The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series opened the 2026 season with impressive momentum, highlighted by a significant rise in television viewership across multiple events.<\/p>\n
The season-opening Daytona race on FS1 averaged 1.387 million viewers, marking a 37% increase year-over-year and becoming the most-watched Truck Series event since 2016.<\/p>\n
At Atlanta Motor Speedway, FS1 averaged 765,000 viewers, up 13% compared to the 2025 event.<\/p>\n
The inaugural street course race at the Grand Prix of St. Petersburg in late February drew approximately 1 million viewers on Fox.<\/p>\n
Ram\u2019s highly anticipated return to NASCAR after more than a decade helped fuel early-season interest. The manufacturer\u2019s five-truck effort with Kaulig Racing, along with the debut of NASCAR Hall of Famer Tony Stewart in the Ram Free Agent Driver Program, has played a key role in boosting ratings and fan engagement.<\/p>\n
Race Notes \u2013 Bristol Motor SpeedwayFriday\u2019s NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race at Bristol Motor Speedway marks the sixth race of Ram\u2019s 2026 return to NASCAR following a 13-year absence.Despite it being Ram\u2019s first Truck Series season, a Kaulig Racing Ram 1500 has finished in the top 10 in four of the first five races of 2026.Corey LaJoie makes his second start in the No. 10 Ram 1500 on Friday as part of Kaulig Racing\u2019s five-truck lineup.Kaulig Racing\u2019s Ram entries include:No. 10 \u2013 Corey LaJoieNo. 12 \u2013 Brenden \u201cButterbean\u201d QueenNo. 14 \u2013 Timothy \u201cMini\u201d TyrrellNo. 16 \u2013 Justin HaleyNo. 25 \u2013 Rotating driver via the Ram Free Agent ProgramCarson Ferguson will pilot the No. 25 Ram on Friday. Previous drivers of the Free Agent entry include Tony Stewart, Ty Dillon, Colin Braun, and Corey LaJoie.Ram will announce the Free Agent Driver for the May 1 race at Texas Motor Speedway prior to Friday\u2019s event.Though new to the Truck Series, Kaulig Racing owns two NASCAR Cup Series victories and 27 wins in the NASCAR O\u2019Reilly Auto Parts Series.FS1 will broadcast the race live at 7:30 p.m. ET Friday, with NASCAR Racing Network coverage beginning at 7 p.m. ET on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio (Channel 90).Carson FergusonCarson Ferguson NotesCarson Ferguson will make his NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series debut, driving the No. 25 Ram 1500 for Kaulig Racing at Bristol Motor Speedway.The start comes via the Ram Free Agent Program, celebrating Ram\u2019s return to NASCAR with a rotating mix of veterans and up-and-coming drivers.Ferguson earned the opportunity following a standout performance on the eight-episode reality series \u201cRace for the Seat,\u201d presented by Ram and Kaulig Racing.The series aired on Fox and the Ram and Kaulig Racing YouTube channels and featured 15 drivers competing for a full-time ride in the No. 14 Ram 1500.Ferguson won the season-ending 20-lap Late Model Stock Car race at South Boston Speedway, earning $50,000, and finished second overall behind Timothy \u201cMini\u201d Tyrrell.Originally slated to debut at Martinsville in the fall, Kaulig Racing elected to move Ferguson\u2019s debut up to Bristol.The 25-year-old from Lincolnton, North Carolina, is a standout in dirt late model racing and competes full-time in the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series for Paylor Motorsports.Ferguson is a two-time Schaeffer\u2019s Oil Spring Nationals Series champion, a 2019 FASTRAK Racing Series champion and Rookie of the Year, and the only driver to win all three INEX national finals events on pavement in the same year (2014).Carson Ferguson Quote<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m thrilled for the chance to make my NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series debut at Bristol through the Ram Free Agent Program. Competing on \u2018Race for the Seat\u2019 was an incredible experience, and even though I came up just short of the full-time ride, getting this shot to race with Kaulig Racing means a lot. Bristol is a tough, high-banked track and a heck of a place to make your pavement debut in NASCAR. I can\u2019t wait to get behind the wheel of that No. 25 Ram and show what I can do.\u201d<\/p>\n
Corey LaJoieCorey LaJoie NotesCorey LaJoie will drive the No. 10 Ram 1500 for the remainder of the 2026 season.LaJoie finished 7th at Rockingham Speedway, tying Kaulig Racing and Ram\u2019s best Truck Series result so far in 2026.He has made 14 NASCAR Cup Series starts and two Truck Series starts at Bristol, scoring top-10 finishes in both Truck races.A third-generation racer from Concord, North Carolina, LaJoie is the son of two-time Xfinity Series champion Randy LaJoie.LaJoie has more than 270 NASCAR Cup Series starts since debuting in 2014, with notable performances on superspeedways and road courses.Corey LaJoie Quote<\/p>\n
\u201cBristol is a place where your heart starts pounding when you walk in. It truly is the Last Great Colosseum. This is a track where you need to execute well from the first time our Ram hits the track until the checkered flag drops. Coming off of that 7th place run at Rockingham, we\u2019ll look to continue building that strong momentum.\u201d<\/p>\n
Brenden \u201cButterbean\u201d QueenBrenden \u201cButterbean\u201d Queen NotesRookie of the Year contender Brenden \u201cButterbean\u201d Queen drives the No. 12 Cummins Ram 1500.Queen led the five-truck Kaulig\/Ram effort at Daytona with a 7th-place finish and recorded the team\u2019s best qualifying effort at Rockingham (11th).The 2025 ARCA Menards Series champion won eight races in his rookie season.Known for his mullet and energetic celebrations, Queen is a multi-time Late Model Stock champion and former CARS Tour title winner.Brenden \u201cButterbean\u201d Queen Quotes<\/p>\n
\u201cBristol holds a special place for me \u2014 it\u2019s where I made my debut with Kaulig Racing in the O\u2019Reilly series. Growing up, Bristol was always such a cool track to watch, so it would mean a lot to have a strong run and capitalize on it this weekend.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cQualifying is going to be critical because if you start too far back, you can go a lap down early. Track position is one of the biggest challenges, especially in the trucks.\u201d<\/p>\n
Timothy \u201cMini\u201d Tyrrell\u201cMini\u201d Tyrrell NotesTimothy \u201cMini\u201d Tyrrell drives the No. 14 Ram 1500 for Kaulig Racing.Tyrrell won the \u201cRace for the Seat\u201d competition, earning the full-time 2026 Truck Series ride.He became the youngest winner of a Late Model Stock Car race in America at age 10.Off the track, Tyrrell operates Mini\u2019s Mission, raising over $650,000 for childhood cancer research and awareness.\u201cMini\u201d Tyrrell Quotes<\/p>\n
\u201cWe had a pretty good run in Rockingham until the final stage. I\u2019m really proud of the Kaulig Racing team for the work they\u2019ve been doing to improve each week.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve never been to Bristol, even as a fan, but I\u2019m excited to get there. It\u2019s a short track, super fast-paced, and I feel like it will suit my driving style.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kaulig Racing PR<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series opened the 2026 season with impressive momentum, highlighted by a significant rise in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":592062,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[446],"tags":[49,48,716,718,925,374,720,634,1703,721,722,82,723],"class_list":{"0":"post-592061","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nascar","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-channel","11":"tag-craftsman-truck-series","12":"tag-daytona","13":"tag-fox","14":"tag-motor","15":"tag-nascar","16":"tag-rookie-of-the-year","17":"tag-series","18":"tag-speedway","19":"tag-sports","20":"tag-xfinity-series"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/592061","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=592061"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/592061\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/592062"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=592061"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=592061"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=592061"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}