Jake Garcia, driver of the #98 Quanta/Curb Records Ford, celebrates in victory lane after winning the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series UNOH 250 Presented by Ohio Logistics at Bristol Motor Speedway on September 17, 2026 in Bristol, Tennessee. (Photo by Jonathan Bachman/Getty Images)
Top Chase drivers struggle in final stage
by NASCAR.com Staff Report
Jake Garcia won Thursday evening’s NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Chase opener at Bristol Motor Speedway — his first career win in his 94th start.
The No. 98 ThorSport Racing driver took the point in the final stage and led 104 laps en route to taking his maiden checkered flag.
Bayley Currey, Stewart Friesen, Justin Haley and Tristan McKee completed the top five. Gio Ruggiero was the highest-finishing Chase driver in sixth, followed by William Sawalich, Kaden Honeycutt, Ty Majeski and Grant Enfinger rounding out the top 10.
Chase drivers endured plenty of issues in the final stage.
After sweeping the opening stages, top Chase seed Layne Riggs had a bad stop and dropped from the lead during the Stage 2 caution. A few laps after the race resumed, the No. 34 Front Row Motorsports driver reported a loose wheel and pit under green, falling two laps down.
Riggs was then involved in an incident with Tricon Garage’s Nick Leitz in the closing laps and ultimately finished 16 laps down in 32nd.
Riggs’ Front Row teammate Chandler Smith suffered a speeding penalty after pitting during the Stage 2 caution. Similar to Riggs, the No. 38 Ford driver reported a loose wheel in the closing laps and came to pit road. Smith was scored three laps down with a 24th-place finish.
Tricon’s Honeycutt, who entered The Chase as the No. 2 seed, also pitted with a vibration during a caution in the final stage, but rallied for a top 10 and leaves Bristol just three points back of Riggs for the points lead.
The Truck Series heads to Kansas Speedway next Saturday for the second race in the 2026 Chase (1 p.m. ET, FS1, NASCAR Racing Network, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).