Truckin’ Thursdays: Let The Chase Begin

After a weird, very unnecessary nearly month-long break in-between NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series races, The Chase starts Thursday at Bristol Motor Speedway.

Over the final seven races of the season, 10 drivers will battle it out for the championship, led by No. 1 seed Layne Riggs, who starts with a 25-point advantage over second-place Kaden Honeycutt.

Riggs and Honeycutt have clearly proven themselves to be the title favorites. Riggs has the most wins (six) and top fives (10) of any driver in the series, while Honeycutt has the most top 10s (13).

But don’t count out Riggs’ Front Row Motorsports teammate Chandler Smith (third, -35), who is the only other series regular to have won multiple races this season. His 12 top 10s rank second behind only Honeycutt, and with a promotion to the O’Reilly Series ensured for 2027, the Talking Rock, Georgia, native has nothing to lose.

Christian Eckes (fourth, -40) is the only other driver in the series with double-digit top 10s (11), and while he’s yet to return to his 2023-24 form, don’t be surprised if he finally pulls into victory lane at Bristol on Thursday. Eckes was very fast at the half-mile in the spring before he was collected in a wreck not of his own making.

The other six Chase drivers certainly fall into more of an underdog category, but could still make a run if the cards fall the right way. Gio Ruggiero (fifth, -45) has shown promise at times this year, though he’s made too many mistakes in the clutch (see New Hampshire last month) to get back to victory lane.

Ty Majeski (sixth, -50) has had a topsy-turvy campaign with no consistency, while Grant Enfinger (seventh, -55) pulled off a clutch win at Lime Rock Park that propelled him to the Chase, but hasn’t done much else.

Surprisingly, 2021 O’Reilly champion Daniel Hemric (eighth, -60) has been shut out of victory lane this year and has only led five laps all season. Ben Rhodes (ninth, -65) squeaked into The Chase and is in search for a third championship, though the new points format makes a 2021 or 2023-esque run for the No. 99 team unlikely.

Tyler Ankrum (10th, -70) rounds out the Chase field. He’s led the fewest laps (three) of any Chase driver this season and has taken a big step back from where he was in 2025.

Aside from a superspeedway, there may not be a more potentially chaotic track for The Chase to start at than Bristol (8 p.m. ET Thursday, FS1, NRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

“It can make or break your Chase just like every racetrack can,” Honeycutt said during Chase Media Day. “Bristol is very high intense. It’s a short track and it’s going to be nonstop 250 laps bare-knuckle racing, so looking forward to it. Always love going to Bristol no matter what the occasion is.”

Cup Series star Christopher Bell won the April 10 Truck race at Bristol, though the 2025 spring winner Smith finished runner-up. Riggs won the 2024 and 2025 fall races at the track.

“We’ve been off for a couple weeks now, and everybody’s hungry to get back out there and race, and starting up the Chase, everybody’s trying to make up those points now,” Ruggiero said. “I feel like it’s going to be a hectic race for sure. I think everybody’s going to race each other hard, and restarts there are super important because it can be a hard track to pass at, if the bottom lane’s super gripped up. I think the restarts; you’re going to see some really good racing and hopefully not too many wrecks.”

After Bristol, the series will head to Kansas (Sept. 26), Charlotte (Oct. 9), Phoenix (Oct. 16), Talladega (Oct. 23), Martinsville (Oct. 30) and round out the season at Homestead on Nov. 6.

Let the ensuing chaos and madness begin.