Chandler Smith led the final 105 laps of Saturday's FaithFest 250 presented by Mercer Transportation at North Wilkesboro Speedway, his ninth career NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series win, over a field that included his own points-leading teammate.
Smith, driving the No. 38 Front Row Motorsports Ford, took the lead on lap 146 and led to the finish, winning by 8.479 seconds. NASCAR's official race report puts the average speed at 91.627 mph and the time of race at 1 hour, 42 minutes, 19 seconds across 250 laps of the 0.625-mile short track: 156.25 miles.
Layne Riggs, Smith's Front Row Motorsports teammate and the Truck Series points leader, finished second. Shane Van Gisbergen, running as a Cup regular ineligible for Truck points, was third; his finish carries no weight in the standings battle below. Christian Eckes was fourth, Landen Lewis fifth. Grant Enfinger, who won last Saturday at Lime Rock Park, finished well outside that group, in 25th.
The race split into three stages, the first two awarding bonus points along the way. Riggs won Stage 1; Ty Majeski won Stage 2. NASCAR issued a handful of pit-road penalties during the race, speeding violations and a restart infraction, all served at the tail end of the field, none touching the top 10.
The Truck Series last raced North Wilkesboro in 2023, as part of a Cup Series weekend. Before that, its only starts here came in 1995 and 1996. Sunday's Cup race at the same track carries a longer historical marker of its own.
The Gap Grew Anyway
Riggs came into North Wilkesboro leading the points standings by 44 over Kaden Honeycutt. He leaves with a 59-point lead, bigger than when he arrived, even though he finished second, not first.
Riggs collected second-place points. Honeycutt's night was quieter: 11th, a lap down for a stretch of the race. That's the whole story behind the bigger gap.
Smith's win keeps him third in the standings, where he already was. He's now at 514 points, trailing Riggs by 126 and Honeycutt by 67. He's also the driver who beat Riggs on Saturday, in an identical truck: Smith and Riggs are Front Row Motorsports teammates.
The Truck Series is back in action Friday at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park.
Related: Kaulig's five Ram trucks ground out a mid-pack day at North Wilkesboro, finishing 21st through 29th in Ram's first year back in NASCAR.