The 2026 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series season is the 32nd season of the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, a pickup truck racing series sanctioned by NASCAR in the United States. The season started on February 13 with the Fresh From Florida 250 at Daytona International Speedway and will end with the Baptist Health 200 on November 6 at Homestead–Miami Speedway.
This is the first season with Ram as a manufacturer since the 2012 season. It is the first season since 2000 without Matt Crafton competing full-time after his retirement from full-time racing after the 2025 season. This would also be the first season since 2008 to have Jimmie Johnson run in the Truck Series, as he ran the race at Coronado. This is also the first season since 2005 to have Tony Stewart as he ran the season opening race at Daytona. It was the last season to feature Kyle Busch, the winningest driver in series history, as he would die from sepsis on May 21, 2026, nearly a week after he won his final race at Dover Motor Speedway.
Corey Heim, the reigning Craftsman Truck Series champion, opted not to defend his title, instead switching to a part-time campaign with his team Tricon Garage. After the Team EJP 175 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, Layne Riggs clinched the No. 1 seed for the Chase, the new championship format for the series (replacing the playoff format after a decade of service).
This season marked the final season with Craftsman as the title sponsor of the series, as FedEx Freight will replace the title sponsor starting next season.
Teams and drivers
Full-time teams Manufacturer Team Driver Crew chief References Chevrolet CR7 Motorsports 9 Grant Enfinger Derek Smith Freedom Racing Enterprises 76 Spencer Boyd Mike Hillman Sr. Ryan London TBA Nathan Nicholson Louis Foster Caden Kvapil McAnally–Hilgemann Racing 18 Tyler Ankrum Mark Hillman 19 Daniel Hemric Kevin Bellicourt 81 Kris Wright Darren Fraley 91 Christian Eckes Dave Elenz Niece Motorsports 42 Travis Pastrana Landon Polinski Tyler Reif Conner Jones Parker Eatmon Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Ben Maier TBA 44 Andrés Pérez de Lara Wally Rogers 45 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Phil Gould Ross Chastain Landen Lewis Rackley W.A.R. 26 Dawson Sutton At New Hampshire (race 18), Toni Breidinger qualified the No. 26 truck but after Dawson Sutton failed to qualify in the No. 27 truck, Breidinger would be replaced by Sutton. Chad Kendrick Willie Allen Bruce Cook TBA Toni Breidinger Spire Motorsports 7 Michael McDowell Brian Pattie Kyle Busch Connor Mosack Sammy Smith Corey Day Rajah Caruth Chase Elliott Shane van Gisbergen Brennan Poole TBA 77 Carson Hocevar Chad Walter James Hinchcliffe Connor Zilisch Jesse Love Justin Marks Parker Kligerman Nick Sanchez Tristan McKee Rajah Caruth TBA Ford Front Row Motorsports 34 Layne Riggs Dylan Cappello 38 Chandler Smith Jon Leonard Team Reaume 2 Jason White Todd Myers Clayton Green Carter Fartuch Luke Baldwin Jackson Lee Morgen Baird Jackson Macenko Dystany Spurlock Stephen Mallozzi TBA 22 Josh Reaume Will Camilleri Kevin Johnson TBA Jackson Lee Clayton Green Natalie Decker Derek Lemke Austin Varco Monty Tipton Patrick Emerling Jackson Macenko TBA 33 Frankie Muniz At New Hampshire (race 18), Frankie Muniz qualified the No. 33 truck but after Luke Baldwin failed to qualify in the No. 2 truck, Muniz would be replaced by Baldwin. Pedro Lopez Stephen Mallozzi Luke Baldwin Josh Reaume ThorSport Racing 13 Cole Butcher (R) Rich Lushes 88 Ty Majeski Joe Shear Jr. Jeriod Prince 98 Jake Garcia Josh Hankish 99 Ben Rhodes Eddie Troconis Vance Haefele Cale Gale TBA Ram Kaulig Racing 10 Daniel Dye Dan Stillman Alex Yontz A. J. Allmendinger Corey LaJoie 12 Brenden Queen (R) Eddie Pardue 14 Mini Tyrrell (R) Bruce Cook Lennie Chandler Chad Kendrick 16 Justin Haley Mike Hillman Jr. 25 Tony Stewart Alex Yontz Dan Stillman Ty Dillon Colin Braun Corey LaJoie Carson Ferguson Parker Kligerman A. J. Allmendinger Clint Bowyer Travis Pastrana Jamie McMurray Ryan Newman Conor Daly Elliott Sadler Regan Smith TBA Toyota Halmar Friesen Racing 52 Stewart Friesen Dustin Dunn 62 John Hunter Nemechek Jimmy Villeneuve William Hartman TBA Wesley Slimp Christopher Bell At Richmond (race 17), Christopher Bell qualified the No. 62 truck but after the race was postponed to the same day as the Cup series race, Bell decided not to run the Truck Series race to focus on the Cup Series race and was replaced by Leland Honeyman, which is why they are both listed in the No. 62 truck for that race. Mike Christopher Jr. Cory Roper Leland Honeyman Parker Retzlaff Kaz Grala William Sawalich Kasey Kleyn TBA Tricon Garage 1 Taylor Gray Jerame Donley Jimmie Johnson Corey Heim Dario Franchitti William Sawalich Brandon Jones Brent Crews Jimmie Johnson Thomas Annunziata Nick Leitz Gavan Boschele 5 Nick Leitz Seth Smith Adam Andretti Corey Heim Chase Briscoe William Sawalich Spencer Davis Graham Doyle Harrison Burton John Hunter Nemechek Bayley Currey Brent Crews TBA 11 Kaden Honeycutt Scott Zipadelli David Stewart 15 Tanner Gray Jeff Hensley 17 Gio Ruggiero Jeff Stankiewicz
Limited schedule Manufacturer Team Driver Crew chief Races References Chevrolet Costner Motorsports 93 Caleb Costner Derek Kearns Cassten Everidge D. L. Wilson CR7 Motorsports 97 Jason Kitzmiller Michael Shelton FDNY Racing 28 Bryan Dauzat Jim Rosenblum GK Racing 95 Clay Greenfield Trip Bruce Henderson Motorsports 75 Corey LaJoie Chris Carrier Parker Kligerman Landon Huffman Nick Sanchez McAnally–Hilgemann Racing 20 Toni Breidinger Ty Joiner Daniel Dye Brendan Gaughan Mason Massey Niece Motorsports 4 Garrett Mitchell Mike Shiplett Ben Maier Connor Hall Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Shane van Gisbergen Stefan Parsons Donovan Strauss Matt Mills Norm Benning Racing 6 Norm Benning Rick Todd Rackley W.A.R. 27 Toni Breidinger Willie Allen Jack Johnston II Kasey Kleyn Dawson Sutton Spire Motorsports 71 Daniel Suárez Kevin Manion Connor Zilisch Shane van Gisbergen Ford Team Reaume 23 Jackson Lee TBA Toyota Greg Van Alst Motorsports 35 Greg Van Alst Kevin Shannon Halmar Friesen Racing 72 Mike Christopher Jr. Jimmy Villeneuve Hill Motorsports 56 Timmy Hill Terry Elmore Chevrolet Toyota TC Motorsports 90 Justin Carroll Terry Carroll Ford Toyota Ram MBM Motorsports 69 Tyler Tomassi Jason Miller Derek White Jonathan Shafer Dystany Spurlock Notes:
Team changes
Kaulig Racing, which has fielded entries in the Cup Series since 2020 and the Xfinity Series since 2016, will debut in the Truck Series for the first time in 2026 and be the flagship team for Ram, which is re-entering the sport in 2026 for the first time since 2012. Halmar Friesen Racing will field two full-time trucks in 2025 with the No. 62 expanding from being fielded part-time to full-time. Reaume Brothers Racing announced that they would rebrand to Team Reaume starting in 2026. Rackley W.A.R. will field a second truck part-time in 2026, the No. 27, and it will be driven by Toni Breidinger. The team did not field a part-time second truck in 2025 but they did in 2024. Caleb Costner, who competed part-time in the series in 2025 in the Mike Harmon Racing No. 74 truck, will bring his ARCA Menards Series team, Costner Motorsports, to the Truck Series in 2026 and they will field the No. 93 truck part-time. Niece Motorsports announced that they would renumber their No. 41 truck to the No. 4 for 2026.
Driver changes Leaving series Rajah Caruth moved up to the NASCAR O'Reilly Auto Parts Series in 2026, driving full-time between JR Motorsports and Jordan Anderson Racing. Joining series Daniel Dye returned to the Truck Series full-time after driving full-time in the Xfinity Series for one year in 2025. Justin Haley returned to the Truck Series full-time for the first time since 2018. He competed in the NASCAR Cup Series full-time from 2022 to 2025. Christian Eckes returned to the Truck Series full-time after driving full-time in the Xfinity Series for one year in 2025. He returned to McAnally–Hilgemann Racing, the team he drove for full-time in 2023 and 2024.
Rookies
Cole Butcher competed full-time for Thorsport Racing. Brenden Queen, the 2025 ARCA Menards Series champion, competed full-time for Kaulig Racing. Mini Tyrrell, winner of Ram: Race for the Seat, completed full-time for Kaulig Racing. Retirees After competing full-time in the Truck Series for 25 years and winning three championships, Matt Crafton retired from full-time racing following the 2025 season. Ty Majeski, his ThorSport Racing teammate, will move from the No. 98 truck to the No. 88 truck for 2026. Crafton will return to ThorSport on a part-time basis in another one of their trucks in 2026.
Crew chief changes Derek Smith, who was previously the crew chief of the Tricon Garage No. 5 truck driven by Toni Breidinger, will moved to CR7 Motorsports to crew chief their No. 9 truck driven by Grant Enfinger. Darren Fraley replaced Blake Bainbridge as the crew chief of the No. 81 McAnally-Hilgemann Racing truck. Fraley was crew chief for the team's part-time No. 16 truck in 2025. Dave Elenz, who was last a crew chief for Legacy Motor Club in the Cup Series in 2024 and was also an O'Reilly Auto Parts Series crew chief for JR Motorsports for several years, will be the new crew chief of the McAnally–Hilgemann Racing No. 91 truck. He replaces Joshua Graham, who left the team to crew chief for Viking Motorsports in the O'Reilly Auto Parts Series. Todd Myers will be the new crew chief of the Reaume Brothers Racing No. 2 truck. That truck had a rotation of different crew chiefs in 2025. Mike Hillman Sr. will replace his son Mike Hillman Jr. as the crew chief of the Freedom Racing Enterprises No. 76 truck. Hillman Sr. crew chiefed for Joey Gase Motorsports in the then-Xfinity Series in 2025.
Rule changes Policy changes Loosening lower series restriction NASCAR Cup Series drivers with three or more years of experience can participate in eight (up from five) regular season races. They are still prohibited from participating in The Chase.
Points system changes Postseason format Similar to the Cup Series, NASCAR changed the Chase format for the first time since the Craftsman Truck Series adapted the playoffs in 2016, the format changed on January 12, 2026. The amount of races in the Chase would remain. The win-and-you're-in, as well as the playoff point after a driver won a stage has been removed. Fastest lap restriction On January 16, 2026, NASCAR announced that drivers who enter the garage during a race will no longer be eligible for the "Xfinity Fastest Lap Award". However, the driver's fastest lap before they entered the garage will still stand.
Removal of the regular season championship With the changes of the chase, the regular season championship was removed.
Schedule The schedule was released on August 20, 2025.
Notes: Race names and title sponsors are subject to change. Not all title sponsors/names of races have been announced for 2026. For the races where a 2026 name and title sponsor has yet to be announced, the title sponsors/names of those races in 2025 are listed. The Triple Truck Challenge races are listed in bold.