The 2026 Buckle Up South Carolina 200 was a NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race held on March 20, 2026, at Darlington Raceway in Darlington, South Carolina. Contested over 157 laps—extended from 147 laps due to a double overtime finish on the egg-shaped oval, it was the fourth race of the 2026 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series season, and the seventh running of the event.
After chaos in the late stages, Corey Heim, driving for Tricon Garage, took advantage of fresher tires, restarting from ninth position on the final restart and made a last lap, final corner pass on Ross Chastain to earn his 24th career NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series win, and his first of the season. Chastain finished second, and Christian Eckes finished third. Pole-sitter Kaden Honeycutt and Connor Mosack rounded out the top five, while Christopher Bell, Grant Enfinger, Gio Ruggiero, Daniel Hemric, and William Sawalich rounded out the top ten.
This was the first of three races for the Triple Truck Challenge. Heim won the race and was granted the $50K bonus cash.
Report
Background
Darlington Raceway is a race track built for NASCAR racing located near Darlington, South Carolina. It is nicknamed "The Lady in Black" and "The Track Too Tough to Tame" by many NASCAR fans and drivers and advertised as "A NASCAR Tradition." It is of a unique, somewhat egg-shaped design, an oval with the ends of very different configurations, a condition which supposedly arose from the proximity of one end of the track to a minnow pond the owner refused to relocate. This situation makes it very challenging for the crews to set up their cars' handling in a way that is effective at both ends.
Since 2015, this weekend has served as a retro-themed weekend. From 2015 to 2023, the race has hosted NASCAR's Throwback weekend, which featured cars sporting paint schemes that pay homage to past teams and drivers. In 2024, the theme was changed to Alumni Weekend, where former drivers, crew chiefs, mechanics, and other significant figures are invited as guests. Some teams still use retro schemes, while the main focus has shifted to legends themselves.
Entry list (R) denotes rookie driver. (i) denotes driver who is ineligible for series driver points.
Driver Team Make 1 William Sawalich (i) Tricon Garage Toyota 2 Clayton Green Team Reaume Ford 5 Corey Heim Tricon Garage Toyota 7 Connor Mosack Spire Motorsports Chevrolet 9 Grant Enfinger CR7 Motorsports Chevrolet 10 A. J. Allmendinger (i) Kaulig Racing Ram 11 Kaden Honeycutt Tricon Garage Toyota 12 Brenden Queen (R) Kaulig Racing Ram 13 Cole Butcher (R) ThorSport Racing Ford 14 Mini Tyrrell (R) Kaulig Racing Ram 15 Tanner Gray Tricon Garage Toyota 16 Justin Haley Kaulig Racing Ram 17 Gio Ruggiero Tricon Garage Toyota 18 Tyler Ankrum McAnally–Hilgemann Racing Chevrolet 19 Daniel Hemric McAnally–Hilgemann Racing Chevrolet 22 Josh Reaume Team Reaume Ford 25 Corey LaJoie (i) Kaulig Racing Ram 26 Dawson Sutton Rackley W.A.R. Chevrolet 33 Frankie Muniz Team Reaume Ford 34 Layne Riggs Front Row Motorsports Ford 38 Chandler Smith Front Row Motorsports Ford 42 Conner Jones Niece Motorsports Chevrolet 44 Andrés Pérez de Lara Niece Motorsports Chevrolet 45 Ross Chastain (i) Niece Motorsports Chevrolet 52 Stewart Friesen Halmar Friesen Racing Toyota 56 Timmy Hill Hill Motorsports Toyota 62 Christopher Bell (i) Halmar Friesen Racing Toyota 76 Spencer Boyd Freedom Racing Enterprises Chevrolet 77 Carson Hocevar (i) Spire Motorsports Chevrolet 81 Kris Wright McAnally–Hilgemann Racing Chevrolet 88 Ty Majeski ThorSport Racing Ford 90 Justin Carroll TC Motorsports Toyota 91 Christian Eckes McAnally–Hilgemann Racing Chevrolet 93 Caleb Costner Costner Motorsports Chevrolet 98 Jake Garcia ThorSport Racing Ford 99 Ben Rhodes ThorSport Racing FordOfficial entry list
Practice The first and only practice session was held on Friday, March 20, at 3:30 PM EST, and would last for 50 minutes.
Kaden Honeycutt, driving for Tricon Garage, set the fastest time in the session, with a lap of 29.459 seconds, and a speed of .
Practice results Pos.DriverTeamMakeTime111Kaden HoneycuttTricon GarageToyota29.459166.930288Ty MajeskiThorSport RacingFord29.712165.50935Corey HeimTricon GarageToyota29.764165.220Full practice results
Qualifying Qualifying was held on Friday, March 20, at 4:35 PM EST. Since Darlington Raceway is an intermediate racetrack, the qualifying procedure used was a single-car, one-lap system with one round. Drivers were on track by themselves and had one lap to post a qualifying time, and whoever set the fastest time won the pole.
Kaden Honeycutt, driving for Tricon Garage, qualified on pole position with a lap of 28.848 seconds, and a speed of .
No drivers failed to qualify.
Qualifying results Pos.DriverTeamMakeTime111Kaden HoneycuttTricon GarageToyota28.848170.466277Carson Hocevar (i)Spire MotorsportsChevrolet28.868170.348315Tanner GrayTricon GarageToyota28.943169.906417Gio RuggieroTricon GarageToyota28.958169.81855Corey HeimTricon GarageToyota28.971169.742662Christopher Bell (i)Halmar Friesen RacingToyota28.978169.701788Ty MajeskiThorSport RacingFord28.992169.619834Layne RiggsFront Row MotorsportsFord29.037169.3561945Ross Chastain (i)Niece MotorsportsChevrolet29.153168.682107Connor MosackSpire MotorsportsChevrolet29.172168.573119Grant EnfingerCR7 MotorsportsChevrolet29.199168.4171238Chandler SmithFront Row MotorsportsFord29.234168.2151352Stewart FriesenHalmar Friesen RacingToyota29.263168.0481419Daniel HemricMcAnally–Hilgemann RacingChevrolet29.282167.9391599Ben RhodesThorSport RacingFord29.300167.8361691Christian EckesMcAnally–Hilgemann RacingChevrolet29.388167.3341713Cole Butcher (R)ThorSport RacingFord29.435167.0661818Tyler AnkrumMcAnally–Hilgemann RacingChevrolet29.456166.9471942Conner JonesNiece MotorsportsChevrolet29.485166.7832025Corey LaJoie (i)Kaulig RacingRam29.489166.7602144Andrés Pérez de LaraNiece MotorsportsChevrolet29.501166.6932210A. J. Allmendinger (i)Kaulig RacingRam29.517166.6022398Jake GarciaThorSport RacingFord29.520166.5852426Dawson SuttonRackley W.A.R.Chevrolet29.522166.5742516Justin HaleyKaulig RacingRam29.553166.3992656Timmy HillHill MotorsportsToyota29.694165.609271William Sawalich (i)Tricon GarageToyota29.702165.5652881Kris WrightMcAnally–Hilgemann RacingChevrolet29.740165.3532912Brenden Queen (R)Kaulig RacingRam29.905164.4413014Mini Tyrrell (R)Kaulig RacingRam30.464161.4233122Josh ReaumeTeam ReaumeFord30.955158.863Qualified by owner's points3276Spencer BoydFreedom Racing EnterprisesChevrolet31.125157.995332Clayton GreenTeam ReaumeFord31.193157.6513490Justin CarrollTC MotorsportsToyota31.319157.0173593Caleb CostnerCostner MotorsportsChevrolet31.713155.0663633Frankie MunizTeam ReaumeFord——Official qualifying resultsOfficial starting lineup
Race
Race results
Stage results Stage One Laps: 45 Pos.DriverTeamMakePts191Christian EckesMcAnally–Hilgemann RacingChevrolet10211Kaden HoneycuttTricon GarageToyota935Corey HeimTricon GarageToyota8434Layne RiggsFront Row MotorsportsFord751William Sawalich (i)Tricon GarageToyota0688Ty MajeskiThorSport RacingFord5777Carson Hocevar (i)Spire MotorsportsChevrolet0845Ross Chastain (i)Niece MotorsportsChevrolet0915Tanner GrayTricon GarageToyota21019Daniel HemricMcAnally–Hilgemann RacingChevrolet1 Stage Two Laps: 45 Pos.DriverTeamMakePts111Kaden HoneycuttTricon GarageToyota10245Ross Chastain (i)Niece MotorsportsChevrolet0388Ty MajeskiThorSport RacingFord845Corey HeimTricon GarageToyota7591Christian EckesMcAnally–Hilgemann RacingChevrolet6618Tyler AnkrumMcAnally–Hilgemann RacingChevrolet5777Carson Hocevar (i)Spire MotorsportsChevrolet0834Layne RiggsFront Row MotorsportsFord3998Jake GarciaThorSport RacingFord2101William Sawalich (i)Tricon GarageToyota0
Final Stage results Stage Three Laps: 67 FinStDriverTeamMakeLapsLedStatusPts155Corey HeimTricon GarageToyota15728Running702945Ross Chastain (i)Niece MotorsportsChevrolet15735Running031691Christian EckesMcAnally–Hilgemann RacingChevrolet1577Running504111Kaden HoneycuttTricon GarageToyota15759Running525107Connor MosackSpire MotorsportsChevrolet1570Running326662Christopher Bell (i)Halmar Friesen RacingToyota1576Running07119Grant EnfingerCR7 MotorsportsChevrolet1570Running308417Gio RuggieroTricon GarageToyota1570Running2991419Daniel HemricMcAnally–Hilgemann RacingChevrolet1570Running2910271William Sawalich (i)Tricon GarageToyota1570Running0112210A. J. Allmendinger (i)Kaulig RacingRam1570Running012834Layne RiggsFront Row MotorsportsFord1570Running3513315Tanner GrayTricon GarageToyota1570Running26142656Timmy HillHill MotorsportsToyota1573Running23152516Justin HaleyKaulig RacingRam1570Running22161942Conner JonesNiece MotorsportsChevrolet1573Running21171238Chandler SmithFront Row MotorsportsFord1570Running20183633Frankie MunizTeam ReaumeFord1570Running19192426Dawson SuttonRackley W.A.R.Chevrolet1570Running18202912Brenden Queen (R)Kaulig RacingRam1570Running17212025Corey LaJoie (i)Kaulig RacingRam1570Running022277Carson Hocevar (i)Spire MotorsportsChevrolet15716Running0232398Jake GarciaThorSport RacingFord1570Running16241818Tyler AnkrumMcAnally–Hilgemann RacingChevrolet1570Running18251352Stewart FriesenHalmar Friesen RacingToyota1570Running12263490Justin CarrollTC MotorsportsToyota1570Running11273593Caleb CostnerCostner MotorsportsChevrolet1550Running10281713Cole Butcher (R)ThorSport RacingFord1530Running929332Clayton GreenTeam ReaumeFord1480Running8303276Spencer BoydFreedom Racing EnterprisesChevrolet1470Running731788Ty MajeskiThorSport RacingFord1230DVP19322144Andrés Pérez de LaraNiece MotorsportsChevrolet1220Accident5332881Kris WrightMcAnally–Hilgemann RacingChevrolet1110Suspension4343014Mini Tyrrell (R)Kaulig RacingRam930Steering3353122Josh ReaumeTeam ReaumeFord510Suspension2361599Ben RhodesThorSport RacingFord20Accident1Official race results
Race statistics
Lead changes: 14 among 8 different drivers Cautions/Laps: 9 for 47 laps Red flags: 0 Time of race: 2 hours, 12 minutes and 39 seconds Average speed:
Standings after the race
Drivers' Championship standings Pos Driver Points 1 Chandler Smith 172 4 2 Kaden Honeycutt 139 (–33) 2 3 Layne Riggs 131 (–41) 4 Gio Ruggiero 127 (–45) 2 5 Ty Majeski 121 (–51) 3 6 Christian Eckes 119 (–53) 5 7 Ben Rhodes 119 (–53) 13 8 Corey Heim 114 (–58) 2 9 Andrés Pérez de Lara 90 (–82) 10 Justin Haley 89 (–83)Official driver's standings
Manufacturers' Championship standings Pos Manufacturer Points 1 Ford 168 1 2 Toyota 156 (–12) 1 3 Chevrolet 155 (–13) 4 Ram 111 (–57) Note: Only the first 10 positions are included for the driver standings.
References