2026 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series

2026 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series

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Champions | Seasons

Corey Heim, the defending champion.

The 2026 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series season is the upcoming 32nd season of the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, a stock car racing series sanctioned by NASCAR in the United States. The season will start on February 13 with the Fresh From Florida 250 at Daytona International Speedway and will end with the Baptist Health 200 on November 6 at Homestead–Miami Speedway.

This will be the first season with Ram as a manufacturer since 2012. ^[1] It will also be the first season since 2000 without Matt Crafton competing full-time after his retirement from full-time racing after the 2025 season. This will also be the first season since 2008 to have Jimmie Johnson run in the Truck Series, as he will run the race at Coronado. ^[2] This will also be the first season since 2005 to have Tony Stewart as he will run the season opening race at Daytona. ^[3]

Teams and drivers

Full-time teams

Manufacturer	Team	No.	Driver	Crew chief	References
Chevrolet	CR7 Motorsports	9	Grant Enfinger	Derek Smith	[4]
	Freedom Racing Enterprises	76	Spencer Boyd	Mike Hillman Sr.	[5]
	McAnally–Hilgemann Racing	18	Tyler Ankrum	TBA	[6]
		19	Daniel Hemric	Kevin Bellicourt	[7]
		81	Kris Wright	Darren Fraley	[8]
		91	Christian Eckes	Dave Elenz	[9]
	Rackley W.A.R.	26	Dawson Sutton	TBA	[10]
	Spire Motorsports	7	Michael McDowell 1	Brian Pattie	[11] [12]
			TBA 24
		77	TBA	Chad Walter	[11]
Ford	Front Row Motorsports	34	Layne Riggs	Dylan Cappello	[13]
		38	Chandler Smith	Jon Leonard	[14] [15]
	Team Reaume	2	Luke Baldwin 12	Todd Myers	[16] [17]
			TBA 13
		33	Frankie Muniz	Pedro Lopez	[18] [16]
	ThorSport Racing	13	Cole Butcher (R)	TBA	[19]
		88	Ty Majeski	TBA	[20]
		98	Jake Garcia	TBA	[21]
Ram	Kaulig Racing	10	Daniel Dye	TBA	[22] [23]
		12	Brenden Queen (R)	TBA	[24]
		14	TBA	TBA	[25]
		16	Justin Haley	TBA	[23]
		25	Tony Stewart 1	TBA	[26] [3]
			TBA 24
Toyota	Halmar Friesen Racing	52	Stewart Friesen	TBA	[27]
		62	TBA	TBA	[28]
	Tricon Garage	11	Kaden Honeycutt	Scott Zipadelli	[29] [30]
		15	Tanner Gray	TBA	[31] [32]
		17	Gio Ruggiero	TBA	[31] [32]

All other teams that ran full-time in the Truck Series in 2025 have yet to announce their 2026 plans.

Limited schedule

Manufacturer	Team	No.	Driver	Crew chief	Races	References
Chevrolet	Niece Motorsports	42	Tyler Reif	TBA	TBA	[33]
			Conner Jones		TBA	[34]
			Parker Eatmon		TBA	[35]
		45	Ricky Stenhouse Jr.	TBA	2	[36]
			Ross Chastain	Phil Gould	8	[37]
			Landen Lewis	TBA	TBA	[38]
Ford	MBM Motorsports	69	Tyler Tomassi	TBA	1	[39]
	ThorSport Racing	TBA	Matt Crafton	TBA	TBA	[40]
Toyota	Tricon Garage	1	Jimmie Johnson	TBA	1	[2]
	Hill Motorsports	56	Timmy Hill	Terry Elmore	17	[41]
TBA	Mike Harmon Racing	TBA	Nick Anglace	TBA	5	[42]

Team changes

A showtruck for a Kaulig Racing 2026 Ram at the 2025 South Point 400.

• Kaulig Racing, which has fielded entries in the Cup Series since 2020 and the Xfinity Series since 2016, will debut in the Truck Series for the first time in 2026 and be the flagship team for Ram, which is re-entering the sport in 2026 for the first time since 2012. ^[22]
• Halmar Friesen Racing will field two full-time trucks in 2025 with the No. 62 expanding from being fielded part-time to full-time. ^[43]
• Reaume Brothers Racing announced that they would rebrand to Team Reaume starting in 2026. ^[44]

Driver changes

Moving between series

• Rajah Caruth will move up to the NASCAR O'Reilly Auto Parts Series in 2026, driving full-time between JR Motorsports and Jordan Anderson Racing. ^[45]
• Landen Lewis will drive part-time for Niece Motorsports in 2026. ^[38]
• Daniel Dye will return to the Truck Series full-time after driving full-time in the Xfinity Series for one year in 2025. He will drive one of Kaulig Racing's new full-time entries. ^[23]
• Justin Haley will return to the Truck Series full-time for the first time since 2018. He competed in the NASCAR Cup Series full-time from 2022 to 2025. ^[23]
• Christian Eckes will return to the Truck Series full-time after driving full-time in the Xfinity Series for one year in 2025. He will return to McAnally–Hilgemann Racing, the team he drove for full-time in 2023 and 2024 and will drive their No. 91 truck in 2026. ^[9]
• Parker Eatmon, who drove in the CARS Tour in 2025, will make his Truck Series debut in 2026 with Niece Motorsports in their No. 42 truck which he will drive part-time. ^[35] He will share that truck with Tyler Reif and Conner Jones, who move over to the No. 42 after driving the team's No. 41 and No. 44 trucks part-time in 2025.

Rookies

See also: NASCAR Rookie of the Year § Craftsman Truck Series

• Brenden Queen, the 2025 ARCA Menards Series champion, will compete full-time for Kaulig Racing. ^[24]

Retirement

• After competing full-time in the Truck Series for 25 years and winning three championships, Matt Crafton retired from full-time racing following the 2025 season. Ty Majeski, his ThorSport Racing teammate, will move from the No. 98 truck to the No. 88 truck for 2026. ^[20] Crafton will return to ThorSport on a part-time basis in another one of their trucks in 2026. ^[40]

Crew chief changes

• Derek Smith, who was previously the crew chief of the Tricon Garage No. 5 truck driven by Toni Breidinger, will move to CR7 Motorsports to crew chief their No. 9 truck driven by Grant Enfinger. ^[4]
• Darren Fraley has replaced Blake Bainbridge as the crew chief of the No. 81 McAnally-Hilgemann Racing truck. ^[8]
• Dave Elenz, who was last a crew chief for Legacy Motor Club in the Cup Series and was also an O'Reilly Auto Parts Series crew chief for JR Motorsports for several years, will be the new crew chief of the McAnally-Hilgemann Racing No. 91 truck. ^[9]
• Todd Myers will be the new crew chief of the Reaume Brothers Racing No. 2 truck. ^[16]
• Mike Hillman Sr. will replace his son Mike Hillman Jr. as the crew chief of the Freedom Racing Enterprises No. 76 truck. ^[5]

Rule changes

• NASCAR Cup Series drivers with three or more years of experience can participate in eight (up from five) regular season races. They are still prohibited from the final race of the regular season, Chase, and the championship race. ^[46]
• Similar to the Cup Series, NASCAR changed the Chase format for the first time since the Craftsman Truck Series adapted the playoffs in 2016, the format changed on January 12, 2026. ^[47] The amount of races in the Chase would remain. The win-and-you're-in, as well as the playoff point after a driver won a stage has been removed. ^[47]

Schedule

The schedule was released on August 20, 2025. ^[48]

Notes:

• Race names and title sponsors are subject to change. Not all title sponsors/names of races have been announced for 2026. For the races where a 2026 name and title sponsor has yet to be announced, the title sponsors/names of those races in 2025 are listed.

O Oval track

R Road course

S Street course

No	Race title	Track	Location	Date	Time (ET)	TV
1	Fresh From Florida 250	O  Daytona International Speedway	Daytona Beach, Florida	February 13	7:30 pm	FS1
2	Fr8 208	O  EchoPark Speedway	Hampton, Georgia	February 21	1:30 pm
3	TBA	S  St. Petersburg street circuit	St. Petersburg, Florida	February 28	12 pm	FOX
4	Sober or Slammer 200	O  Darlington Raceway	Darlington, South Carolina	March 20	7:30 pm	FS1
5	Black's Tire 200	O  Rockingham Speedway	Rockingham, North Carolina	April 3	4:30 pm
6	Tennessee Army National Guard 250 [49]	O  Bristol Motor Speedway	Bristol, Tennessee	April 10	7:30 pm
7	SpeedyCash.com 250	O  Texas Motor Speedway	Fort Worth, Texas	May 1	8 pm
8	Mission 176 at The Glen	R  Watkins Glen International	Watkins Glen, New York	May 8	4:30 pm
9	Ecosave 200 [50]	O  Dover Motor Speedway	Dover, Delaware	May 15	5 pm
10	North Carolina Education Lottery 200	O  Charlotte Motor Speedway	Charlotte, North Carolina	May 22	7:30 pm
11	Flote 200 [51]	O  Nashville Superspeedway	Lebanon, Tennessee	May 29	8 pm
12	DQS Solutions & Staffing 250	O  Michigan International Speedway	Brooklyn, Michigan	June 6	1:30 pm
13	TBA	S  Coronado Street Course	San Diego, California	June 19	7 pm
14	LiUNA! 150	R  Lime Rock Park	Lakeville, Connecticut	July 11	1 pm
15	Window World 250	O  North Wilkesboro Speedway	North Wilkesboro, North Carolina	July 18	12:30 pm
16	TSport 200	O  Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park	Indianapolis, Indiana	July 24	8 pm
17	eero 250	O  Richmond Raceway	Richmond, Virginia	August 14	7:30 pm
18	EJP 175	O  New Hampshire Motor Speedway	Loudon, New Hampshire	August 22	1:30 pm
The Chase [47]
19	UNOH 250	O  Bristol Motor Speedway	Bristol, Tennessee	September 17	8 pm	FS1
20	Heart of Health Care 200	O  Kansas Speedway	Kansas City, Kansas	September 26	1 pm
21	EcoSave 250	R  Charlotte Motor Speedway (Roval)	Charlotte, North Carolina	October 9	5 pm	FOX
22	Craftsman 150	O  Phoenix Raceway	Phoenix, Arizona	October 17	7:30 pm	FS1
23	Love's RV Stop 225	O  Talladega Superspeedway	Lincoln, Alabama	October 23	4 pm
24	Slim Jim 200	O  Martinsville Speedway	Martinsville, Virginia	October 30	6:30 pm
25	Baptist Health 200	O  Homestead–Miami Speedway	Homestead, Florida	November 6	7:30 pm

Schedule changes

• The series will race at the St. Petersburg street circuit and the Coronado Street Course for the first time. ^{[52] [53]}
• The series will not race at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway for the first time since the series inception in 1995.
• Homestead–Miami Speedway will return to being the season finale for all three national series. ^[54]
• The series will return to Dover Motor Speedway for the first time since 2020. ^[55]
• Pocono Raceway was removed from the schedule.

See also

• 2026 NASCAR Cup Series
• 2026 NASCAR O'Reilly Auto Parts Series
• 2026 ARCA Menards Series
• 2026 ARCA Menards Series East
• 2026 ARCA Menards Series West
• 2026 NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour
• 2026 NASCAR Canada Series

References

1. "Ram is Back … Back in America's Motorsport … Ram is back in NASCAR". Jayski's Silly Season Site . NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. June 8, 2025.
2. Brooks, Amanda (January 8, 2026). "Jimmie Johnson joins TRICON Garage for San Diego Truck Series race". Jayski's Silly Season Site . Retrieved January 8, 2026.
3. Albino, Dustin (January 13, 2026). "Tony Stewart competing in Truck Series race at Daytona for Kaulig Racing". Jayski's Silly Season Site . Retrieved January 13, 2026.
4. "Derek Smith Named Crew Chief for CR7 Motorsports No. 9". TobyChristie.com. December 5, 2025.
5. "Mike Hillman Replaces Son as Crew Chief of FRE No. 76". TobyChristie.com. January 8, 2026.
6. "Tyler Ankrum returns to McAnally–Hilgemann Racing for 2026 NASCAR season". Motorsports Wire. October 30, 2025. Retrieved November 6, 2025.
7. "Daniel Hemric Back With MHR in 2026". Frontstretch. December 10, 2025. Retrieved December 10, 2025.
8. "Kris Wright Joins McAnally–Hilgemann Racing to Drive No. 81 Truck". TobyChristie.com. December 9, 2025.
9. "Christian Eckes returning to Truck Series with McAnally–Hilgemann Racing in 2026". Jayski's Silly Season Site . NASCAR Digital Media. November 20, 2025. Retrieved November 20, 2025.
10. "Dawson Sutton, Rackley W.A.R. to Return Full Time in Trucks in 2026". Frontstretch. November 1, 2025. Retrieved November 1, 2025.
11. "Spire Confirms Truck Return, Announces Promotions". Frontstretch. December 12, 2025. Retrieved December 12, 2025.
12. "Michael McDowell Running Daytona Truck Race for Spire". Frontstretch. January 9, 2026. Retrieved January 9, 2026.
13. "Layne Riggs "planning on" front row return in 2026: UPDATE". Jayski's Silly Season Site . NASCAR Digital Media. October 29, 2025. Retrieved October 29, 2025.
14. Christie, Toby (December 16, 2025). "Chandler Smith Officially Returns to FRM No. 38 Truck in 2026". TobyChristie.com. Retrieved December 16, 2025.
15. "TitleMax & Speedy Cash Back With FRM for 2026, Chandler Smith Confirmed for Truck Season". Frontstretch. November 24, 2025. Retrieved November 24, 2025.
16. "Team Reaume announces crew chief lineup". Jayski's Silly Season Site . NASCAR Digital Media. January 10, 2025. Retrieved January 10, 2025.
17. "Team Reaume signs Luke Baldwin to partial schedule in 2026". Jayski's Silly Season Site . NASCAR Digital Media. January 13, 2026. Retrieved January 13, 2026.
18. Brooks, Amanda (December 8, 2025). "Frankie Muniz returning to Team Reaume in 2026". Jayski's Silly Season Site . Retrieved December 8, 2025.
19. Hammonds, Kelli (January 15, 2026). "COLE BUTCHER TO PILOT THE NO. 13 FORD F-150 FOR THORSPORT RACING FULL-TIME IN 2026". ThorSport Racing . Retrieved January 15, 2026.
20. "Matt Crafton set to retire after 2025 season, Ty Majeski to drive No. 88 for ThorSport". Jayski's Silly Season Site . NASCAR Digital Media. August 18, 2025. Retrieved August 18, 2025.
21. Hammonds, Kelli (January 14, 2026). "JAKE GARCIA TO DRIVE NO. 98 QUANTA SERVICES/CURB RECORDS FORD F-150 WITH THORSPORT RACING IN 2026". ThorSport Racing . Retrieved January 14, 2026.
22. Miktuk, Carly (August 23, 2025). "Kaulig Racing Named Anchor Team for Ram's Return to NASCAR". Kaulig Racing . Retrieved August 23, 2025.
23. "Kaulig Racing adds Daniel Dye and Justin Haley to RAM 1500 roster". Jayski's Silly Season Site . NASCAR Digital Media. October 29, 2025. Retrieved October 29, 2025.
24. "Brenden "Butterbean" Queen named first RAM driver for Kaulig Racing". Jayski's Silly Season Site . NASCAR Digital Media. October 16, 2025. Retrieved October 16, 2025.
25. Srigley, Joseph (January 9, 2026). "RAM, Kaulig Racing Hosting Reality Competition Series for Truck Series Seat". TobyChristie.com. Retrieved January 9, 2026.
26. "Ram launches free agent driver program for a spot in 2026 NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series". Jayski's Silly Season Site . NASCAR Digital Media. November 17, 2025. Retrieved November 17, 2025.
27. "Stewart Friesen Returning to Truck Series at Daytona". TobyChristie.com. January 8, 2026.
28. "Halmar Friesen Racing Planning to Field Two Full-Time Trucks in 2026". TobyChristie.com. October 30, 2025.
29. "Kaden Honeycutt to Tricon". Frontstretch. October 31, 2025. Retrieved November 10, 2025.
30. "TRICON Signs Kaden Honeycutt to Drive No. 11 Truck in 2026". TobyChristie.com. December 5, 2025.
31. "TRICON Extends Ruggiero, Gray for 2026 Truck Series Season". Tricon Garage. December 18, 2025. Retrieved December 18, 2025.
32. "Tanner Gray, Gio Ruggiero returning to Tricon lineup in 2026". Jayski's Silly Season Site . NASCAR Digital Media. December 18, 2025. Retrieved December 18, 2025.
33. "Niece Motorsports Tabs Tyler Reif as Anchor Driver of the No. 42 Chevrolet in 2026". catchfence.com. Niece Motorsports. November 19, 2025. Retrieved November 19, 2025.
34. "Conner Jones Returning to Niece Motorsports for Partial Campaign". TobyChristie.com. December 1, 2025.
35. Rutherford, Kevin (December 3, 2025). "Parker Eatmon Debuting in Trucks With Niece". Frontstretch.
36. "Ricky Stenhouse Jr. to Drive for Niece Motorsports in NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series Debut". Niece Motorsports . Retrieved January 14, 2026.
37. "Ross Chastain Returns to Niece Motorsports for Eight Races in the 2026 Season". January 9, 2026. Retrieved January 9, 2026.
38. "Landen Lewis signed to Truck Series opportunity with Niece Motorsports". nascar.com . Niece Motorsports. October 23, 2025. Retrieved October 23, 2025.
39. "Tyler Tomassi driving Daytona Truck Series season opener for MBM Motorsports". jayski.com. MBM Motorsports. December 9, 2025. Retrieved December 9, 2025.
40. "Matt Crafton's Personal Race Shop Tour: Historic Craftsman Truck Survivor and Dirt Late Models". YouTube . Stapleton42. December 21, 2025. Retrieved December 27, 2025. (@ 6:14) I'm not fully retired. I mean, like ThorSport put out the post that said that I was not doing it full-time in the No. 88 truck, No. 88 Menards truck anymore, so everybody took that as retiring and I was actually- we're just doing it part-time. So I'm just going to run a select amount of races, 5 to 10 races, next year
41. "Timmy Hill, Hill Motorsports planning majority of NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series races in 2026". Jayski's Silly Season Site . NASCAR Digital Media. January 6, 2026. Retrieved January 6, 2026.
42. Courchesne, Shawn (November 11, 2025). "Nick Anglace, UConn Looking At Step To NASCAR Truck Series Through Unique Expanding Partnership". RaceDayCT.com. Retrieved November 11, 2025.
43. Srigley, Joseph (October 30, 2025). "Halmar Friesen Racing Planning to Field Two Full-Time Trucks in 2026". TobyChristie.com.
44. "Reaume Brothers Racing rebrands as Team Reaume for 2026 season". Jayski's Silly Season Site . NASCAR Digital Media. December 8, 2025. Retrieved December 10, 2025.
45. Srigley, Joseph (October 21, 2025). "Rajah Caruth Lands Part-Time JR Motorsports Deal for 2026". TobyChristie.com. Retrieved October 21, 2025.
46. "NASCAR to allow Cup drivers to run more lower series races UPDATE". Jayski's Silly Season Site . NASCAR Digital Media. November 1, 2025. Retrieved November 3, 2025.
47. "NASCAR announces return of 'The Chase' championship format". Jayski's Silly Season Site . NASCAR Digital Media. January 12, 2025. Retrieved January 12, 2025.
48. "NASCAR releases 2026 schedule, adding Chicagoland and shifting All-Star to Dover". NASCAR . August 20, 2025. Retrieved August 20, 2025.
49. "Tennessee Army National Guard named entitlement sponsor of spring Bristol truck race". Jayski's Silly Season Site . December 2, 2025.
50. "ECOSAVE named title sponsor of NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series race at Dover Motor Speedway". Jayski's Silly Season Site . November 18, 2025.
51. "Flote named entitlement partner for Nashville Superspeedway's NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series race". Jayski's Silly Season Site . December 3, 2025.
52. "St. Petersburg joins Craftsman Truck schedule; Rockingham, Lime Rock return". NASCAR.com. August 20, 2025. Retrieved October 17, 2025.
53. "San Diego to host NASCAR's latest cup series innovation with a street race at Naval Base Coronado". Jayski's Silly Season Site . NASCAR Digital Media. July 23, 2025. Retrieved July 23, 2025.
54. "NASCAR Championship Weekend to return to Homestead in 2026". Jayski's Silly Season Site . NASCAR Digital Media. May 7, 2025. Retrieved July 25, 2025.
55. "NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series Race". Dover Motor Speedway. August 20, 2025. Retrieved October 17, 2025.