The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series opened its Chase with a calm but chaotic race that non-Chase driver Jake Garcia won Thursday night at Bristol Motor Speedway.
BRISTOL, Tenn. -- The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series opened its Chase with a calm but chaotic race that non-Chase driver Jake Garcia won Thursday night at Bristol Motor Speedway.
Garcia earned his first NCTS win in his 94th career start. He became the third first-time NCTS winner at Bristol Motor Speedway in the 2020s, following Sam Mayer in 2020 and Ty Majeski in 2022.
Before Thursday, Garcia had led 144 laps in his entire NCTS career -- 93 starts and all. However, he led three times for 104 laps and held off Stewart Friesen after Friesen had passed him at one point on a restart with 32 laps to go.
The win is a big statement for Garcia, who was the first driver out of the Chase after 18 races. On top of it, he earned ThorSport Racing's first win since November 2024 at Phoenix Raceway.
"Man, this is a big deal. To be the guy for ThorSport, I see some guys crying over there. I'm just really proud of them," Garcia said.
Garcia's previous-best career finish was second at Phoenix in November 2023 and Rockingham in April 2025.
TOP-10 (LAP 250): Jake Garcia, Bayley Currey, Stewart Friesen, Justin Haley, Tristan McKee, Gio Ruggiero, William Sawalich, Kaden Honeycutt, Ty Majeski, Grant Enfinger.
Layne Riggs led a race-high 135 laps, winning both stages caution-free with Kaden Honeycutt in second -- much like all season has been for them in the standings.
STAGE ONE TOP-10 (LAP 65): Layne Riggs, Kaden Honeycutt, Chandler Smith, Jake Garcia, Ty Majeski, Tristan McKee, Daniel Hemric, Ben Rhodes, Stewart Friesen, Justin Haley.
STAGE TWO TOP-10 (LAP 130): Layne Riggs, Kaden Honeycutt, Chandler Smith, Jake Garcia, Ty Majeski, Stewart Friesen, Nick Leitz, Tanner Gray, Bayley Currey, Tristan McKee.
Then, the second stage break changed everything. Riggs' crew had a slow stop and then Smith had a penalty. After exiting pit road and Smith's penalty popped up, they were as follows: Jake Garcia, Stewart Friesen, Kaden Honeycutt, Bayley Currey, Layne Riggs, Gio Ruggiero, Daniel Hemric, Ty Majeski and Nick Leitz.
On the subsequent run, chaos broke out. A loose wheel popped up for Riggs, forcing him to pit and lose multiple laps.
Then, Caden Kvapil laid down fluid on the track that caused Majeski to crash right as the caution came out on lap 170.
Another caution set up another set of circumstances that led to Honeycutt having a loose wheel. He was forced him to pit under caution for debris, which fell on lap 214.
Back to green, Friesen passed Garcia and led for 10 laps. However, Garcia didn't give up and got the lead to get his first win.
In the Chase, Smith reported a tire issue with 11 to go. He pitted with five laps to go with a right-front issue that cost him multiple laps. That same run, Riggs got damage and fell back.
Smith finished 24th, three laps down, while Riggs finished 32nd, 16 laps down.
That shook the standings out to this, heading to Kansas Speedway on Sept. 26 (1 p.m. ET; FS1):
- Layne Riggs 2125
- Kaden Honeycutt -3
- Chandler Smith -30
- Ty Majeski -35
- Gio Ruggiero -39
- Grant Enfinger -53
- Daniel Hemric -56
- Christian Eckes -58
- Ben Rhodes -61
- Tyler Ankrum -71
