Trackin’ Trucks: Sammy Smith Wins at Talladega
Sammy Smith earned the first NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series victory of his career on Friday night at Talladega SuperSpeedway.
Smith, who piloted the No. 7 Chevrolet for Spire Motorsports, won in chaotic fashion in a four-wide finish, with a 0.091 second margin-of-victory over Tyler Ankrum during NASCAR Overtime.
“It was a good day for us. I thought [during] stage one, we had a lot of speed and lost the lead.” Smith said. “Stage two, we didn’t take any tires, took fuel only. The truck kind of drove not great at all.”
“I got shoved once really bad and kind of had to bail out of the pack, and just rode around stage two. Once we got four tires on it, really kind of came to life again.”
Smith’s win came hours after it was announced that he will pilot the No. 15 Toyota on a full-time schedule for Tricon Garage next year.
Austin Green finished third, while Ty Majeski and Kaden Honeycutt rounded out the top five.
Landen Lewis finished sixth, Brenden Queen seventh, Layne Riggs took eighth, former Talladega winner Spencer Boyd was ninth, and Corey Heim finished the list of the top 10.
Heim recovered after suffering tire issues early in the race. Heim was one of several drivers who faced flat tires during the Loves RV Stop 225. Other drivers with the same issue included Justin Haley and Chandler Smith
Friday evening's race went into overtime after a Lap 79 crash by Thomas Annunziata. Annunziata was battling for the lead when he received a push from behind that sent him into the outside wall before spinning back down the track.
The No. 9 of Grant Enfinger then collected damage. Annunziata and Enfinger finished in the 23th and 24th place, respectively.
A multi-truck wreck on Lap 17 involved NASCAR Hall of Famer Tony Stewart and Cleetus McFarland, who was making his third series start.
Both were collected during a chain-reaction wreck caused by contact made between Stewart Friesen and Andres Perez.
“Definitely wanted to make it a lot further in the race today than that,” Stewart said. “Everyone started wrecking, and they came across the track and got me. That’s just hard restrictor plate racing at Talladega.
“I wanted to get a chance to race, because I really enjoy working with Kaulig Racing and Ram. Kaulig is making progress, and Ram is doing a good job marketing this sport.”
A Look Ahead Into The Chase
The Craftsman Truck Series has just two races remaining in the series before a champion is crowned. The trucks head to Martinsville Speedway next Friday, October 30th.
Honeycutt leads over Riggs by 43 points, while Majeski is 141 points away.
Chander Smith’s chances took a toll due to his misfortunes at Talladega. The driver of the No. 38 Ford had a right-rear tire go down. After pitting, he was nabbed for speeding on pit road during that stop. Additionally, he was involved in a Lap 57 wreck that involved Jake Garcia and Conner Jones.
The Truck race at Martinsville Speedway will be held at 6 p.m. ET and can be seen on FOX Sports 1.
Reviewed by Courtney Horn
on
Friday, October 23, 2026
Rating:
