A professional bull rider could have completed a successful run in the time between Chandler Smith, the winner of Saturday’s NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Faith Fest 250 at North Wilkesboro Speedway, crossing the finish line, and Layne Riggs, the runner-up finisher, doing the same.
Smith, who led a race-high 105 laps in the 250-lap contest, crossed the finish line ahead of his Front Row Motorsports teammate by a comfortable margin of 8.497 seconds. As he collected the checkered flag, Smith picked up his second win of the 2026 season, and his ninth win in 102 career NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series starts.
Race Results: Faith Fest 250 at North Wilkesboro Speedway
After finishing 22nd and 30th at San Diego and Lime Rock, the win is just what the doctor ordered for Smith, the third-place driver in the series regular-season championship standings.
“Today, we went from the valley last week to the mountain top. And [God] is good is good all the time,” Smith said in his post-race press conference.
Smith, like the other drivers in the field, had to endure sweltering heat on his path to the race win, and even with the ultra-hot conditions, he could tell early in Saturday’s race that he had a truck capable of winning.
“Yeah, it was hot, yeah, it was hot,” Smith said of the extreme temperatures in the race. “Right off the get-go from the start of the race, I knew we had a really good truck. Just starting to race around guys, and seeing where they were struggling and where my strong suit was.”
It turned out that the early indication that he had a strong truck wasn’t a false hope. It all panned out, and Smith scored his second consecutive NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series victory at North Wilkesboro Speedway, a legendary 0.625-mile short track.
Riggs found it hard to feel disappointed, despite missing out on the win. With a runner-up finish, he was able to extend his series point lead, and along with his teammate Smith winning, Front Row Motorsports was able to sweep the top-two finishing positions. Riggs said he just suffered tremendously on restarts, which hampered his hopes of winning the race.
“I just couldn’t go anywhere. When it’s easiest to gain and lose positions is where I was the most vulnerable today. I had to do it the hard way today, but congratulations to Chandler,” Riggs said. “1-2 [finish] for the organization. There was zero controversy this year, so that was great. We just beat them straight up.”
Shane van Gisbergen was able to gain some confidence heading into Sunday’s 450-lap NASCAR Cup Series event, as he scored a solid third-place result, driving the No. 71 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet Silverado.
Christian Eckes, the driver of the No. 91 McAnally-Hilgemann Racing Chevrolet, finished fourth, and Landen Lewis, who drives part-time for Niece Motorsports, nabbed a top-five result.
Gio Ruggiero, Chase Elliott, Stewart Friesen, Corey Heim, and Ty Majeski rounded out the top-10 finishers in the Faith Fest 250 at North Wilkesboro Speedway.
Carson Hocevar, driving the No. 77 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet, had one of the fastest trucks in the field, but a cut tire in the closing laps of Stage 2 ended his hopes of a victory. Hocevar, who lost a couple of laps due to the tire issue, would finish 27th, two laps down.
For those wondering, Tanner Gray, who Hocevar dissed on his team radio during Friday’s practice session, got the last laugh as he finished ahead of Hocevar in the race. Gray ended up finishing 18th.
