The 2026 Fresh From Florida 250 was a NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race held on February 13, 2026, at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida. Contested over 102 laps—extended from 100 laps due to an overtime finish on the superspeedway, it was the first race of the 2026 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series season, and the 27th running of the event.
In the overtime finish, Chandler Smith, driving for Front Row Motorsports, made a four-wide tri-oval pass underneath John Hunter Nemechek on the final lap to earn his eighth career NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series win, and his first of the season. Gio Ruggiero finished second, and Christian Eckes finished third. Ty Majeski and Nemechek rounded out the top five, while Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Brenden Queen, Kaden Honeycutt, Tyler Ankrum, and Stewart Friesen rounded out the top ten. The race also produced the most lead changes in series history, with 32 lead changes among 12 drivers.
Report
Background
Daytona International Speedway is one of three superspeedways to hold NASCAR races, the other two being Atlanta Motor Speedway and Talladega Superspeedway. The standard track at Daytona International Speedway is a four-turn superspeedway that is long. The track's turns are banked at 31 degrees, while the front stretch, the location of the finish line, is banked at 18 degrees.
Entry list
(R) denotes rookie driver. (i) denotes driver who is ineligible for series driver points.
Driver Team Make 1 Taylor Gray (i) Tricon Garage Toyota 2 Jason White Team Reaume Ford 4 Garrett Mitchell Niece Motorsports Chevrolet 5 Nick Leitz Tricon Garage Toyota 6 Norm Benning Norm Benning Racing Chevrolet 7 Michael McDowell (i) Spire Motorsports Chevrolet 9 Grant Enfinger CR7 Motorsports Chevrolet 10 Daniel Dye Kaulig Racing Ram 11 Kaden Honeycutt Tricon Garage Toyota 12 Brenden Queen (R) Kaulig Racing Ram 13 Cole Butcher (R) ThorSport Racing Ford 14 Mini Tyrrell (R) Kaulig Racing Ram 15 Tanner Gray Tricon Garage Toyota 16 Justin Haley Kaulig Racing Ram 17 Gio Ruggiero Tricon Garage Toyota 18 Tyler Ankrum McAnally–Hilgemann Racing Chevrolet 19 Daniel Hemric McAnally–Hilgemann Racing Chevrolet 22 Josh Reaume Team Reaume Ford 25 Tony Stewart Kaulig Racing Ram 26 Dawson Sutton Rackley W.A.R. Chevrolet 27 Toni Breidinger Rackley W.A.R. Chevrolet 28 Bryan Dauzat FDNY Racing Chevrolet 33 Frankie Muniz Team Reaume Ford 34 Layne Riggs Front Row Motorsports Ford 35 Greg Van Alst Greg Van Alst Motorsports Chevrolet 38 Chandler Smith Front Row Motorsports Ford 42 Travis Pastrana Niece Motorsports Chevrolet 44 Andrés Pérez de Lara Niece Motorsports Chevrolet 45 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (i) Niece Motorsports Chevrolet 52 Stewart Friesen Halmar Friesen Racing Toyota 56 Timmy Hill Hill Motorsports Toyota 62 John Hunter Nemechek (i) Halmar Friesen Racing Toyota 69 Tyler Tomassi MBM Motorsports Ford 75 Corey LaJoie (i) Henderson Motorsports Chevrolet 76 Spencer Boyd Freedom Racing Enterprises Chevrolet 77 Carson Hocevar (i) Spire Motorsports Chevrolet 81 Kris Wright McAnally–Hilgemann Racing Chevrolet 88 Ty Majeski ThorSport Racing Ford 90 Justin Carroll TC Motorsports Chevrolet 91 Christian Eckes McAnally–Hilgemann Racing Chevrolet 95 Clay Greenfield GK Racing Chevrolet 97 Jason Kitzmiller CR7 Motorsports Chevrolet 98 Jake Garcia ThorSport Racing Ford 99 Ben Rhodes ThorSport Racing FordOfficial entry list
Practice The first and only practice session was held on Thursday, February 12, at 5:00 PM EST, and lasted for 50 minutes.
Kaden Honeycutt, driving for Tricon Garage, set the fastest time in the session, with a lap of 48.439 seconds, and a speed of .
Practice results Pos.DriverTeamMakeTime1 11 Kaden Honeycutt Tricon Garage Toyota 48.439 185.8012 1 Taylor Gray (i) Tricon Garage Toyota 48.448 185.7663 9 Grant Enfinger CR7 Motorsports Chevrolet 49.449 185.762Full practice results
Qualifying Qualifying was held on Friday, February 13, at 3:00 PM EST. Since Daytona International Speedway is a superspeedway, the qualifying procedure used was a single-car, single-lap system with two rounds. In the first round, drivers had one lap to set a time and determined positions 11-36. The fastest ten drivers from the first round advanced to the second and final round, and whoever set the fastest time in Round 2 won the pole and determined the rest of the starting lineup.
Ty Majeski, driving for ThorSport Racing, qualified on pole position, having advanced from the preliminary round and set the fastest time in Round 2, with a lap of 50.881 seconds, and a speed of .
Seven drivers failed to qualify: Bryan Dauzat, Timmy Hill, Justin Carroll, Tyler Tomassi, Norm Benning, Toni Breidinger, and Greg Van Alst.
Qualifying results Pos.DriverTeamMakeTime (R1) (R1)Time (R2) (R2)188Ty MajeskiThorSport RacingFord50.941176.67550.881176.88327Michael McDowell (i)Spire MotorsportsChevrolet50.976176.55450.939176.682315Tanner GrayTricon GarageToyota51.035176.35051.074176.215477Carson Hocevar (i)Spire MotorsportsChevrolet50.979176.54351.112176.08459Grant EnfingerCR7 MotorsportsChevrolet51.153175.94351.168175.891618Tyler AnkrumMcAnally–Hilgemann RacingChevrolet51.337175.31251.177175.860711Kaden HoneycuttTricon GarageToyota50.998176.47851.229175.682898Jake GarciaThorSport RacingFord51.175175.86751.264175.562917Gio RuggieroTricon GarageToyota51.330175.33651.285175.4901038Chandler SmithFront Row MotorsportsFord51.422175.02251.317175.380Eliminated in Round 11191Christian EckesMcAnally–Hilgemann RacingChevrolet51.455174.910——124Garrett MitchellNiece MotorsportsChevrolet51.459174.897——1342Travis PastranaNiece MotorsportsChevrolet51.488174.798——141Taylor Gray (i)Tricon GarageToyota51.508174.730——1525Tony StewartKaulig RacingRam51.519174.693——1616Justin HaleyKaulig RacingRam51.544174.608——1795Clay GreenfieldGK RacingChevrolet51.558174.561——1875Corey LaJoie (i)Henderson MotorsportsChevrolet51.559174.557——1962John Hunter Nemechek (i)Halmar Friesen RacingToyota51.586174.466——2026Dawson SuttonRackley W.A.R.Chevrolet51.607174.395——2197Jason KitzmillerCR7 MotorsportsChevrolet51.611174.381——2212Brenden Queen (R)Kaulig RacingRam51.614174.371——2313Cole Butcher (R)ThorSport RacingFord51.643174.273——2452Stewart FriesenHalmar Friesen RacingToyota51.664174.203——255Nick LeitzTricon GarageToyota51.674174.169——2681Kris WrightMcAnally–Hilgemann RacingChevrolet51.714174.034——2799Ben RhodesThorSport RacingFord51.719174.017——2844Andrés Pérez de LaraNiece MotorsportsChevrolet51.751173.910——2922Josh ReaumeTeam ReaumeFord51.752173.906——3045Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (i)Niece MotorsportsChevrolet51.786173.792——3110Daniel DyeKaulig RacingRam51.789173.782——Qualified by owner's points3219Daniel HemricMcAnally–Hilgemann RacingChevrolet51.861173.541——3333Frankie MunizTeam ReaumeFord51.863173.534——3476Spencer BoydFreedom Racing EnterprisesChevrolet51.875173.494——3534Layne RiggsFront Row MotorsportsFord51.995173.094——362Jason WhiteTeam ReaumeFord52.022173.004——Qualified by OEM provisional3714Mini Tyrrell (R)Kaulig RacingRam51.810173.712——Failed to qualify3828Bryan DauzatFDNY RacingChevrolet51.900173.410——3956Timmy HillHill MotorsportsToyota51.943173.267——4090Justin CarrollTC MotorsportsChevrolet52.001173.074——4169Tyler TomassiMBM MotorsportsFord52.010173.044——426Norm BenningNorm Benning RacingChevrolet52.109172.715——4327Toni BreidingerRackley W.A.R.Chevrolet52.148172.586——4435Greg Van AlstGreg Van Alst MotorsportsChevrolet52.415171.707——Official qualifying resultsOfficial starting lineup
Race
Race results
Stage results Stage One Laps: 20 Pos.DriverTeamMakePts177Carson Hocevar (i)Spire MotorsportsChevrolet0215Tanner GrayTricon GarageToyota9391Christian EckesMcAnally–Hilgemann RacingChevrolet8462John Hunter Nemechek (i)Halmar Friesen RacingToyota057Michael McDowell (i)Spire MotorsportsChevrolet0611Kaden HoneycuttTricon GarageToyota5788Ty MajeskiThorSport RacingFord481Taylor Gray (i)Tricon GarageToyota0912Brendan Queen (R)Kaulig RacingRam2109Grant EnfingerCR7 MotorsportsChevrolet1 Stage Two Laps: 20 Pos.DriverTeamMakePts138Chandler SmithFront Row MotorsportsFord10234Layne RiggsFront Row MotorsportsFord9388Ty MajeskiThorSport RacingFord841Taylor Gray (i)Tricon GarageToyota057Michael McDowell (i)Spire MotorsportsChevrolet065Nick LeitzTricon GarageToyota5791Christian EckesMcAnally–Hilgemann RacingChevrolet4862John Hunter Nemechek (i)Halmar Friesen RacingToyota0975Corey LaJoie (i)Henderson MotorsportsChevrolet01099Ben RhodesThorSport RacingFord1
Final stage results Stage Three Laps: 62 FinStDriverTeamMakeLapsLedStatusPts11038Chandler SmithFront Row MotorsportsFord1028Running652917Gio RuggieroTricon GarageToyota1020Running3531191Christian EckesMcAnally–Hilgemann RacingChevrolet1021Running464188Ty MajeskiThorSport RacingFord1025Running4551962John Hunter Nemechek (i)Halmar Friesen RacingToyota10210Running063045Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (i)Niece MotorsportsChevrolet1020Running072212Brenden Queen (R)Kaulig RacingRam1020Running328711Kaden HoneycuttTricon GarageToyota1021Running349618Tyler AnkrumMcAnally–Hilgemann RacingChevrolet1020Running28102452Stewart FriesenHalmar Friesen RacingToyota1020Running2711255Nick LeitzTricon GarageToyota1023Running31122799Ben RhodesThorSport RacingFord1020Running26132844Andrés Pérez de LaraNiece MotorsportsChevrolet1020Running24142313Cole Butcher (R)ThorSport RacingFord1020Running23151342Travis PastranaNiece MotorsportsChevrolet1021Running22163333Frankie MunizTeam ReaumeFord1020Running21173110Daniel DyeKaulig RacingRam1020Running20181795Clay GreenfieldGK RacingChevrolet1020Running19193714Mini Tyrrell (R)Kaulig RacingRam1020Running18202922Josh ReaumeTeam ReaumeFord1020Running17213476Spencer BoydFreedom Racing EnterprisesChevrolet1020Running16221616Justin HaleyKaulig RacingRam10220Running1523315Tanner GrayTricon GarageToyota10211Running232427Michael McDowell (i)Spire MotorsportsChevrolet10120Running0252681Kris WrightMcAnally–Hilgemann RacingChevrolet1010Running12263219Daniel HemricMcAnally–Hilgemann RacingChevrolet1010Running12272026Dawson SuttonRackley W.A.R.Chevrolet1010Running1028141Taylor Gray (i)Tricon GarageToyota1010Running02959Grant EnfingerCR7 MotorsportsChevrolet1000Running9302197Jason KitzmillerCR7 MotorsportsChevrolet1000Running7313534Layne RiggsFront Row MotorsportsFord982Running1532898Jake GarciaThorSport RacingFord980Running533362Jason WhiteTeam ReaumeFord980Running4341875Corey LaJoie (i)Henderson MotorsportsChevrolet920Engine035477Carson Hocevar (i)Spire MotorsportsChevrolet8820Suspension0361525Tony StewartKaulig RacingRam390Accident137124Garrett MitchellNiece MotorsportsChevrolet50Accident1Official race results
Race statistics
Lead changes: 32 among 12 different drivers Cautions/Laps: 6 for 31 laps Red flags: 0 Time of race: 2 hours, 6 minutes and 0 seconds Average speed:
Standings after the race
Drivers' Championship standings Pos Driver Points 1 Chandler Smith 65 2 Christian Eckes 46 (–19) 3 Ty Majeski 45 (–20) 4 Gio Ruggiero 35 (–30) 5 Kaden Honeycutt 34 (–31) 6 Brenden Queen 32 (–33) 7 Nick Leitz 31 (–34) 8 Tyler Ankrum 28 (–37) 9 Stewart Friesen 27 (–38) 10 Ben Rhodes 26 (–39)Official driver's standings
Manufacturers' Championship standings Pos Manufacturer Points 1 Ford 40 2 Toyota 35 (–5) 3 Chevrolet 34 (–6) 4 Ram 30 (–10) Note: Only the first 10 positions are included for the driver standings.
References