Hampton, Ga. (Feb. 21, 2026) – Sheldon Creed’s long-awaited breakthrough arrived Saturday night at EchoPark Speedway in the Bennett Transportation & Logistics 250, and it came in unforgettable fashion.
In a race defined by early incidents, multi-car crashes and a controversial final lap, Creed emerged from the chaos to capture his first career NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series victory, slipping through a late tangle between Ross Chastain and Austin Hill to secure the win.
The race started immediately with fireworks. Just five laps into the 163 lap event, Georgia native Ryan Sieg was turned into the frontstretch wall following contact from Corey Day, triggering a multi-car incident that also collected Harrison Burton, Blaine Perkins and others.
After the early caution, Stage 1 settled into a more measured pace. Polesitter Sam Mayer suffered a tire failure that trapped him off of the lead lap, but the remainder of the stage ran clean. Jesse Love claimed the Stage 1 victory, followed by Rajah Caruth and Parker Retzlaff.
Stage 2 belonged to Caruth. The rookie methodically sliced his way through the field making bold and calculated moves through traffic, ultimately securing his first career O’Reilly Auto Parts Series stage win.
The race’s storyline shifted again when the fourth caution flew following an aggressive move for the lead. Corey Day dove into Turn 3 attempting to clear Carson Kvapil, but slid up the track and made contact, collecting Kvapil and Justin Allgaier. All three cars suffered blown tires, and both Kvapil and Allgaier were forced to retire due to the damage.
“Got caught up in something that wasn’t our own doing,” Allgaier said. “I hate that the two of us at JRM are out of this race, because I think we had the cars that could not only control the race, but be up front and hopefully go to victory lane.”
With 141 laps complete, a larger incident completely shook up the running order. Sammy Smith broke loose entering Turn 1, triggering a chain reaction that involved more than 10 cars, including William Sawalich, Gio Ruggiero and Lavar Scott. The race turned into a battle of survival as several competitive drivers were eliminated.
That set up a six-lap sprint to the finish.
Hill, Chastain and Creed cycled to the front and traded the lead in the closing laps. Hill appeared poised to secure the victory as he led down the backstretch on the final lap, with Chastain building momentum behind him.
Entering Turn 3, Chastain made a move to the inside. In attempting to block, contact was made with Hill’s rear bumper, sending Hill spinning from the lead. As the front-runners lost momentum, Creed navigated through the smoke and was the first to cross the line. After multiple near-wins in previous seasons, Creed capitalized on the opportunity and delivered a milestone victory in one of the most dramatic races EchoPark Speedway has seen.
“It looked like another second or third place run there coming out of Turn 2 there,” Sheldon Creed told the media postrace. “It wears on you to not win, and it takes a lot of people to do it. I don’t think one win is going to change a whole lot, but a couple might. I need to win more if I want a future here.
“I’ve thought every year, ‘am I just not good enough?’ The confidence got killed the last four years.” Creed continued. “Just had to believe I can do it again.”
While Creed celebrated his breakthrough, Chastain and Hill were left to digest where their chances of victory were dashed.
“No excuses, I turned him for sure,” Chastain said afterward. “I hate that I did that to another Chevy. I’m not trying to spin these guys or crash coming to the checkered, but I did not execute it very well.”
Hill saved his car from hitting the wall, or sliding up the track and hitting others. He recovered to finish 12th.
“When Ross is behind you, you know he’s going to be aggressive,” Hill said. “The save was huge. It could have been a lot worse, but we were able to salvage something out of it.”
Parker Retzlaff finished a strong second place in the No. 99 Viking Motorsports Chevrolet, and it wasn’t due to circumstance. After running near the front throughout the race and avoiding the late trouble, Retzlaff earned his best career finish. Nick Sanchez, winner of the series’ previous visit to EchoPark Speedway, completed the podium with a third-place result in the No. 25 AM Racing Ford.
Day rebounded from earlier incidents to finish fourth in the No. 17 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet, while Love rounded out the top five in the Richard Childress Racing No. 2.
Austin Hill is the current NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series points leader, with 22 points over Rajah Caruth.
Saturday night’s race added another memorable chapter to EchoPark Speedway’s history, delivering high-intensity competition from start to finish. If the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series set the tone, fans can expect more excitement when the Autotrader 400 takes the green flag Sunday.
Tickets for Sunday’s Autotrader 400 are available at EchoParkSpeedway.com.
Full results of the Bennett 250:
Sheldon Creed
Parker Retzlaff
Nick Sanchez
Corey Day
Jesse Love
Ross Chastain
Sam Mayer
Rajah Caruth
Taylor Gray
Brandon Jones
Dean Thompson
Austin Hill
Patrick Staropoli
Garrett Smithley
Josh Bilicki
Jeb Burton
Chad Finchum
Nick Leitz
Brennan Poole
Luke Fenhaus
Austin Green
Ryan Ellis
William Sawalich
Giovanni Ruggiero
Anthony Alfredo
Mason Maggio
Josh Williams
Lavar Scott
Jeremy Clements
Sammy Smith
Cody Ware
Carson Kvapil
Justin Allgaier
Joey Gase
Harrison Burton
Blaine Perkins
Ryan Sieg
Kyle Sieg
About the Autotrader 400 weekend:
Atlanta’s spring NASCAR weekend is headlined by the Autotrader 400 on Sunday, Feb. 22, 2026, with intense superspeedway pack racing that challenges NASCAR’s best and dazzles fans.
More information on the Autotrader 400 weekend and ticket availability can be found online at EchoParkSpeedway.com.
About EchoPark Speedway:
EchoPark Speedway is a premier entertainment venue located about 30 miles south of Atlanta, Ga. Since 1960, EchoPark Speedway has been a staple of the NASCAR calendar and currently hosts two weekends of racing in the spring and fall each year. When NASCAR isn’t in town, EchoPark Speedway’s versatile facility hosts an assortment of events that attract visitors from near and far, from Monster Jam to the Georgia State Fair and everything in between.
For more information on EchoPark Speedway and to see upcoming events at the facility, visit EchoParkSpeedway.com.
Jesse Love Leads Laps in Georgia En Route to a Fifth-Place Finish in the No. 2 Samsara Chevrolet at EchoPark Speedway
Finish: 5th Start: 10th Points: 4th
“Our day was pretty smooth in the No. 2 Samsara Chevrolet. We didn’t have any drama. I mean, the whole pack was really good. We didn’t crash at every stage. It was good, and we kept it relatively clean for this place, especially considering how many rookies we had in the field. I thought that everybody did a pretty good job and we just all kind of had the right level when it’s like that. Everybody is pushing really hard and everybody is doing all they can. I thought that it was probably my favorite Atlanta race. I wish that the end result would have been better, but I feel like I controlled all I could the last 10 laps of the race. I think where I lost the race was probably a little bit before those last 10 laps, during those super quick restarts. I think that if I would have been on the front row, we would have won the race, but I feel like I made a few mistakes before that when I was in the second or third row, and that’s what hurt us.” -Jesse Love
Austin Hill Contends for Race Win in the No. 21 Bennett Transportation & Logistics Chevrolet and Makes Massive Save on Final Lap to Finish 12th at EchoPark Speedway
Finish: 12th Start: 20th Points: 1st
“We had a really fast Bennett Transportation & Logistics Chevrolet all day. There were a few things, looking back on, I could have done differently. When I got to the lead off of Turn 2, I might have gotten a little too far out. And then, how about that save? That save was insane. I thought that I was going to be head on in the fence there at end of the race, but instead of going into the wall, we were able to save it. I had to throw the block at the end, and the No. 32 drove through us. He has nothing to lose. He’s not racing for points or anything in the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series. I don’t know if I’m going to race him again later on this season, but that’s Ross (Chastain) for you. We were both going for the win. I was completely sideways there and I don’t know how I saved it, so that was a lot of fun. I had a blast tonight. Just wasn’t meant to be. Atlanta’s been so good to us and it just wasn’t our day today.” -Austin Hill
After accumulating 15 runner-up results through four full-time seasons in the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series, Sheldon Creed is winless no more. He is instead a winner, a feat he achieved for the first time amid a wild finish to the Bennett Transportation & Logistics 250 at EchoPark Speedway on Saturday, February 21.
The 2020 Craftsman Truck Series champion from Alpine, California, led six times for 17 of 163 scheduled laps. He took the green flag in fourth place and raced upfront. Then, during a six-lap dash to the finish, Creed, who raced as high as second and low as fifth, was dueling for third place on the final lap.
After the leaders, Austin Hill and Ross Chastain, made contact exiting the backstretch. This caused Hill to spin sideways and Chastain to lose momentum. Then the seas parted way for Creed. He stormed to the lead, motored away, and triumphed for the first elusive time in the O’Reilly division.
On-track qualifying determined the starting lineup on Friday, February 20. Sam Mayer secured his first O’Reilly Auto Parts Series pole position of 2026 with a pole-winning lap at 174.318 mph in 31.804 seconds. Carson Kvapil started alongside Mayer on the front row after posting his fastest lap at 173.875 mph in 31.885 seconds.
Before the event, Justin Allgaier, Jeb Burton, Ross Chastain and Jeremy Clements dropped to the rear of the field. This was due to unapproved adjustments made to their respective entries.
When the green flag waved, pole-sitter Sam Mayer gained a slight launch from the outside lane through the frontstretch. This was due to teammate Sheldon Creed drafting him. Carson Kvapil then fought back from the inside lane by drawing even with Mayer through the first two turns. Despite having Taylor Gray drafting, Kvapil continued to battle dead even with Mayer for the lead through the backstretch. As the field cycled back to the frontstretch, Mayer used the outside lane to lead the first lap over Kvapil.
On the fourth lap, the event’s first caution flew. Corey Day and Ryan Sieg made contact amid a near three-wide battle that also involved Giovanni Ruggiero. The contact, which started as the field entered the frontstretch. Sieg got loose as Ruggiero hit the frontstretch’s outside wall. This triggered a multi-car wreck involving Sieg’s brother, Kyle, and left both Sieg brothers displeased with Day’s early driving.
Harrison Burton, Blaine Perkins and Patrick Staropoli were also involved in the carnage. At the moment of caution. Mayer retained the lead over Creed, Gray, Rajah Caruth and Kvapil. Sammy Smith, Jesse Love, William Sawalich, Ruggiero and Austin Hill were scored in the top 10, respectively.
The event’s next restart occurred on Lap 12, and it featured both Mayer and Taylor Gray dueling in front of the field stacked up through two lanes through the first two turns and the backstretch. When the field cycled back to the frontstretch, Gray went up the track and made contact with Mayer’s left side. This caused a tire rub and smoke to billow out of Mayer’s entry. Gray led the next lap in a heated battle with Mayer. Despite racing with a left-front tire rub, Mayer continued to duel, swapping the lead with Gray through the following six laps.
By Lap 20, Mayer motored ahead of Gray after receiving a draft from teammate Creed a lap earlier. He led a long line of competitors that were racing behind him single-file towards the outside wall. Behind Mayer, Creed settled in second ahead of Caruth. They were followed by Gray and Ruggiero. Sammy Smith, Kvapil, Love, Austin Hill and William Sawalich were racing in the top 10, respectively.
Five laps later, Creed assumed the lead from teammate Mayer after the former made his move from the inside lane through the first two turns. Meanwhile, Mayer dropped to fourth place and he then dropped to 10th place during the next lap before he pitted under green. Mayer’s move to pit was due to a flat left-front tire stemming from the contact with Gray. As a result, Mayer became the second competitor to make an unscheduled pit stop under green. Anthony Alfredo pitted a few laps earlier due to a flat right-rear tire.
Back on the track, Jesse Love and Rajah Caruth battled for the lead and Austin Hill navigated into the top three. Both Caruth and Love remained dead even for the top spot through the Lap 30 mark. Creed, Parker Retzlaff, Hill and Gray pursued from behind within the draft.
When the first stage period concluded on Lap 45, Love, who led since Lap 31, captured his first stage victory of the 2026 season. Caruth edged Retzlaff to settle in second. Gray, Justin Allgaier, Creed, Kvapil, Nick Sanchez, Jeremy Clements and Ross Chastain were scored in the top 10, respectively. By then, there had been seven lead changes for five different leaders. And, 28 of 38 starters were scored on the lead lap. Meanwhile, Mayer was pinned three laps behind in 32nd place.
Under the event’s first stage break period, the lead lap field, led by Love, pitted for service. Following the pit stops, Love exited first. He was followed by Gray, who hit one of his mechanics while trying to exit his pit stall. As a result, he was penalized for a tire violation. Allgaier, Creed, Caruth, Kvapil, Brandon Jones, Retzlaff, Jeb Burton and Corey Day followed suit ahead of Sawalich, Ruggiero, Sammy Smith, Sanchez and Chastain.
The second stage period started on Lap 54 as Love and Creed occupied the front row. At the start, both dueled for the lead. They were followed by Kvapil, Allgaier, Caruth, Jeb Burton and the field through the first two turns and the backstretch. Love then motored ahead from the outside lane, cycling back to lead the next lap. Allgaier challenged Creed for the runner-up spot. Love proceeded to lead through the Lap 60 mark. Kvapil, Creed, Allgaier, Caruth, Jones, Sammy Smith and Corey Day all battled fiercely for top-five spots behind the leader.
On Lap 62, Creed overtook Love, who had been leading since Lap 55. He retained the lead for the following lap as Love went below Creed in a bid to reclaim the lead. Creed, though, motored ahead and retained the lead for the next lap as Allgaier battled Love for the runner-up spot. Both would be trailed by Allgaier’s teammates, Sammy Smith, Caruth and Kvapil while Retzlaff also joined the battle.
Amid a series of on-track battles and shuffling that ensued towards the front, Creed maintained the lead. He was followed by Allgaier, Love, Caruth, Smith and Kvapil at the Lap 70 mark.
On Lap 72, Caruth made a bold move beneath both Allgaier and Creed through the frontstretch, enabling the former to assume command entering the first two turns. Two laps later, teammate Kvapil tried to bolt ahead of Caruth from the inside lane through Turns 3 and 4. But the former had no drafting help through the frontstretch.
This allowed Caruth to retain the lead with drafting help from Creed and Allgaier before Creed tried to make a move beneath Caruth just past the Lap 75 mark. Creed dueled with Caruth for two laps before he barely slipped and was pinned in the middle of a three-wide battle in Turns 3 and 4. This resulted in him losing a handful of spots while Allgaier, Day and Kvapil moved up behind Caruth on the track on Lap 78.
When the second stage period concluded on Lap 90, Caruth, who led since Lap 78, fended off teammate Allgaier to secure his first stage victory. Allgaier followed suit in second place ahead of teammate Kvapil, Day and Jones. Sammy Smith, Austin Hill, Retzlaff, Creed and Love were scored in the top 10, respectively. By then, there had been 14 lead changes for six different leaders. And, 28 of 38 starters were scored on the lead lap.
During the event’s second stage break period, nearly the entire lead lap field led by Caruth returned to pit road for service. Lavar Scott and Chad Finchum remained on the track. Once the latter two pitted not long after as the caution laps proceeded, Sawalich, who opted for only a two-tire pit service, cycled to the lead. He was followed by Retzlaff, Kvapil, Allgaier, Day and Caruth.
With 64 laps remaining, the final stage period commenced as Sawalich and Kvapil occupied the front row. At the front row, the inside lane led by Kvapil gained the upper advantage through the first two turns as Kvapil assumed command. With teammate Allgaier, Day, Sawalich and the rest of the field following in pursuit, Kvapil led the next lap. During which, the field fanned out to three-packed lanes through the turns and straightaways.
In the midst of the three-wide action, Caruth and Love were racing outside the top-10 mark. Both Creed and Hill were trying to form a charge from the inside lane. Meanwhile, a majority of the field opted to race in single-line formation towards the outside wall. Kvapil, who led the lane, maintained the lead with 60 laps remaining.
A lap later, the caution flew when Day, who was dueling beneath Kvapil for the lead through the backstretch, made contact with Kvapil. The contact sent both Kvapil and Day, along with Allgaier, against the outside wall entering Turns 3 and 4. The trio sustained damage to their respective Chevrolet entries. Amid the chaos, Austin Hill, who spent the majority of the event trying to navigate his way to the front, motored through with the lead, followed by Creed, Sawalich, Sammy Smith and Retzlaff.
As the event restarted with 51 laps remaining, Hill dueled with Sawalich for the lead through the first two turns before he motored ahead with drafting help from Creed and Sammy Smith from the outside lane. Hill led the next lap over Creed as a majority of the field behind migrated behind the leader in single-line formation towards the outside wall. Meanwhile, Hill’s teammate, Love, was trying to formulate a run from the inside lane, but he slowly began to lose ground of the lead as he had no drafting help. Love managed to navigate his way back up to fourth place with 45 laps remaining as Hill continued to lead ahead of Creed and Smith.
Down to the final 40 laps of the event, Hill was leading ahead of Creed, Love, Smith, Retzlaff, Ross Chastain, Nick Sanchez, Caruth, Sawalich and Jeb Burton while Dean Thompson, Jones, Gray, Austin Green, Josh Williams, Patrick Staropoli, Mason Maggio, Nick Leitz, Brennan Poole and Lavar Scott were racing in the top 20, respectively.
Following another caution that flew with 39 laps remaining due to debris that was scattered across the frontstretch and due to an incident involving Cody Ware, the next restart with 32 laps remaining featured Hill receiving a draft from Creed that allowed the former to zip ahead of teammate Love through the first two turns and the backstretch. As the field raced in two-wide formation amid the drafting pack and cycled back to the frontstretch, Hill led the next lap. He then led the following lap with 30 laps remaining. Meanwhile, Love managed to settle in second ahead of Creed, Smith, Caruth and Sanchez, respectively.
With 27 laps remaining, Love tried to make a move beneath teammate Hill in his bid for the lead through the first two turns. But he did not have the momentum to execute the pass on his own. Through the backstretch, he tried to file in behind Hill in the draft, but he barely clipped and briefly got Hill sideways. This allowed Creed to motor past both and assume the lead entering Turns 3 and 4.
Creed proceeded to lead the next two laps before a three-wide action involving him, Hill and Chastain ensued through the backstretch. With the field also fanning out to three-stacked lanes, Hill lost a handful of spots while pinned in the middle lane. Chastain then used the inside lane to take the lead. Amid a multitude of three-wide action, tight-packed racing and a sideways save by Caruth, Chastain retained the lead with 24 laps remaining.
Then, with 22 laps remaining, the caution flew as Sammy Smith, racing in the top-10 mark, fell off the pace, snapping sideways in Turn 1 due to a cut tire. Smith’s spin triggered a multi-car wreck that involved Taylor Gray, Sawalich, Lavar Scott, Ryan Ellis, Brennan Poole, Ruggiero, Nick Leitz and Mason Maggio.
The next restart, with 14 laps remaining, featured Chastain motoring ahead of Hill with drafting help from Creed through the first two turns. Hill, though, motored back ahead from the inside lane as he had teammate Love drafting him, but Chastain managed to draw back even with Hill through the frontstretch during the next lap. Chastain then received another push from Creed to motor back ahead through the backstretch. This allowed Chastain to lead the next lap while Creed and Hill battled for second in front of Jones, Love, Caruth, Jeb Burton and Parker Retzlaff.
The caution returned with 12 laps remaining when Josh Williams, who was racing in ninth place, got rear-ended by Mayer through the backstretch. This caused Williams to veer to the right and slam the outside wall in front of Caruth, the latter of whom had gotten loose for a second time towards the backstretch’s outside wall. As Williams tried to save his damaged entry, he ended up making more contact with the inside wall. This latest incident was enough for the event to be placed in a red flag period.
When the red flag lifted and the field restarted under green with six laps remaining, Chastain received another early boost from Creed to motor ahead of Hill from the outside lane. Chastain then retained the lead for a full lap while Hill battled with Creed for the runner-up spot and in front of 14 other competitors stacked in a tight pack for the lead.
As Chastain continued to lead with five laps remaining, Sanchez made a bold three-wide move in between both Love and Hill for third place through Turns 3 and 4. During the next lap, Sanchez went beneath Creed and overtook him for the runner-up spot through the backstretch. As the field fanned out through three tight-packed lanes, Sanchez reeled in on Chastain and tried to make a move to Chastain’s right, but the latter blocked the move.
As Chastain led with three laps remaining, Love and Hill overtook Sanchez through three lanes. Creed, Retzlaff, Mayer and Jeb Burton would also overtake Sanchez through the backstretch as Hill, Love and Creed proceeded to reel in Chastain for the lead. Once Chastain led with two laps remaining, Hill executed his overtake on the latter exiting the backstretch.
When the white flag waved, and the final lap started, Hill remained in the lead over Chastain, Creed, Love, Mayer, and the field through the frontstretch. Then, after Hill led through the first two turns and a majority of the backstretch, Chastain reeled in and tried to execute a race-winning pass below Hill entering Turn 3. With Hill darting left to try and block Chastain’s momentum, contact was made as Hill was sent sideways below the apron.
As Hill was losing the lead and with Chastain losing momentum, Creed, who was drafting Chastain through the backstretch, emerged as the leader. With the caution flag not flying and no drafts occurring behind him, Creed was able to cycle his No. 00 Road Ranger/Haas Factory Team Chevrolet Camaro entry back to the frontstretch and claim his first elusive checkered flag in the series by over Retzlaff.
With the victory, Creed, who won in his 138th career start, became the 182nd competitor overall to win in the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series division. He also joins Jeff Gordon, Mike Skinner, Jamie McMurray, Carl Edwards and Nick Sanchez as competitors to record a first career O’Reilly victory at Atlanta’s EchoPark Speedway.
Photo by John Knittel for SpeedwayMedia.com.
“Incredible,” Creed said on the frontstretch on the CW Network. “[I’ve] Been a loser the last few years and just kept showing up. Not how you draw it up when you win a Truck championship, win races and you go to [O’Reilly] and go four years winless. Incredible. [I] Thank all my past teams, [Richard Childress Racing] and [Joe Gibbs Racing]. They all gave me great opportunities. Now here with Haas Factory Team, back with Chevrolet,…Incredible. Incredible.”
“[Taking the lead] Never plays how you kind of draw it up,” Creed added. “[I’m] Finally a winner and maybe, I don’t know if one win will kind of revive my career, but maybe if I win a few this year, it will. [I’m] Probably going to drink a ton of Coors Light tonight.”
Behind Creed, Parker Retzlaff, who changed teams from Alpha Prime Racing to Viking Motorsports at the start of this season, achieved a career-best runner-up result in his 109th series start. Nick Sanchez, who recorded his first O’Reilly career victory at Atlanta last June, settled in third place while Corey Day and Jesse Love finished in the top five.
Ross Chastain fell back to sixth place ahead of Sam Mayer, who plowed through the frontstretch’s grass and damaged his front end after trying to peel his entry off the track and on pit road moments after congratulating teammate Creed.
Rajah Caruth, Taylor Gray, Brandon Jones and Dean Thompson finished eighth through 11th. Austin Hill, who led a race-high 34 laps in his bid to win the first Atlanta event for a fourth consecutive time, salvaged a 12th-place result after managing to continue from spinning sideways through Turns 3 and 4.
There were 24 lead changes for 11 different leaders. The event featured seven cautions for 46 laps. In addition, 19 of 38 starters finished on the lead lap.
Following the second event of the 2026 NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series season, Austin Hill continues to lead the standings by 22 points over Rajah Caruth, 24 over both Sheldon Creed and Jesse Love, 30 over Parker Retzlaff and 35 over Justin Allgaier.
Results:
1. Sheldon Creed, 17 laps led 2. Parker Retzlaff 3. Nick Sanchez 4. Corey Day 5. Jesse Love, 31 laps led, Stage 1 winner 6. Ross Chastain, 22 laps led 7. Sam Mayer, 23 laps led 8. Rajah Caruth, 22 laps led, Stage 2 winner 9. Taylor Gray, two laps led 10. Brandon Jones 11. Dean Thompson 12. Austin Hill, 34 laps led 13. Patrick Staropoli 14. Garrett Smithley 15. Josh Bilicki 16. Jeb Burton 17. Chad Finchum 18. Nick Leitz 19. Brennan Poole 20. Luke Fenhaus, one lap down 21. Austin Green, one lap down 22. Ryan Ellis, two laps down 23. William Sawalich, two laps down, five laps led 24. Giovanni Ruggiero, three laps down 25. Anthony Alfredo, three laps down 26. Mason Maggio – OUT, Engine 27. Josh Williams – OUT, Accident 28. Lavar Scott – OUT, Accident, one lap led 29. Jeremy Clements, 14 laps down 30. Sammy Smith – OUT, Accident 31. Cody Ware – OUT, Suspension 32. Carson Kvapil – OUT, Accident, five laps led 33. Justin Allgaier – OUT, Accident, one lap led 34. Joey Gase – OUT, Engine 35. Harrison Burton – OUT, DVP 36. Blaine Perkins – OUT, DVP 37. Ryan Sieg – OUT, Accident 38. Kyle Sieg – OUT, Accident
Next on the 2026 NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series schedule is Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas, for the Focused Health 250. The event is scheduled to occur next Saturday, February 28, and air at 3 p.m. ET on the CW Network, PRN Radio and SiriusXM.
THREE GR SUPRAS IN TOP-11 IN ATLANTA Taylor Gray bounces back from stage three incident to lead Toyota with a ninth-place finish
HAMPTON, Ga. (February 21, 2026) – Taylor Gray (ninth), Brandon Jones (10th) and Dean Thompson (11th) led Toyota with strong finishes in the second race of the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series season at EchoPark Speedway.
Both Gray and Thompson battled through adversity as they were involved in incidents during the race, while Jones delivered a top-10 finish at his home track.
Toyota Racing Post-Race Recap NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series (NOAPS) EchoPark Speedway (Atlanta) Race 2 of 33 – 251.02 miles, 163 laps
TOYOTA FINISHING POSITIONS
1st, Sheldon Creed* 2nd, Parker Retzlaff* 3rd, Nick Sanchez* 4th, Corey Day* 5th, Jesse Love* 9th, TAYLOR GRAY 10th, BRANDON JONES 11th, DEAN THOMPSON 23rd, WILLIAM SAWALICH 24th, GIO RUGGIERO 35th, HARRISON BURTON *non-Toyota driver
TOYOTA QUOTES
TAYLOR GRAY, No. 54 Operation 300 Toyota GR Supra, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 9th
Good stage points, and battled back from damage late for a top-10.
“Yeah, obviously, all over the place. Honestly, just happy to get out of here with it being a superspeedway style track. Looking forward to getting to our race tracks as a group – kind of our style of race tracks that we are really good at. I can’t thank everybody at Joe Gibbs Racing and TOYOTA RACING, and obviously Jason Ratcliff (crew chief) for bringing me a really fast Supra. We just will keep plugging away.”
BRANDON JONES, No. 20 Menards Toyota GR Supra, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 10th
Finished in the top-10 at a superspeedway style track. Can you tell us about your race?
“Well, it has been a rough week too. No one really knows, but I ended up with the flu after Daytona, so I didn’t do any simulator work. I’ve been on the couch for four days. I have been watching film – I haven’t had much to do, so I’ve been watching how these races play out and the guys did a fantastic job. It was finally one of those days where we were finally missing some of the wrecks. We were catching some of the right breaks and we had good speed. We look at some of the races in the past here, we qualify well but then we drop in the race. So, I really wanted to show up this weekend and not worry too much about qualifying, and how can we make these GR Supras race a little bit better. I was really pleased with what we brought to the track with us today. I thought I had a chance to win, and it is so circumstantial where to pick in the end. I don’t know if you want to give up too many more spots to go to the top. I thought picking the bottom was probably the right thing but just got to line hop at the right times, and gain the momentum at the right times. I learned a bunch from this one. This has been a work in progress, getting better at these superspeedways. It takes a little bit of messing up sometimes to learn from, but at the same time I was catching on to moves that I was making that was good too. I’m excited to come back here in the summer. I think we now have a good package that we can go race for the win with, so all-in-all, it was a good rebound after Daytona – I know that didn’t go our way, but a good stage and a good finish in the end.”
DEAN THOMPSON, No. 26 Thompson Pipe Group Toyota GR Supra, Sam Hunt Racing
Finishing Position: 11th
At one point today, you were two laps down and you finish with a near top-10. Can you tell us about your race?
“Yeah, definitely a wild day. We rebounded well. We got the wave around and then got the lucky dog, so our race really started in the third stage. Proud of the effort our team put forward. We had a really fast Thompson Pipe Group Toyota GR Supra. Really just proud of our guys and the effort they put in to help me rebound to a good points day today. This team has no quit in it, so we will keep chugging along and go to COTA.”
HARRISON BURTON, No. 24 AIRBOX Toyota GR Supra, Sam Hunt Racing
Finishing Position: 35th
What happened?
“I didn’t really see exactly what happened. I know they went three wide in front of us and just looked like wrecked each other. I don’t know. I’m frustrated because I feel like we’ve brought good Supras the last two weekends, and haven’t done anything wrong, and I’ve been in the infield care center twice. That’s just this style of racing. I’ve been on both sides of it, where it goes really well and you get lucky and I’ve been on the side that we’ve been on the last two weeks as well. It’s the nature of the beast, but it is hard for me to feel that way right now. Just thanks to AIRBOX for being on our car this weekend, and to everyone at Sam Hunt Racing for the hard work.”
About Toyota
Toyota (NYSE:TM) has been a part of the cultural fabric in the U.S. for nearly 70 years, and is committed to advancing sustainable, next-generation mobility through our Toyota and Lexus brands, plus our nearly 1,500 dealerships.
Toyota directly employs nearly 48,000 people in the U.S. who have contributed to the design, engineering, and assembly of more than 35 million cars and trucks at our 11 manufacturing plants. In 2025, Toyota’s plant in North Carolina began to assemble automotive batteries for electrified vehicles.
Ford Racing Notes and Quotes NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series Bennett 250 — EchoPark Speedway Saturday, February 21, 2026
Ford Unofficial Finishing Results:
3rd – Nick Sanchez 20th – Luke Fenhaus
NICK SANCHEZ, No. 25 Paynuity/Travel Curious Ford Mustang Dark Horse – YOU DIDN’T HAVE ANY FRIENDS UP THERE, SO HOW DID YOU FINISH THIRD? “Just a lot of grit. I have a lot of experience at this track, but the Paynuity/Travel Curious Ford Mustang was really good. It turns out that our downforce package that we brought paid dividends in the race. I’m really just proud of the team. We had a really rough go at Daytona. We had a really fast car, but nothing to show for it, so I’m glad we could finish P3 tonight in only our second race together. I know it’s only gonna get better from here, so it’s really promising. I’m thankful for everyone at Ford Racing and everyone at AM Racing for all they do.”
YOU STARTED 28TH AND DROVE UP TO 8TH IN STAGE ONE. DID THAT TELL YOU THAT YOUR MUSTANG WAS GOING TO BE A CONTENDER? “Yeah. I know this sounds a little brash, but I expected to get stage points in stage one, just from what we know about the race car and what it could do. It wasn’t really a surprise there. I was just really trying to learn about the car and see what runs it was able to take, and it really set me up for the end of the race and my strategy going forward.”
YOU HAD A GOOD RUN UP THE MIDDLE LATE AND GOT UP TO SECOND OR THIRD. DID YOU NEED MORE HELP TO PUSH YOU? “Ideally, I would have liked to go for the lead on the 32 and take it, but my car just didn’t lead well, so I figured at the end of the day it was better to take my chances and see what happened if I just stayed behind him and try to time a run to where I had one corner to clear and there wasn’t any momentum to pass me back, but it was a little bit on me there at the end. I missed a really late block off of four, but I think that’s kind of what sealed my fate to not win the race.”
Kyle Busch earned his 68th victory in 181 NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series races in Saturday’s Fr8 Racing 208 at Atlanta Motor Speedway. It was his ninth victory and third-consecutive win for Spire Motorsports at Atlanta.
Carson Hocevar (second) posted his first top-10 finish in four races at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
Busch and Hocevar earned Spire Motorsports’ second one-two finish in CRAFTSMAN Truck Series competition. The first came in 2025 at Kansas Speedway with Hocevar taking the win, followed by William Byron in second.
Spire Motorsports now owns 10 wins, 37 top-five and 76 top-10 finishes in 188 starts in the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series.
Kyle Busch, the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series’ all-time wins leader, collected his 68th career-win in Saturday’s Fr8 Racing 208 at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Busch led four times for a total of 37 laps, including the final seven laps, en route to his ninth-overall and third-consecutive triumph at Atlanta in NASCAR’s third division.
Busch began the race from third and maintained that position until the conclusion of the 40-lap opening stage. He reported that his HENDRICKCARS.COM Silverado was “a little darty” before getting four fresh Goodyear tires and Sunoco Racing Fuel between stages and exiting pit road in the second position. The Las Vegas native reported a bad vibration as he battled near the middle of the top 10 throughout Stage 2. Busch made a move to the inside line and dropped to 11th before battling back to the fifth position at stage end.
Busch elected to line up on the inside of the second row when the Final Stage went green on Lap 90. Spire teammate Carson Hocevar would give the 40-year-old driver a momentous push to the lead shortly before a the caution flag waved with 35 laps remaining to the scheduled distance. Veteran crew chief Brian Pattie alerted his driver that NASCAR would finish the race within a set time in order to begin the second event in Saturday’s double-header.
After a lengthy caution, Busch elected to take the top lane for the Lap-107 restart with Hocevar lined up in his mirror. The field took the green flag with nine minutes remaining and Busch, with the aid of Hocevar playing wingman, would bring home Spire’s 10th-career CRAFTSMAN Truck Series victory.
Kyle’s Post-Race Comments “There’s just so much going on throughout the race. You’re just trying to protect your lane. You’re trying to get the slingshot, and when we needed the slingshot to get back to the front, those guys were trying to use it on us. Carson Hocevar was a great teammate today. You got to have a teammate in this sort of thing. And until it gets really, really spread out on a 50 lap run or whatever, you don’t get a chance to have separation. You end up having to race it out in a group. But as we got towards the end, we started working together, and we started being able to maneuver our way through the end of the second stage. There I was behind him, pushing him. We were able to ratchet forward. And then there at the end, he was my wingman. Huge thanks to HENDRICKCARS.COM. Thanks to Spire Motorsports, Gainbridge, Brian Pattie and all these guys on the No. 7 team. We’ll go for another one here in a few weeks.”
Carson Hocevar, driver of Spire Motorsports’ No. 77 Delaware Life Chevrolet Silverado RST, worked with teammate Kyle Busch in the late stages of Saturday’s FR8 Racing 208 to propel the organization to their second one-two finish, crossing the finish line in second place.
Hocevar qualified 18th, but started 12th after multiple teams were sent to the tail for unapproved adjustments. He worked forward from the drop of the green flag, breaking into the top 10 by the end of the Lap 1. In the midst of the first stage, the Portage, Mich., native was squeezed into the fence, dealing fender damage to his Silverado. Despite the damage, Hocevar finished Stage 1 in fourth, racking up seven stage points to aid in the team’s bid for a CRAFTSMAN Truck Series owner’s championship.
During the ensuing round of full-service pit stops under caution, the Delaware Life crew also removed a piece of tape from the front grill to alleviate overheating issues encountered while pushing Busch earlier in the event. Hocevar restarted ninth, but once again, worked forward quickly. The No. 77 team concluded Stage 2 in third, totaling 15 stage points on the day.
A four-tire pit stop meant the Delaware Life Chevy was fifth for the Lap-88 restart, but worked to the second position by Lap 90, directly behind Busch. Despite encountering a Lap-101 caution and facing stiff competition by their opponents, the pairing remained one-two for the remainder of the event.
Carson’s Post-Race Comments “It’s crazy to think how we maybe weren’t on the best terms at the end of the Cup race here a year ago, but we worked together really well today. I didn’t think I’d ever be this excited for a Kyle Busch truck win, but when Spire Motorsports, Jeff Dickerson and TWG Motorsports get to celebrate, I’m happy. My team kept warning me on my water temperature, but continued to give me the green light to push. The overheating kind of kept me from racing it out with him, but if I didn’t have a shot, I wanted to make sure the company had a shot. I went over there during his burnout to give him a high five. I thought it would be a cool picture the Spire Marketing team could use on social. That was a business decision, but it was a lot of fun.”
Up Next… The NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series season continues on Saturday, Feb. 28 at the Grand Prix of St. Petersburg. The inaugural OnlyBulls Green Flag 150 will be televised live on FOX at 12 p.m. Eastern Standard Time (EST).
The third 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 on July 7, 2019. Less than three years later, William Byron drove Spire Motorsports’ No. 7 Chevrolet Silverado to its inaugural NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series win on April 7, 2022, at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway. The team’s most recent win came on May 30, 2025, when Rajah Caruth took the checkered flag in the Rackley Roofing 200 at Nashville (Tenn.) Superspeedway.
In 2026, Spire Motorsports will campaign 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.
The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series made its second stop of the 2026 season at EchoPark Speedway in Hampton, Georgia, formerly known as Atlanta Motor Speedway. The race saw a thrilling conclusion to the time-shortened event.
Kyle Busch claimed his 68th career victory after fending off his Spire Motorsports teammate, Carson Hocevar, in the closing laps.
“Huge help from behind (Hocevar),” Busch said to FS1 in his victory lane interview. “Carson Hocevar was a great teammate today. Early on in the race, I was like, ‘Wait a minute, same old Carson.’
“But, as we got closer towards the end, we started working together. And we started being able to maneuver our way through the end of the second stage there.
“I was behind him pushing him and we were able to go forward. There at the end, he was my wingman. So if he gives me a hat, I might wear a hat. Thanks to HendrickCars.com, appreciate you guys. Thanks to Spire Motorsports, Gainebridge, (crew chief) Brian Petty, all these guys. It was great to have the family here and win one, and celebrate one in victory lane.”
Due to showers impacting the area early Saturday morning, the start of the Truck Series race was delayed. NASCAR implemented a rule called the “Adverse Conditions” rule. This meant that the race would end at 4:20 p.m. ET.
This was done due to the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts race starting at 5 p.m./ET as part of the doubleheader on Saturday. In addition, the leader would receive the white flag at the next lap and end the race the following lap with no overtime finish.
Qualifying was held Friday afternoon in advance of Saturday’s race and saw Monroe, Georgia native Jake Garcia win the pole for the fourth time in his Truck Series career. Originally, stage lengths were made up of 40-40-55 for what was supposed to be the 135 lapper, but was cut short by 10 laps due to time constraints.
During the first stage, numerous incidents saw several spins with no cautions. One of those was Adam Andretti, who was making his series debut in the No.5 Tricon Garage Toyota Tundra. Andretti had a little trouble from the get-go getting loose in Turn 2. Just a few laps later on Lap 14, he would spin in the middle of Turns 3 and 4 while running in the 19th position. There was no caution for the spin.
Meanwhile, as Andretti was having his problems, Christian Eckes went behind the wall for driveshaft issues early in the going. At Lap 17, veteran Grant Enfinger had damage on his left front wheel and went down a lap to receive service on pit road. As the stage neared its end on Lap 34, Tanner Gray went spinning around before Turn 1, and no yellows were thrown there either.
As far as the action on the track, the leaders went single file by Lap 10 and saw Rhodes maintain the top spot over teammate Majeski and Busch. Just a few laps shy of the stage finish, Busch made a move past Majeski to move into the second spot. However, things began heating up with two laps to go. 2025 series champion Corey Heim returned to his first start of the year in the trucks and grabbed the stage victory after having a push from Majeski and passing Rhodes. Heim, Rhodes, Busch, Hocevar, Majeski, Stewart, Friesen, Andres Perez, Kaden Honeycutt, Daniel Hemric, and Gio Ruggiero rounded out the Top 10 finishers.
Stage 2 took place from laps 47 to 80 and saw many contenders have more trouble. At Lap 60, Majeski blew a right front tire and made a pit stop before returning to the track multiple laps down. Five laps later, Honeycutt also had a right front tire go down and came to pit road. Unfortunately, during the pit stop, he was penalized for driving through too many pit boxes.
As for Rhodes, he contended for the stage victory and was out front numerous times. However, trouble hit him with two laps to go in the stage as he would run out of gas on the backstretch and lose the lead, and ultimately go a lap down. Truck Series veteran, Friesen, assumed the lead during the process. Friesen received a challenge from Ricky Stenhouse Jr, but held on for the stage win. Friesen, Stenhouse Jr, Hocevar, Chandler Smith, Busch, Garcia, Ruggiero, Perez, Heim an Layne Riggs completed the Top 10.
Running short on time, the field went back green with the start of Stage 3 at Lap 87, with 48 laps to go. Friesen and Garcia were on the front row. However, Friesen’s lead was short-lived with Busch taking the top spot two laps later. The race was calm for a brief while. It seemed like they might be able to complete the 135 laps. But a caution came out with 35 laps to go for a wreck off Turn 4. Kris Wight, piloting the No. 81 machine, slid up and made contact with the No. 13 of Butcher when he slapped the wall off Turn 4, collecting Sutton in the process.
This slowed the race for several laps, and time became a growing concern to the field as there was roughly just nine minutes left for what would be the final restart of the race with 28 laps to go. Before that restart, however, Rhodes received the free pass and was back on the lead lap under caution.
Once the green flag flew, drivers wasted no time making things exciting. There were multiple challengers and multiple bold moves made in the closing laps and minutes of the event. A couple of those drivers were Busch, Hocevar, Stenhouse Jr, and Rhodes, just to name a few. In the final laps, Busch was passed for the lead for a brief period until he charged back and regained the top position with Hocevar behind him.
Despite having his teammate Hocevar helping him, Busch needed to hold off several challengers in hopes of grabbing the win. At Lap 125, which was the final lap of the race due to the adverse condition rule, the Las Vegas native indeed held off his competitors, including Hocevar, to nab his first Truck Series win of the season and his third consecutive at the track dating back to 2024.
Busch led four times for 37 laps en route to victory and won by a margin of victory of .114 seconds. There were three cautions for 18 laps and 14 lead changes among five different drivers.
Official Race Results Following The Fr8 Racing 208 at EchoPark Speedway.
Kyle Busch led 37 laps
Carson Hocevar
Gio Ruggiero
Ben Rhodes led 70 laps
Corey Heim won Stage 1, led six laps
Chandler Smith
Jake Garcia led two laps
John Hunter Nemechek
Ricky Stenhouse Jr
Justin Haley
Ty Dillon
Adam Andretti
Daniel Dye
Tyler Ankrum
Andres Perez De Lara
Brenden Queen
Tyler Reif
Kris Wright
Mini Tyrell, 1 lap down
Stewart Friesen won Stage 2, led 10 laps, 1 lap down
Kaden Honeycutt, 2 laps down
Grant Enfinger, 2 laps down
Clayton Green, 2 laps down
Josh Reaume, 2 laps down
Frankie Muniz, 2 laps down
Spencer Boyd, 5 laps down
Layne Riggs, 6 laps down
Ty Majeski, 6 laps down
Tyler Tomassi, 6 laps down
Tanner Gray, 9 laps down
Cole Butcher, OUT, Accident
Dawson Sutton, OUT, Accident
Caleb Costner, OUT, Handling
Daniel Hemric, OUT, Suspension
Justin Carroll, OUT, Rear Gear
Christian Eckes, OUT, Transmission
Up Next – The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series heads south to St. Petersburg, Florida, for the series debut at the Street of St. Petersburg, Saturday, February 28, live on FOX and MRN Radio at noon eastern.
NIECE MOTORSPORTS NCTS RACE RECAP: ECHO PARK SPEEDWAY Event: Fr8 Racing 208 (135 laps / 208 miles) Round: 2 of 25 (Regular Season) Track: Echo Park Speedway Location: Hampton, Georgia Date & Time: Saturday, February 21 | 1:30 PM ET
Key Takeaway: Tyler Reif and the AutoVentive / Precision Vehicle Logistics team had a smooth day in the second race of the season. During his first start on a mile-and-a-half track, Reif learned several valuable lessons about the aerodynamics involved in Truck Series racing. The rookie kept the No. 42 Chevy in one piece and began to move forward at the end of the time-shortened event. He ultimately crossed the line in 17th-place.
Tyler Reif’s Post-Race Thoughts: “I learned a ton out there today. If I could go back and change the start of the race, I would because I think that losing the pack in stage one was definitely not the right thing to do. I just wanted to keep the truck clean and bring it home in one piece so I could put something in my notebook for when we come back next year. There’s not a scratch on our Precision Vehicle Logistics Chevy and I’m happy with that. I’m looking forward to racing here again next time, but am really excited to go to St. Pete next week and hopefully run a little closer to the front.”
About AutoVentive: AutoVentive is an industry-leading Software as a Service (SaaS) applications developer providing customized solutions to the automotive logistics industry. The company is part of Liberty Hill Equity Partners, LLC, a Cincinnati-based private equity firm.
About Precision Vehicle Logistics: Precision Vehicle Logistics is a customer-focused group of professionals committed to service excellence in finished vehicle logistics. Precision offers a unique combination of talented experience, industry-leading software and systems, and a network of partners and resources to deliver customized solutions to the world’s leading automakers.
No. 44 Acceptance Insurance Chevrolet Silverado RST Driver: Andrés Pérez de Lara | Crew Chief: Wally Rogers
Key Takeaway: Andrés Pérez de Lara and the Acceptance Insurance team brought a fast truck to Atlanta and made noise throughout the day. After starting in ninth, Pérez de Lara moved into the top-five quickly in stage one. The No. 44 pit crew shined bright and performed when it mattered, completing the fastest four-tire stop of the day. Towards the end of the race, Pérez de Lara slid back in the running order, but overall had a good points day in 15th-place.
Andrés Pérez de Lara’s Post-Race Thoughts: “We had a really strong race today. I feel like I made some of the right moves and that helped us stay up front for the whole race. I just wish we could have executed better overall to finish higher, but I’m happy with the result. We got stage points to help us out, and we’re continuing to build on our momentum on the No. 44 team. Huge thanks to everyone at Acceptance Insurance, Team Chevy, and Niece Motorsports for their support; I’m looking forward to St. Pete next weekend.”
About Acceptance Insurance: Acceptance Insurance is a proud member of Confie, the largest personal lines agency in the U.S. We believe in investing in the communities we serve by offering affordable insurance solutions so our customers can have peace of mind. Our agents and team members uphold our values, which include promoting excellence, responsibility and caring.
Acceptance has been in business for over 50 years. We have over 700 agents in over 288 neighborhood locations ready to give you the service, respect and savings you deserve. We come to you so you can find the solutions you need, regardless of your background and driving record. We offer easy solutions to meet your unique needs.
No. 45 J.F. Electric Chevrolet Silverado RST Driver: Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | Crew Chief: Phil Gould
Key Takeaway: Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and the J.F. Electric team contended for the win in Atlanta, but came up short at the end. Stenhouse Jr. qualified inside the top-five and drove methodically all day long. By keeping his truck up front throughout most of the race, Stenhouse Jr. was in position to make moves late in the going. The No. 45 took the lead with just a handful of laps to go, but lacked help in the draft to capitalize. The team took home a ninth-place finish and notched their second top-10 in a row.
Ricky Stenhouse Jr.’s Post-Race Thoughts: “I really wish we had the No. 99 (Ben Rhodes) stay with us there at the finish. Him and I were working really well together towards the end of the race, but he bailed and went to the top. I think if he kept pushing, we could have cleared the No. 7 (Kyle Busch), or at least beat him to the line. So, that was a bummer being a sitting duck down the backstretch, but Phil Gould, Cody Efaw, and all these guys on the No. 45 team gave me a really good J.F. Electric Chevy. I’m bummed that we didn’t get it done, but I felt like we’ve had two strong races so far and I had a lot of fun. That was a blast.”
About J.F. Electric: J.F. Electric is an electrical contractor that provides engineering expertise, backed by construction and installation know-how in a diverse range of service offerings, from utilities and commercial projects, to industrial and telecommunications customers. When having a long family history in an industry, a company not only builds on its knowledge and experience, it takes pride in cultivating a solid understanding of client needs, all the while nurturing strong relationships with its employees. Evolving through five generations of the Fowler family, J.F. Electric has matured into a well-managed and thoughtfully diversified electrical contractor which is poised to continue its growth and expansion into the future.
About Niece Motorsports: Niece Motorsports is a professional auto racing team that has competed in the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series since 2016. The team is owned by Josh Morris of DQS Solutions and Staffing and the Fowler Family of J.F. Electric and Utilitra, and was founded by United States Marine Corps Veteran Al Niece. At its 80,000 sq. ft. headquarters in Salisbury, NC, Niece Motorsports is a full-service race vehicle build shop as well as a customizable fabrication shop for any manufacturing needs.
Follow the Team: To keep up to date with the latest team news, visit niecemotorsports.com or connect on Facebook and Instagram (@NieceMotorsports) as well as X (@NieceMotorsport).
Fr8 Racing 208 winner Kyle Busch (No. 7) and teammate Carson Hocevar (No. 77) celebrate at EchoPark Speedway. (Harold Hinson Photography)
Hampton, Ga. (Feb. 21, 2026) – Kyle Busch added another chapter to his dominance in the Fr8 Racing 208 on Saturday afternoon at EchoPark Speedway.
A cloudy day that began with heavy rain in the morning ended with a race against the clock as Busch drove the No. 7 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet to victory in the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series for the third consecutive year at EchoPark Speedway.
It was Busch’s 68th career Truck Series victory in 181 starts, and his first win of the 2026 Truck Series season.
Persistent morning showers soaked the speedway and forced a delay to the start. With the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series race to be held at 5 p.m., NASCAR established a hard stop time of 4:20 p.m. ET before the race began, adding urgency to make it to the finish.
Corey Heim claimed Stage 1, leading Ben Rhodes and Busch to the green-and-white checkered flag. The defending series champion showed good speed in his No. 1 Tricon Garage Toyota, but the complexion of the race would soon change.
With only two laps left in the second stage, Rhodes looked like he would cruise to the stage victory until his No. 99 ThorSport Ford ran out of fuel going into Turn 2. As Rhodes slowed from the lead and was forced to pit road, a charging pack of trucks swept past. Stewart Friesen edged Ricky Stenhouse Jr. at the line to win the stage, with Carson Hocevar also in contention during the frantic run to the stage finish.
The first significant incident occurred on Lap 100 when Cole Butcher’s No. 13 truck made contact with the outside wall. Dawson Sutton, attempting to avoid the accident, spun up the racetrack and hit the wall head-on along the frontstretch, bringing out a caution and tightening the field once again with the clock continuing to click down towards 4:20 p.m.
As the laps wound down and the cutoff time approached, Busch sliced his way back to the front of the pack with assistance from his Spire Motorsports teammate. Hocevar, driving the No. 77 Chevrolet, provided critical support in the closing laps, allowing Busch to maintain control of the lead en-route to a one-two finish for the organization.
“Huge help from behind,” Kyle Busch said following the victory. “Carson Hocevar was a great teammate today—early on in the race I was like, ‘wait a second, same ol’ Carson,’ but when it got towards the end we started working together and we started being able to maneuver our way through.”
Hocevar joined Busch on the front straightaway to celebrate the team victory.
“I thought it would be a good picture, good for the marketing team,” Hocevar said after the race. “I kept sputtering and the bottom kept surging, and I had no shot to win the race, so if I wasn’t going to have a shot, I was going to make sure the company had a shot—that was a business decision.
“Especially a year from here when he was hating my guts in the Cup race, I don’t think I would be excited to watch a Kyle Busch Truck win,” Hocevar continued. “But we’re teammates here. It worked out for us.”
Behind Busch and Hocevar, Gio Ruggiero delivered one of the drives of the afternoon. After starting at the rear of the field because of unapproved adjustments, Ruggiero advanced through the pack to finish third in his No. 17 Tricon Garage Toyota.
Rhodes recovered from his Stage 2 setback to finish fourth on his 29th birthday, salvaging a strong result after the fuel issue. Heim rounded out the top five.
With the result, Chandler Smith continues to lead the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series point standings by 28 points over Ruggiero.
Tickets for tomorrow’s AutoTrader 400 NASCAR Cup Series race are available at www.EchoParkSpeedway.com.
Full Results:
Kyle Busch
Carson Hocevar
Giovanni Ruggiero
Ben Rhodes
Corey Heim
Chandler Smith
Jake Garcia
John Hunter Nemechek
Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
Justin Haley
Ty Dillon
Adam Andretti
Daniel Dye
Tyler Ankrum
Andres Perez De Lara
Brenden Queen
Tyler Reif
Kris Wright
Mini Tyrrell
Stewart Friesen
Kaden Honeycutt
Grant Enfinger
Clayton Green
Josh Reaume
Frankie Muniz
Spencer Boyd
Layne Riggs
Ty Majeski
Tyler Tomassi
Tanner Gray
Cole Butcher
Dawson Sutton
Caleb Costner
Daniel Hemric
Justin Carroll
Christian Eckes
About the Autotrader 400 weekend:
Atlanta’s spring NASCAR weekend is headlined by the Autotrader 400 on Sunday, Feb. 22, 2026, with intense superspeedway pack racing that challenges NASCAR’s best and dazzles fans.
More information on the Autotrader 400 weekend and ticket availability can be found online at EchoParkSpeedway.com.
About EchoPark Speedway:
EchoPark Speedway is a premier entertainment venue located about 30 miles south of Atlanta, Ga. Since 1960, EchoPark Speedway has been a staple of the NASCAR calendar and currently hosts two weekends of racing in the spring and fall each year. When NASCAR isn’t in town, EchoPark Speedway’s versatile facility hosts an assortment of events that attract visitors from near and far, from Monster Jam to the Georgia State Fair and everything in between.
For more information on EchoPark Speedway and to see upcoming events at the facility, visit EchoParkSpeedway.com.
Ford Racing Notes and Quotes NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series FR8 Racing 208 — EchoPark Speedway Saturday, February 21, 2026
Ford Finishing Results:
4th – Ben Rhodes 6th – Chandler Smith 7th – Jake Garcia 23rd – Clayton Green 24th – Josh Reaume 25th – Frankie Muniz 27th – Layne Riggs 28th – Ty Majeski 29th – Tyler Tomassi 31st – Cole Butcher
BEN RHODES, No. 99 Campers Inn RV Ford F-150 – “This F-150 had a lot of speed. It’s a shame because we had Camper Inn here and some TYM folks, so I wanted to get them to Victory Lane on my birthday. We ran out of fuel. I don’t know why. We’ll regroup about it. The truck was really solid. We’re learning a lot. This is my first time on track with this new intermediate style body with the bed rails being straightened out and performance heights. That’s a new rule package for the series this year, so I think we’ve got some handling things we can work on with that that will make it a little more aggressive. I was pretty aggressive, but there was a few times where I had a really big run going and I had to lift, more often that not I had to lift even by myself leading, so we worked on it a lot today We put a lot of wrenches in the truck, but if we can take some notes from this, we’ll make it better.”
HOW UNEXPECTED WAS IT RUNNING OUT OF GAS? “I didn’t expect that at all. We’re leading the race and we’re only doing a stage. They say you’ve got to save some fuel. I didn’t know what I was gonna do, so you can’t really save anything when you’re leading.”
DESCRIBE THOSE LAST FEW LAPS? “We had some new tires on the truck and a lot of anger behind the wheel after we ran out of fuel. I just knew we had a really fast truck and I just wanted to get this Campers Inn F-150 up to the front where it belonged. It was tough to drive, actually. We had some handling issues and they stuck wrenches in it every single time and gave me air-pressure adjustments and we couldn’t quite get some of the evil characteristics I had in the center of the corner out. I’m sure the fans saw probably a few big saves from me. I don’t like that, so I think we have some good feedback on how to adjust that going forward. There’s been some rule package changes in the series this year and we’ve got to tune for that specifically.”
AT THE END YOU GOT A PUSH AND HAD TO TAKE THE RUN, BUT WAS IT A CASE OF TOO EARLY? “Yeah, I think we peaked too soon. We got the lead a few laps too early. The problem is unless you can clear them and hold them, you’re a bit of a sitting duck and Kyle is really good at managing that run and doing that move. He did it all last race and he did it this race. I knew that’s what he was gonna do, so I was trying to just ride behind him. I didn’t expect the bottom lane to form back up and then at that point I had to start playing both lanes and it got a little bit too crazy. We had a few handling issues where I could take my full runs. I was trying to push Ricky to the lead and if I could have stayed wide-open, I think we could have done it, but I almost wadded it up in three – fully out of the gas and sideways, just trying to get the most I can for the team.”
IT WAS A GREAT RALLY. WHAT DOES THAT SAY ABOUT YOUR TEAM’S ABILITY TO BOUNCE BACK? “I think it speaks volume of the team, especially here because you have no practice. The speed is made at the race shop, so we showed up and had great speed. Kudos to the guys, but, man, not getting the stage points really sucks. That’s the name of the game right now because we know the points have changed. It’s all about attrition. It’s all about consistency, so I was really hoping to be in the top five in points after stage two. I don’t know where I’m at now. That was my goal coming into it, so we’ll just have to recap on this. We’ve missed out on too many stage points this year. We’ve got to fix that.”
ANY EXPLANATION ON HOW YOU CAME UP SHORT ON FUEL? “We were the only ones that took two tires there, so we were in our box a lot shorter, for one, and then, two, we ran all of those laps to start the race, so we were under pace laps for like 10 laps or something crazy. When you have two tires and you run all those laps, I guess there was just a miscalculation on fuel. I was ready to fight though. You can’t fight your own team, but I was ready to fight. I love the guys. They work so hard. They hate it as much as I do, but I’m just glad we could salvage a good day.”
JAKE GARCIA, No. 98 Quanta Services/Curb Records Ford F-150 – “There were a couple times where we were leading the bottom and it’s just all timing. At these places, you need people to go with you at the right times. I was running about fifth and I made a big run to the bottom towards the end and I felt like if I had someone right there with me that we could have hooked up and had a shot at the win, but it just didn’t work out like that and lost a couple of rows before people picked me up. The last couple of laps are so hectic that it’s hard to really get organized and make your way to the front. I’m super proud of my guys. They brought me a really fast F-150 here. We obviously lost track position early. The start didn’t go the way we wanted it to and then worked our way back up. I’m really proud of our guys for that. The pit crew did an amazing job. I just want to thank Quanta Services, Curb Record and Ford Racing. I want to thank God for the opportunity to come out here and do this. He’s got a plan for everybody and I’m really fortunate to be able to come and do what I love. I get to hang out with these guys, who are really good. I really enjoy spending time with them and being a team. I’m looking forward to St. Pete next. Road course racing isn’t quite my thing, but I think the street course will be something a little different. It seemed like I picked it up pretty quick in the simulator. I thought I had a pretty good handle on the racetrack, so maybe I’m jinxing myself, but I think we can be good and then have a solid run at St. Pete.”
WHAT WAS YOUR THINKING ABOUT CHOOSING THIRD ON THE OUTSIDE LANE AS OPPOSED TO BEING FIRST ON THE INSIDE LANE FOR THE FINAL RESTART? “The restart before that I was actually fourth in line and had the opportunity to take the front row and I did it and it worked out. We cleared the leaders and got up to the top and made a couple spots out of it. That worked out really well. On the last one, Busch and Hocevar were working so well together the whole race, so I didn’t think anything on the bottom, no matter who I had pushing me, would have been better than those two. I didn’t think I had a chance to go down there and pass them and clear them, so if I can’t clear them, then I’m just gonna come back right up and go to the spot I was in, so I just picked the outside to be safe because I didn’t think there was anything to gain by going to the bottom. I think it worked out fine.”
CHANDLER SMITH, No. 38 QuickTie Ford F-150 – “It was a solid day all in all. We got some decent stage points in stage two. We missed out by one position on the first stage, but our F-150 handled really, really well today. It lacked a little bit on speed, but it handled phenomenally. I’m proud of everybody on this 38 team. Our QuickTie Ford F-150 was pretty solid. I was able to be aggressive and make moves and be able to get back up to the front after we had a pit road penalty at the very end. That definitely didn’t help us any, but we were able to bounce back and recover pretty nicely. It was a pretty solid day and a good points day.”
HOW DID THE TIME LIMITATION AFFECT YOUR FINAL RUN? “At the end of the day, it played out how it was gonna play out. It would have been cool to see us race to the finish. For us specifically we started doing the whole cupid shuffle on the top and was able to start cycling our way pretty close to the front of the top lane and was setting ourselves up pretty solidly there, but happy with a P6 finish nevertheless.”
