With just five weeks remaining in the 2026 NASCAR racing season, the Craftsman Truck Series kicks off a triple header weekend with the Ecosave 200.
Breast cancer awareness month, several of the trucks have pink paint schemes.
Thirty-six teams brought trucks to Charlotte Motor Speedway for 36 starting spots.
The first race with decent weather, this is the first Chase race where the drivers are actually getting a chance to qualify.
Following the Truck Series race tonight is a Celebration of Life memorial service for Kyle Busch around the start/finish line.
The drivers will have a full 50 minute practice session before making a qualifying run to set the field.
Regan Smith is driving the Kaulig Racing number 25 “guest truck” this week.
After running only seven laps of practice, Corey LaJoie is on pit road with the hood up with an engine issue.
Tire wear is an issue at Charlotte Motor Speedway with times dropping off as much as two seconds during a tire run.
Engine issue resolved, Corey LaJoie is back on the track and running in the top five.
With just 10 minutes remaining in practice, Gio Ruggiero’s truck is taken to the garage with a gear oil issue. Ruggiero said that he doesn’t think he will be able to make a qualifying run and will have to start the race from the back of the field.
Drivers get a total of five sets of tires for practice, qualifying, and the race.
After topping the chart from the beginning of practice, Layne Riggs has the fastest lap around the 1.5 mile track with a time of 30.13 seconds.
Several of the drivers are carrying tributes to Kyle Busch. He won more races than anyone at Charlotte Motor Speedway with 18 wins. Kyle Busch Motorsports won a total of 100 races before Busch sold the team.
Regan Smith notes that he struggled and was loose during practice; adding that he had a blast.
The first driver on the track to make a qualifying run is Timmy Hill who posted a time of 31.711 seconds.
Stewart Friesen hit the wall during his qualifying run and has some damage to the right side of the truck.
With a time of 29.961 Connor Mosack puts his number seven truck on the pole with Tanner Gray alongside on the front row.
The starting lineup for the Ecosave 200:
Connor Mosack
Tanner Gray
Kaden Honeycutt
Rajah Caruth
Landen Lewis
Bayley Currey
Grant Enfinger
Christian Eckes
Andres Perez
Chandler Smith
Connor Jones
Ben Rhodes
Layne Riggs
Justin Haley
Brent Crews
Daniel Hemric
Ty Majeski
Jake Garcia
Matt Mills
Dawson Sutton
Daniel Dye
Corey LaJoie
Cole Butcher
Kris Wright
Tyler Ankrum
Stewart Friesen
Brenden Queen
Leland Honeyman
Mini Tyrrell
Regan Smith
Timmy Hill
Luke Baldwin
Spencer Boyd
Josh Reaume
Clayton Green
Gio Ruggiero
Stages one and two are just 30 laps each with stage three lasting 74 laps for a total of 134 laps around the 1.5 mile track.
Stewart Friesen and Regan Smith will have to start the race from the back of the field after the crews made some unapproved adjustments to the trucks.
Jamie Little returns to the broadcast booth with Kevin Harvick and Joey Logano joining her for the truck race broadcast.
Kevin and Joey talked to Regan Smith on pace laps and said that the bumps were “crazy” adding that he had to go to the bathroom two laps into practice and he went before he got in the truck!
Connor Mosack brings the field down for the green flag start of the race with Tanner Gray alongside. Drivers quickly get three wide with Connor Mosack and Kaden Honeycutt in a battle for the lead.
Connor Mosack takes the lead.
Lap four, Kaden Honeycut takes the lead over Connor Mosack; Rajah Caruth, Tanner Gray, and Landen Lewis round out the top five.
Lap six, Gio Ruggiero has moved up to 27th after starting the race from the back of the field.
Lap eight, Kaden Honeycutt has a quarter of a second lead on Connor Mosack; Rajah Caruth, Layne Riggss, and Tanner Gray round out the top five.
Lap nine, Layne Riggs battles with Rajah Caruth for third.
Layne Riggs reports to his crew that the rest of the field is in trouble!
Lap eleven, Layne Riggs is in second; a half second behind leader Kaden Honeycutt; Connor Mosack, Rajah Caruth, and Chandler Smith round out the top five.
Currently Kaden Honeycutt leads the point standings with Layne Riggs in second.
Lap 14, Layne Riggs is on leader Kaden Honeycutt’s bumper; Riggs started the race in 13th place.
Lap 15, Layne Riggs and Kaden Honeycutt battle back and forth for the lead with Riggs getting out in front.
Lap 17, the top five are Layne Riggss, Kaden Honeycutt, Connor Mosack, Chandler Smith, and Rajah Caruth.
Lap 20, since taking the lead, Layne Riggs has pulled out to a lead of over half a second.
Lap 22, Layne Riggs now has a third of a second lead on Kaden Honeycutt; Connor Mosack, Chandler Smith, and Christian Eckes rounds out the top five.
Lap 26, leaders have encountered slower traffic.
With four laps remaining in stage one, Layne Riggs holds on to the lead with Kaden Honeycutt in second; Chandler Smith, Connor Mosack, and Christian Eckes round out the top five.
With a one second lead, Layne Riggs wins stage one:
The top 10 at the end of stage one:
Layne Riggs
Kaden Honeycutt
Chandler Smith
Christian Eckes
Connor Mosack
Grant Enfinger
Rajah Caruth
Tanner Gray
Brent Crews
Bayley Currey
Spencer Boyd is the “lucky dog”.
After staring the race at the back of the field, Stewart Friesen finished stage one in the top 15.
The drivers can run 50 to 55 laps on a single load of fuel but tires are more important to the handling of the truck.
Drivers come down pit road for service with Kaden Honeycutt winning the race off of pit road. Layne Riggs lost four spots on pit road.
Regan Smith was caught speeding on pit road and Cole Butcher was charged with pitting too soon; both drivers will have to restart the race from the back of the field. Luke Baldwin was charged with improper fueling of the truck and will also have to restart the race from the back of the field.
Kaden Honeycutt brings the field down for the green flag start of stage two with Grant Enfinger alongside on lap 38. Honeycutt takes the lead with Chandler Smith in second.
Drivers get four wide across the track.
Lap 39, the top five are Kaden Honeycutt, Chandler smith, Rajah Carugth, Grant Enfinger, and Layne Riggs.
Lap 44, Kaden Honeycutt has a lead of over a second on Rajah Caruth; Chandler Smith, Layne Riggs, and Christian Eckes round out the top five.
Lap 45, Gio Ruggiero has entered the top 20.
Josh Reaume is charged with having too many crew members over the wall during a pit stop and will have to serve a passthrough penalty.
Lap 53, Kaden Honeycutt ahs a lead of over a second and a half on Layne Riggs; Chandler Smith, Rajah Caruth, and Christian Eckes round out the top five.
Mini Tyrrell was charged with a crew member coming over the wall too soon and will have to serve a passthrough penalty.
Kaden Honeycutt wins stage two.
The top 10 at the end of stage two:
Kaden Honeycutt
Layne Riggs
Chandler Smith
Rajah Caruth
Christian Eckes
Brent Crewss
Bayley Currey
Tanner Gray
Daniel Hemric
Connor Mosack
Spencer Boyd is the “lucky dog”.
Drivers come down pit road for service with Kaden Honeycutt winning the race off of pit road. Layne Riggs has another slow pit stop and loses two more spots.
Mini Tyrrell was charged with too many crew over the wall, Tanner Gray was charged with pitting too soon and Chandler Smith was charged with vehicle interference. All three drivers will have to restart the race from the back of the field.
Kaden Honeycutt brings the field down for the green flag start of stage three with Rajah Caruth alongside on lap 69. Honeycut edges out fro the lead with drivers getting three wide.
Lap 69, the top five are Kaden Honeycutt, Rajah Caruth, Layne Riggs, Grant Enfinger, and Bayley Currey.
Bayley Currey’s “day job” is a truck chief for the number one truck but is getting the opportunity to drive in a couple of races.
Lap 73, Kaden Honeycutt has a third of a second lead on Rajah Caruth; Layne Riggs, Bayley Currey, and Connor Mosack round out the top five.
Lap 76, Gio Ruggiero has entered the top 15.
Lap 78, Layne Riggs passes Rajah Caruth for second; a third of a second behind leader Kaden Honeycutt.
Lap 81, Layne Riggs passes Kaden Honeycutt for the lead.
At the end of stage two, Layne Riggs was over 60 points behind points leader Kaden Honeycutt; after taking the lead, Riggs is now just 18 points back.
Fifty laps to go, the drivers are now at the edge of the pit window to make it to the end of the race.
Layne Riggs has pulled out to a half second lead on Kaden Honeycutt.
Lap 87, Brent Crews gets into the wall while battling Connor Mosack and has to make an unscheduled trip down pit road.
The 22 truck of Clayton Green is out of the race with an overheating issue.
With 44 laps to go, Layne Riggs has a lead of over a second on Kaden Honeycutt; Rajah Caruth, Connor Mosack, and Christian Eckes round out the top five.
Lap 94, drivers are beginning to make their green flag pit stops.
There are 30 trucks on the lead lap.
The first caution flag for an on track incident comes out on lap 99 when Stewart Friesen got into the wall and has a shredding tire and significant damage to the truck. Friesen takes his truck to the garage.
Kaden Honeycutt reports that he is lacking grip.
Drivers come down pit road for service with Kaden Honeycutt winning the race off of pit road; followed by Layne Riggs.
Kaden Honeycutt brings the field down for the green flag restart with Layne Riggs alongside with just 29 laps remaining in the race. Honeycutt jumps out in front for the lead as drivers get three wide in the field.
The top five are Kaden Honeycutt, Bayley Currey, Layne Riggs, Christian Eckes, and Andres Perez.
Layne Riggs passes Bayley Currey for second.
The lights are on and are reflecting off of the trucks as the sun begins to set.
Regan Smith has entered the top 20.
There are 29 trucks on the lead lap.
Lap 111, Kaden Honeycutt has pulled out to a near one second lead on Layne Riggs.
Stewart Friesen is out of the race.
The caution flag comes out on lap 113 when Kris Wright gets into the wall.
Connor Jones takes his truck to the garage with a mechanical issue.
Kaden Honeycutt brings the field down for the green flag restart with Layne Riggs alongside with just 17 laps to go in the race. Drivers quickly spread out on th track with Kaden Honeycutt taking the lead.
The caution flag comes out for a wreck on lap 119. Connor Mosack, Rajah Caruth, Andres Perez, Timmy Hill, Gio Ruggiero, and Leland Honeyman were all involved in the crash. Connor Mosack had a big fire in his truck.
NASCAR has red flagged the race to get the track cleared and cleaned up with 15 laps remaining in the race.
When the drivers get moving again, Mini Tyrrell is the “lucky dog”.
After a red flag condition of over 12 minutes the trucks are moving once again. Kaden Honeycutt was slow to get moving.
Kaden Honeycutt brings the field down for the green flag restart with Layne Riggs alongside with eleven laps remaining in the race. Getting a push from Bayley Currey, Kaden Honeycutt takes the lead.
Five of the top six trucks are in The Chase.
Ten to go as Daniel Dye gets loose and makes a run through the grass; the track stays green after Dye gets the truck moving again.
With nine laps to go, Kaden Honeycutt leads the race with Layne Riggs on his bumper.
With seven laps to go, Layne Riggs takes the lead. Christian Eckes passes Kaden Honeycutt after Honeycutt apparently got into the wall.
Four to go, Layne Riggs has pulled out to a lead of over half a second on Christian Eckes.
Layne Riggs takes the white flag.
Layne Riggs wins the race to sweep the Charlotte races!
The unofficial results of the Ecosave 200:
Layne Riggs
Christian Eckes
Kaden Honeycutt
Bayley Currey
Chandler Smith
Daniel Hemric
Landen Lewis
Andres Perez
Tyler Ankrum
Justin Haley
Ty Majeski
Grant Enfinger
Brenden Queen
Dawson Sutton
Mini Tyrrell
Corey LaJoie
Regan Smith
Cole Butcher
Tanner Gray
Brent Crews
Ben Rhodes
Luke Baldwin
Matt Mills
Spencer Boyd
Kris Wright
Gio Ruggiero
Josh Reaume
Daniel Dye
Jake Garcia
Leland Honeyman
Rajah Caruth
Timmy Hill
Connor Mosack
Connor Jones
Stewart Friesen
Clayton Green