The 2026 Fr8 208 was a NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race held on Saturday, February 21, 2026, at EchoPark Speedway in Hampton, Georgia. Contested over 125 laps—shortened from 135 laps due to time constraints with the O'Reilly Auto Parts Series race on the 1.54-mile-long (2.48 km) asphalt quad-oval intermediate speedway (with superspeedway rules), it was the second race of the 2026 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series season, and the 18th running of the event.
In a shortened race, Kyle Busch, driving for Spire Motorsports, survived late chaos and led the final seven laps to earn his 68th career NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series win, his first of the season, and his third consecutive win in the Atlanta truck race. Carson Hocevar finished second, and Gio Ruggiero finished third. Ben Rhodes and Corey Heim rounded out the top five, while Chandler Smith, Jake Garcia, John Hunter Nemechek, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., and Justin Haley rounded out the top ten.
Report Background
Atlanta Motor Speedway is a 1.54-mile race track in Hampton, Georgia, United States, 20 miles (32 km) south of Atlanta. It has annually hosted NASCAR Xfinity Series stock car races since 1992.
The venue was bought by Speedway Motorsports in 1990. In 1994, 46 condominiums were built over the northeastern side of the track. In 1997, to standardize the track with Speedway Motorsports' other two intermediate ovals, the entire track was almost completely rebuilt. The frontstretch and backstretch were swapped, and the configuration of the track was changed from oval to quad-oval, with a new official length of where before it was . The project made the track one of the fastest on the NASCAR circuit. In July 2021 NASCAR announced that the track would be reprofiled for the 2022 season to have 28 degrees of banking and would be narrowed from 55 to 40 feet which the track claims will turn racing at the track similar to restrictor plate superspeedways. Despite the reprofiling being criticized by drivers, construction began in August 2021 and wrapped up in December 2021. The track has seating capacity of 71,000 to 125,000 people depending on the tracks configuration.
On June 3, 2025, SMI announced the track's renaming to EchoPark Speedway under a new seven-year sponsorship deal with the Smith family-owned business, EchoPark. The renaming ended a 35-year stint under the Atlanta Motor Speedway name.
Entry list
(R) denotes rookie driver. (i) denotes driver who is ineligible for series driver points.
Driver Team Make 1 Corey Heim Tricon Garage Toyota 2 Clayton Green Team Reaume Ford 5 Adam Andretti Tricon Garage Toyota 7 Kyle Busch (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 Ty Dillon (i) Kaulig Racing Ram 26 Dawson Sutton Rackley W.A.R. Chevrolet 33 Frankie Muniz Team Reaume Ford 34 Layne Riggs Front Row Motorsports Ford 38 Chandler Smith Front Row Motorsports Ford 42 Tyler Reif 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 62 John Hunter Nemechek (i) Halmar Friesen Racing Toyota 69 Tyler Tomassi MBM Motorsports Ford 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 Toyota 91 Christian Eckes McAnally–Hilgemann Racing Chevrolet 93 Caleb Costner Costner Motorsports Chevrolet 98 Jake Garcia ThorSport Racing Ford 99 Ben Rhodes ThorSport Racing FordOfficial entry list
Qualifying Qualifying was held on Friday, February 20, at 3:00 PM EST. Since EchoPark Speedway is an intermediate track with superspeedway rules, 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.
Jake Garcia, 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 32.050 seconds, and a speed of .
No drivers failed to qualify.
Qualifying results Pos.DriverTeamMakeTime (R1) (R1)Time (R2) (R2)198Jake GarciaThorSport RacingFord32.230172.01432.050172.980299Ben RhodesThorSport RacingFord32.101172.70532.097172.72637Kyle Busch (i)Spire MotorsportsChevrolet32.202172.16332.109172.662418Tyler AnkrumMcAnally–Hilgemann RacingChevrolet32.154172.42032.138172.506545Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (i)Niece MotorsportsChevrolet32.238171.97132.249171.912613Cole Butcher (R)ThorSport RacingFord32.174172.31332.260171.854788Ty MajeskiThorSport RacingFord32.165172.36132.265171.82785Adam AndrettiTricon GarageToyota32.219172.07232.321171.529944Andrés Pérez de LaraNiece MotorsportsChevrolet32.242171.95032.348171.3861017Gio RuggieroTricon GarageToyota32.155172.415——Eliminated in Round 11111Kaden HoneycuttTricon GarageToyota32.276171.768——1262John Hunter Nemechek (i)Halmar Friesen RacingToyota32.310171.588——1319Daniel HemricMcAnally–Hilgemann RacingChevrolet32.348171.386——149Grant EnfingerCR7 MotorsportsChevrolet32.349171.381——1591Christian EckesMcAnally–Hilgemann RacingChevrolet32.353171.360——1652Stewart FriesenHalmar Friesen RacingToyota32.388171.175——1715Tanner GrayTricon GarageToyota32.482170.679——1877Carson Hocevar (i)Spire MotorsportsChevrolet32.494170.616——1934Layne RiggsFront Row MotorsportsFord32.497170.600——201Corey HeimTricon GarageToyota32.512170.522——2181Kris WrightMcAnally–Hilgemann RacingChevrolet32.535170.401——2238Chandler SmithFront Row MotorsportsFord32.575170.192——2326Dawson SuttonRackley W.A.R.Chevrolet32.628169.915——2476Spencer BoydFreedom Racing EnterprisesChevrolet32.634169.884——2516Justin HaleyKaulig RacingRam32.673169.681——2625Ty Dillon (i)Kaulig RacingRam32.749169.288——2742Tyler ReifNiece MotorsportsChevrolet32.750169.282——2812Brenden Queen (R)Kaulig RacingRam32.841168.813——2914Mini Tyrrell (R)Kaulig RacingRam32.845168.793——3010Daniel DyeKaulig RacingRam32.854168.747——3122Josh ReaumeTeam ReaumeFord33.005167.975——Qualified by owner's points3233Frankie MunizTeam ReaumeFord33.271166.632——332Clayton GreenTeam ReaumeFord————3469Tyler TomassiMBM MotorsportsFord————3590Justin CarrollTC MotorsportsToyota————3693 Caleb CostnerCostner MotorsportsChevrolet————Official qualifying resultsOfficial starting lineup
Race
Race results
Stage Results Stage One Laps: 40 Pos.DriverTeamMakePts11Corey HeimTricon GarageToyota10299Ben RhodesThorSport RacingFord937Kyle Busch (i)Spire MotorsportsChevrolet0477Carson Hocevar (i)Spire MotorsportsChevrolet0588Ty MajeskiThorSport RacingFord6652Stewart FriesenHalmar Friesen RacingToyota5744Andrés Pérez de LaraNiece MotorsportsChevrolet4811Kaden HoneycuttTricon GarageToyota3919Daniel HemricMcAnally-Hilgemann RacingChevrolet21017Gio RuggieroTricon GarageToyota1 Stage Two Laps: 40 Pos.DriverTeamMakePts152Stewart FriesenHalmar Friesen RacingToyota10245Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (i)Niece MotorsportsChevrolet0377Carson Hocevar (i)Spire MotorsportsChevrolet0438Chandler SmithFront Row MotorsportsFord757Kyle Busch (i)Spire MotorsportsChevrolet0617Gio RuggieroTricon GarageToyota5798Jake GarciaThorSport RacingFord4844Andrés Pérez de LaraNiece MotorsportsChevrolet391Corey HeimTricon GarageToyota21034Layne RiggsFront Row MotorsportsFord1
Final Stage Results Stage Three Laps: 45 FinStDriverTeamMakeLapsLedStatusPts137Kyle Busch (i)Spire MotorsportsChevrolet12537Running021877Carson Hocevar (i)Spire MotorsportsChevrolet1250Running031017Gio RuggieroTricon GarageToyota1250Running404299Ben RhodesThorSport RacingFord12570Running425201Corey HeimTricon GarageToyota1256Running4462238Chandler SmithFront Row MotorsportsFord1250Running387198Jake GarciaThorSport RacingFord1252Running3481262John Hunter Nemechek (i)Halmar Friesen RacingToyota1250Running09545Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (i)Niece MotorsportsChevrolet1250Running0102516Justin HaleyKaulig RacingRam1250Running27112625Ty Dillon (i)Kaulig RacingRam1250Running01285Adam AndrettiTricon GarageToyota1250Running25133010Daniel DyeKaulig RacingRam1250Running2414418Tyler AnkrumMcAnally–Hilgemann RacingChevrolet1250Running2315944Andrés Pérez de LaraNiece MotorsportsChevrolet1250Running29162812Brenden Queen (R)Kaulig RacingRam1250Running21172742Tyler ReifNiece MotorsportsChevrolet1250Running20182181Kris WrightMcAnally–Hilgemann RacingChevrolet1250Running19192914Mini Tyrrell (R)Kaulig RacingRam1240Running18201652Stewart FriesenHalmar Friesen RacingToyota12410Running32211111Kaden HoneycuttTricon GarageToyota1230Running1922149Grant EnfingerCR7 MotorsportsChevrolet1230Running1523332Clayton GreenTeam ReaumeFord1230Running14243122Josh ReaumeTeam ReaumeFord1230Running13253233Frankie MunizTeam ReaumeFord1230Running12262476Spencer BoydFreedom Racing EnterprisesChevrolet1200Running11271934Layne RiggsFront Row MotorsportsFord1190Running1128788Ty MajeskiThorSport RacingFord1190Running15293469Tyler TomassiMBM MotorsportsFord1190Running8301715Tanner GrayTricon GarageToyota1160Running831613Cole Butcher (R)ThorSport RacingFord1000Accident6322326Dawson SuttonRackley W.A.R.Chevrolet1000Accident5333693Caleb CostnerCostner MotorsportsChevrolet990Handling4341319Daniel HemricMcAnally–Hilgemann RacingChevrolet880Suspension5353590Justin CarrollTC MotorsportsToyota650Rear Gear2361591Christian EckesMcAnally–Hilgemann RacingChevrolet20Transmission1Official race results
Race statistics
Lead changes: 14 among 5 different drivers Cautions/Laps: 3 for 18 laps Red flags: 0 Time of race: 1 hour, 28 minutes and 9 seconds Average speed:
Standings after the race
Drivers' Championship standings Pos Driver Points 1 Chandler Smith 103 2 2 Gio Ruggiero 75 (–28) 7 3 Ben Rhodes 68 (–35) 1 4 Ty Majeski 60 (–43) 4 5 Stewart Friesen 59 (–44) 6 Brenden Queen 53 (–50) 2 7 Kaden Honeycutt 53 (–50) 3 8 Andrés Pérez de Lara 53 (–50) 1 9 Tyler Ankrum 51 (–52) 8 10 Christian Eckes 47 (–56)Official driver's standings
Manufacturers' Championship standings Pos Manufacturer Points 2 1 Chevrolet 89 1 2 Ford 88 (–1) 1 3 Toyota 69 (–20) 4 Ram 57 (–32) Note: Only the first 10 positions are included for the driver standings.
References