Jake Garcia earns first career NASCAR Truck Series win at Bristol; Layne Riggs, Chandler Smith falter

In the first race of the 2026 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Chase, a non-Chase driver fired the first shot. 

No. 1 seed Layne Riggs swept the stages and dominated early, but a slow pit stop and a subsequent loose wheel took him out of contention. Riggs' Front Row Motorsports teammate and fellow title contender Chandler Smith ran right behind Riggs but had to make multiple green flag pit stops, taking him out of contention. 

When the dust settled, it was 21-year-old Jake Garcia of Monroe, Ga., earning his first career NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series victory in his 94th start, beating Bayley Currey to the checkered flag by 1.305 seconds. The win is the first for ThorSport racing since Ty Majeski won the 2024 Truck Series title race at Phoenix, snapping a 43-race drought for the storied organization. 

"I've been pushing for it for 94 starts," Garcia told Fox Sports. "Really proud of all my guys. They brought an amazing truck. Had some adversity on that last restart, fortunately the truck was fast enough to overcome that.

"ThorSport Racing's a really strong team. Proud of all my guys on the 988 team for being able to win that winless streak. Feels really good to be the one to get it done."

Currey, Stewart Friesen, Justin Haley and Tristan McKee, now the youngest driver in series history to score a top five, rounded out the top five, with Gio Ruggiero, William Sawalich, Kaden Honeycutt, Majeski and Grant Enfinger completing the top 10. 

Riggs finished 32nd and leads Honeycutt three points going into the Sept. 26 Chase race at Kansas Speedway. Smith, meanwhile, finished 24th and is third in the standings, 30 points back of Riggs. 

Notable results

Other notable finishers include Ben Rhodes in 11th, Daniel Hemric in 12th, Tyler Ankrum in 13th, Corey LaJoie in 18th and Regan Smith in 23rd.

The Truck Series Chase will continue at Kansas on Sept. 26.