seconds
  5. Brent Crews, 187.318 mph, 28.828 seconds
  6. Corey Day, 186.323 mph, 28.982 seconds
  7. Austin Hill, 186.316 mph, 28.983 seconds
  8. Jeremy Clements, 186.265 mph, 28.991 seconds
  9. Ryan Sieg, 186.091 mph, 29.018 seconds
  10. Parker Retzlaff, 185.976 mph, 29.036 seconds
  11. Sheldon Creed, 185.842 mph, 29.057 seconds
  12. Taylor Gray, 185.816 mph, 29.061 seconds
  13. Rajah Caruth, 185.803 mph, 29.063 seconds
  14. Carson Kvapil, 185.122 mph, 29.170 seconds
  15. Sammy Smith, 184.957 mph, 29.196 seconds
  16. William Sawalich, 184.919 mph, 29.202 seconds
  17. Sam Mayer, 184.414 mph, 29.282 seconds
  18. Anthony Alfredo, 184.237 mph, 29.310 seconds
  19. Austin Green, 184.043 mph, 29.341 seconds
  20. Austin Dillon, 183.974 mph, 29.352 seconds
  21. Jesse Love, 183.899 mph, 29.364 seconds
  22. Dean Thompson, 183.511 mph, 29.426 seconds
  23. Kyle Sieg, 183.449 mph, 29.436 seconds
  24. Harrison Burton, 183.380 mph, 29.447 seconds
  25. Jeb Burton, 182.970 mph, 29.513 seconds
  26. Josh Williams, 182.877 mph, 29.528 seconds
  27. Brennan Poole, 182.822 mph, 29.537 seconds
  28. Patrick Staropoli, 182.797 mph, 29.541 seconds
  29. Blaine Perkins, 182.716 mph, 29.554 seconds
  30. Mason Maggio, 182.328 mph, 29.617 seconds
  31. Dawson Cram, 180.108 mph, 29.982 seconds
  32. Garrett Smithley, 179.527 mph, 30.079 seconds
  33. Josh Bilicki, 179.372 mph, 30.105 seconds
  34. Brad Perez, 178.678 mph, 30.222 seconds
  35. David Starr, 178.094 mph, 30.321 seconds
  36. Joey Gase, 177.451 mph, 30.431 seconds
  37. Lavar Scott, 0.000 mph, 0.000 seconds
  38. Ryan Ellis, 0.000 mph, 0.000 seconds

The 2026 Andy’s Frozen Custard 340 at Texas Motor Speedway is scheduled to occur on Saturday, May 2, at 3:30 p.m. ET on the CW Network, PRN Radio and SiriusXM.

Ben Rhodes secures first Truck pole of 2026 at Texas

By
Andrew Kim
-
Photo by Ron Olds for SpeedwayMedia.com.

Ben Rhodes scored the pole position for the 2026 SpeedyCash.com 250 at Texas Motor Speedway on Friday, May 1.

The event’s starting lineup was determined through a single-truck, single-lap qualifying format. In this format, all 35 competitors vying for 35 starting spots cycled around Texas Motor Speedway once to post the fastest lap amongst one another. The competitor who posted the fastest single lap was awarded the pole position.

During Friday’s qualifying session, Rhodes, who was the second-fastest competitor during Friday’s practice session, clocked in a single pole-winning lap at 185.096 mph in 29.174 seconds. The lap was enough for Rhodes and his No. 99 TYM/ThorSport Racing Ford F-150 team to claim the top-starting spot over teammate Jake Garcia and the No. 98 Quanta/Curb Records/ThorSport Racing Ford F-150 team, the latter of whom were the fastest during practice.

With the pole, Rhodes, who is in his 11th consecutive season as a full-time NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series competitor, achieved his seventh career pole position and his first of the 2026 season. He also recorded his first pole at Texas Motor Speedway and his first since the 2025 season-opening event at Daytona International Speedway.

Rhodes is currently ranked in sixth place in the 2026 driver’s standings and has recorded a pair of top-five results through the first six scheduled events. He will strive to both win for the first time at Texas and erase a 66-race deficit, with his latest victory occurring at Charlotte Motor Speedway in May 2023.

Rhodes will share the front row with teammate Jake Garcia, the latter of whom qualified with a single-qualifying lap at 184.925 mph in 29.201 seconds. Giovanni Ruggiero and Cole Butcher, the latter of whom drives for ThorSport Racing, will start third and fourth, respectively. Tanner Gray qualified in fifth place. Kyle Busch, Stewart Friesen, Chandler Smith, Grant Enfinger and Kaden Honeycutt completed the top-10 starting lineup.

Carson Hocevar, who is coming off his first Cup Series career victory at Talladega Superspeedway and is driving the No. 77 Chili’s Ride the ‘Dente Chevrolet Silverado RST entry for Spire Motorsports, will start in 11th place. In addition, Parker Kligerman, who is driving the No. 25 ‘Free Agent’ RAM 1500 entry for Kaulig Racing, will start in 19th place.

Notably, Layne Riggs will start in 34th place after he lost power during his qualifying attempt. In addition, Cory Roper will start at the tail end of the field in 35th place after he damaged the right side of his No. 62 Halmar Friesen Racing Toyota entry against the Turn 4 wall during practice.

With 35 competitors vying for 35 starting spots, all made the main event.

Texas – Qualifying Position, Best Speed, Best Time:

  1. Ben Rhodes, 185.096 mph, 29.174 seconds
  2. Jake Garcia, 184.925 mph, 29.201 seconds
  3. Giovanni Ruggiero, 184.811 mph, 29.219 seconds
  4. Cole Butcher, 184.767 mph, 29.226 seconds
  5. Tanner Gray, 184.313 mph, 29.298 seconds
  6. Kyle Busch, 184.288 mph, 29.302 seconds
  7. Stewart Friesen, 184.275 mph, 29.304 seconds
  8. Chandler Smith, 184.137 mph, 29.326 seconds
  9. Grant Enfinger, 184.131 mph, 29.327 seconds
  10. Kaden Honeycutt, 184.074 mph, 29.336 seconds
  11. Carson Hocevar, 183.773 mph, 29.384 seconds
  12. Christian Eckes, 183.698 mph, 29.396 seconds
  13. Tyler Ankrum, 183.648 mph, 29.404 seconds
  14. Daniel Hemric, 183.636 mph, 29.406 seconds
  15. Andres Perez De Lara, 183.567 mph, 29.417 seconds
  16. Conner Jones, 183.355 mph, 29.451 seconds
  17. Brenden Queen, 183.324 mph, 29.456 seconds
  18. Brandon Jones, 183.306 mph, 29.459 seconds
  19. Parker Kligerman, 183.225 mph, 29.472 seconds
  20. Ty Majeski, 183.094 mph, 29.493 seconds
  21. William Sawalich, 183.026 mph, 29.504 seconds
  22. Dawson Sutton, 182.865 mph, 29.530 seconds
  23. Ross Chastain, 182.852 mph, 29.532 seconds
  24. Justin Haley, 182.537 mph, 29.583 seconds
  25. Corey LaJoie, 181.959 mph, 29.677 seconds
  26. Kris Wright, 181.622 mph, 29.732 seconds
  27. Toni Breidinger, 181.117 mph, 29.815 seconds
  28. Mini Tyrrell, 180.234 mph, 29.961 seconds
  29. Clayton Green, 178.548 mph, 30.244 seconds
  30. Spencer Boyd, 178.459 mph, 30.259 seconds
  31. Josh Reaume, 175.970 mph, 30.687 seconds
  32. Frankie Muniz, Owner Points
  33. Caleb Costner, Owner Points
  34. Layne Riggs, Owner Points
  35. Cory Roper, Owner Points

The 2026 SpeedyCash.com 250 at Texas Motor Speedway is scheduled to occur on Friday, May 1, at 8 p.m. ET on FS1, NASCAR Racing Network and SiriusXM.

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