Chandler Smith Wins the NASCAR Truck Series Race at Martinsville
This is the Happy Hour Racing race recap, where we break down what actually decided the race and what it means for the championship. This one is the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race at Martinsville Speedway, not the Cup race.
The Short Version
Chandler Smith won the Truck Series race at Martinsville on Friday night, October 30. He took the lead from his own Front Row Motorsports teammate, Layne Riggs, on a restart with 12 laps to go and held off Ben Rhodes by 0.574 seconds in the Black's Tire 200. It was the 10th Truck Series win of his career, his third of 2026 and his first Martinsville grandfather clock. The biggest reason to care is the title fight: Riggs led 156 of the 200 laps, finished third, and now heads to the Homestead finale 20 points behind Kaden Honeycutt.
Layne Riggs Owned the Night Until the Last Restart
Sixteen-year-old rookie Tristan McKee started on the pole in the No. 77 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet. That made him the youngest pole winner in Truck Series history. Riggs took the lead from him on the first lap and kept it for the first 109 laps.
Riggs won both stages, with McKee second and Smith third in each. Stewart Friesen led three laps on an alternate pit call, and McKee led 29 laps in two stints, including a long run out front after the first red flag. Every time the race settled down, the No. 34 Ford went back to the front. By the time the last caution flew, Riggs had led 156 laps and looked like the winner.
That caution came for a crash involving Tyler Reif and Carson Ferguson on the backstretch, and it set up a restart with 12 laps left. Riggs lined up on the bottom with Smith on the outside. Smith powered past him from the outside lane and never gave it back.
Riggs explained it plainly afterward. His truck got too loose on restarts once the rubber built up, and he could not get going from the bottom lane. He said clean air matters more at Martinsville than almost anywhere, and once he lost it he slid back to third behind Rhodes.
A Bittersweet Clock for Chandler Smith
Smith only led the final 12 laps, but those are the ones that count. He called it God's plan and said his team had been through a rough patch since the Chase started. Martinsville had been on his bucket list for a long time.
There is a twist to it. Smith is not returning to Front Row Motorsports in 2027, and he said himself that he has one more race left with the team. So the first Martinsville clock of his career goes to team owner Bob Jenkins on the way out the door.
NEWS: Post-race inspection at @MartinsvilleSwy is complete with no issues.
- NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Trucks (@NASCAR_Trucks) October 31, 2026
This win is official for @CSmith_Racing. pic.twitter.com/VhJa4SMwAx
Nine Cautions and Two Red Flags
Martinsville is a 0.526-mile paperclip, and it raced like one. There were nine cautions for 67 laps and two red flags.
- Lap 38: Kaden Honeycutt and Frankie Muniz tangled in Turn 2 for the first yellow of the night.
- Lap 119: A pileup off Turn 4 collected Tyler Reif, Justin Haley, Daniel Hemric, Corey LaJoie, Gavan Boschele, Monty Tipton and Brenden Queen. The red flag lasted 7 minutes, 32 seconds.
- Lap 148: Timmy Hill spun on the backstretch and Friesen, Justin Carroll and Ferguson had nowhere to go. That brought out the second red flag.
Sammy Smith took his truck to the garage with suspension damage and finished 33rd. Conner Jones was out early with a rear gear problem.
The Numbers
- Top five: Chandler Smith, Ben Rhodes, Layne Riggs, Ty Majeski, Tristan McKee.
- Fords in the top four: all four. Front Row had two, ThorSport had two.
- Leaders: four, with seven lead changes.
- Laps led: Riggs 156, McKee 29, Smith 12, Friesen 3.
- Lead-lap finishers: 22 of 36 trucks.
- Race time: 1 hour, 49 minutes, 1 second at an average of 57.899 mph.
Who Is Hot and Who Is Not
Hot: Smith, obviously. Rhodes, who brought his ThorSport Ford home second from fourth on the grid. McKee, who won the pole, led 29 laps and finished fifth. And Andres Perez De Lara, whose sixth place in the No. 44 Niece Chevrolet was the best finish of his Truck Series career.
Not: Honeycutt. He ran in the top 10 most of the night but never led a lap. In the closing laps he and McKee banged doors fighting for fifth, Honeycutt got pushed out of the groove and he fell to 14th. The two talked it over on pit road afterward.
The Truck Series Championship Comes Down to Two
Smith winning actually helped Honeycutt. If Riggs had held on, he would have left Martinsville with a one-point lead. Instead Riggs gained ground but not the top spot. Honeycutt admitted he got bailed out and said he was surprised Smith went for it against his teammate.
The official standings after Martinsville:
- Kaden Honeycutt, No. 11 TRICON Garage Toyota: leader, four wins in 2026.
- Layne Riggs, No. 34 Front Row Ford: 20 points back, seven wins in 2026.
- Chandler Smith: 103 points back.
- Ty Majeski: 128 points back.
Riggs summed it up himself: he thinks it will be him or the 11 who wins at Homestead, winner takes all. Honeycutt said a 20-point lead is not comfortable and his only plan is to go win the race. That finale is Friday, November 6 at Homestead-Miami Speedway, 7:30 p.m. ET on FS1. One small note from inspection: the No. 5 TRICON Toyota of William Sawalich loses pit stall selection for Homestead over one unsecured lug nut.
It all comes down to these two. pic.twitter.com/P2AX2Kotu8
- NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Trucks (@NASCAR_Trucks) October 31, 2026
Catch up on how we got here in last week's Truck Series recap from Talladega and the Phoenix recap, and check the full points on the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series schedule and standings.
The Bottom Line
Riggs had the best truck at Martinsville and his own teammate took the clock. Now one race at Homestead decides whether that night costs him a championship.
So what do you think. Should Smith have settled for second behind his teammate with a title on the line, or is a Martinsville clock worth racing anybody for? Drop your take in the comments.
Shop the Gear
We do not have Smith, Riggs or Honeycutt gear in the store yet. Here is what we do have from the drivers who ran Martinsville and from the Cup winners at this track:
- Ty Majeski No. 98 Truck Series Championship shirt. He finished fourth Friday night.
- Corey LaJoie No. 7 Chili's Racing shirt. LaJoie ran the No. 10 at Martinsville and finished 20th.
- Chase Elliott 2026 Martinsville Cup winner shirt, from his spring win at the paperclip.
- William Byron 2025 Martinsville fall winner shirt.
- Chase Elliott No. 7 2026 Truck Series North Wilkesboro shirt.
If none of that is your driver, the newest gear in the store is here, and the win shirt subscription sends you a shirt every time your driver goes to victory lane.
