Chandler Smith (pictured) used the final restart with 12 laps to go to snatch the lead from Front Row Motorsports teammate Layne Riggs and win Friday night’s NASCAR Truck Series Black’s Tire 200 at Martinsville Speedway. Smith beat Ben Rhodes to the line by 0.574 seconds in his No. 38 QuickTie Ford, while Riggs, who led 156 of the 200 laps, had to settle for third.

–by Mark Cipolloni–

Tristan McKee led the field to the green after becoming, at 16, the youngest polesitter in Truck Series history, but Riggs cleared him for the lead in Turns 3 and 4 on the opening lap and controlled the first half of the race. Riggs swept both stages, beating McKee, Smith, Rhodes and Ty Majeski in each, and was more than a second clear for long stretches as he worked through lapped traffic.

Tristan McKee, driver of the #77 Zeigler Auto Group Chevrolet, leads a pack of trucks during the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Black’s Tire 200 presented by Down East Heating & Air Conditioning at Martinsville Speedway on October 30, 2026 in Martinsville, Virginia. (Photo by David Jensen/Getty Images)

The first caution came on lap 37, when Christian Eckes bumped championship leader Kaden Honeycutt entering Turn 1 while battling for 6th, and Honeycutt then hit Frankie Muniz and spun him. Eckes’ night only got worse: NASCAR noted at the end of Stage 1 that he had been eliminated from championship contention, and he later pitted to check a right-rear problem before recovering to 10th.

The second half turned into a Martinsville demolition derby. In all there were nine cautions for 67 laps and two red flags. The first red came on lap 118, when Daniel Hemric bumped Tyler Reif in Turn 4 and a chain reaction collected Justin Haley, Brenden Queen, Corey LaJoie, Tanner Gray and several others. Sammy Smith had already gone behind the wall with a suspension problem a few laps earlier. The second red flew on a lap-147 restart, when Gray turned Timmy Hill on the backstretch and Stewart Friesen, Justin Carroll, Carson Ferguson, Gavan Boschele and others piled in. Hill, who is stepping away from team ownership after this race, was out on the spot.

McKee led 28 laps in the middle of the race, but Riggs took the lead back on the lap-155 restart and was cruising again until Reif turned Ferguson on the backstretch with 20 laps left. NASCAR held Reif for two laps for reckless driving. On the restart with 12 to go, Smith got a strong run on the outside, cleared Riggs on the backstretch and drove away, while Rhodes slipped past Riggs for 2nd. Rhodes had been nursing left-front brake trouble since the first stage.

“We’ve been through a very rough patch since the Chase started and we’ve kept our heads down,” Smith said after climbing from the truck. “Martinsville has been one on my bucket list that went for quite a while and I struggled here for a while… tonight, the car just felt exactly how they needed it to be… thankful to Front Row Motorsports. We got one more race to do with them. It’s very bittersweet, but man, I’m very happy that we can deliver a clock to Bob Jenkins.”

The win was Smith’s third of the 2026 season and the 10th of his Truck Series career, and it earned him Martinsville’s famous grandfather clock in his final season with Front Row, as he will not return to the team in 2027.

Majeski finished 4th and McKee 5th, with Andres Perez de Lara, Tyler Ankrum, Giovanni Ruggiero, William Sawalich and Eckes completing the top 10. The biggest loser was Honeycutt. Running around 5th after the final restart, he made contact with McKee in Turn 1 and was pushed out of the groove, falling to 14th. The two talked it over on pit road after the race.

Chandler Smith, driver of the #38 QuickTie/Cole Swindell Ford, poses in victory lane with the grandfather clock after winning the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Black’s Tire 200 presented by Down East Heating & Air Conditioning at Martinsville Speedway on October 30, 2026 in Martinsville, Virginia. (Photo by Meg Oliphant/Getty Images)
Championship Impact

Honeycutt’s late trouble cut his lead over Riggs from 43 points to 20. He heads into the finale with 2,403 points to Riggs’ 2,383, and the title is now between the two of them. Smith (2,300, –103), Majeski (–128) and Eckes (–140) are mathematically out of the running under NASCAR’s new Chase format, according to Frontstretch.

The NASCAR Truck Series wraps up its season at Homestead-Miami Speedway on Friday, Nov. 6, at 7:30 PM ET on FS1.

Related Article: NASCAR News: Larson holds the cards as title rivals seek Martinsville magic

2026 Black’s Tire 200 at Martinsville Race Results

Fin
Str
No.
Driver
Team
Laps Led
Laps
Status

1
3
38
Chandler Smith (C)
QuickTie / Cole Swindell – Down Home Crew Ford
12
200
Running

2
4
99
Ben Rhodes (C)
Bommarito Ford
0
200
Running

3
2
34
Layne Riggs (C)
BKB Bare Knuckle Boxing Ford
156
200
Running

4
6
88
Ty Majeski (C)
Serta/Menards Ford
0
200
Running

5
1
77
Tristan McKee
Zeigler Auto Group Chevrolet
29
200
Running

6
13
44
Andres Perez De Lara
Telcel Chevrolet
0
200
Running

7
9
18
Tyler Ankrum (C)
LiUNA Chevrolet
0
200
Running

8
11
17
Giovanni Ruggiero (C)
JBL Toyota
0
200
Running

9
18
5
William Sawalich
Soundgear Toyota
0
200
Running

10
7
91
Christian Eckes (C)
NAPA Auto Care Chevrolet
0
200
Running

11
19
9
Grant Enfinger (C)
Grant County Mulch / Champion Chevrolet
0
200
Running

12
20
12
Brenden Queen
Cummins Ram
0
200
Running

13
36
98
Jake Garcia
Quanta/ Curb Records Ford
0
200
Running

14
5
11
Kaden Honeycutt (C)
Safelite Toyota
0
200
Running

15
15
19
Daniel Hemric (C)
Arnott Suspension Products Chevrolet
0
200
Running

16
23
62
Kasey Kleyn
Thaemert Farms Toyota
0
200
Running

17
25
14
Mini Tyrrell
Ram
0
200
Running

18
10
15
Tanner Gray
Down East Heating & Air/Black’s Tire Toyota
0
200
Running

19
12
45
Landen Lewis
J.F. Electric/Utilitra Chevrolet
0
200
Running

20
29
10
Corey LaJoie
Mopar Ram
0
200
Running

21
28
81
Kris Wright
F.N.B. Corporation Chevrolet
0
200
Running

22
22
13
Cole Butcher
Atlantic Tiltload Ford
0
200
Running

23
31
76
Spencer Boyd
iLex Funding Group/Amthor International Chevrolet
0
199
Running

24
35
1
Gavan Boschele
American Land Partners Toyota
0
198
Running

25
30
33
Frankie Muniz
Vyper Ford
0
198
Running

26
26
22
Josh Reaume
Gap Year at Lodestar Ford
0
198
Running

27
16
42
Tyler Reif
Utilitra/J.F. Electric Chevrolet
0
198
Running

28
34
69
Tyler Tomassi
Tomassi Law Ram
0
196
Running

29
27
25
Carson Ferguson
Ram
0
179
Accident

30
14
52
Stewart Friesen
Halmar International Toyota
3
147
Accident

31
24
56
Timmy Hill
UNITS/Toys for Tots Toyota
0
146
Accident

32
33
90
Justin Carroll
Carroll’s Automotive Toyota
0
141
Accident

33
8
7
Sammy Smith
Alpha Craft Technologies Chevrolet
0
129
Suspension

34
17
16
Justin Haley
Grizzly Nicotine Pouches Ram
0
119
Accident

35
32
2
Monty Tipton
Bare Bones Ford
0
115
Accident

36
21
4
Conner Jones
Niece Chevrolet
0
95
Rear Gear