The 2026 FaithFest 250 presented by Mercer Transportation was a NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race held on Saturday, July 18, 2026, at North Wilkesboro Speedway in North Wilkesboro, North Carolina. Contested over 250 laps on the 0.625-mile-long (1.006 km) asphalt short track, it was the 15th race of the 2026 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series season, and the fourth running of the event.
Chandler Smith, driving for Front Row Motorsports, pulled off a dominating performance in the final stage, leading the final 105 laps to earn his ninth career NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series win, his second of the season, and his second consecutive win at North Wilkesboro. Layne Riggs won the first stage, leading 25 laps, while Ty Majeski won the second stage, leading 23 laps. At race's end, Riggs finished second to give FRM a 1-2 finish, and Shane van Gisbergen finished third. Christian Eckes and Landen Lewis rounded out the top five, while Gio Ruggiero, Chase Elliott, Stewart Friesen, Corey Heim, and Majeski rounded out the top ten. Report Background
North Wilkesboro Speedway is a paved oval short track in North Wilkesboro, North Carolina. The track has hosted a variety of racing events since its inaugural season of racing in 1947; primarily races sanctioned by NASCAR. It has been owned by Speedway Motorsports, LLC (SMI) since 2007 with Ronald Queen serving as director of operations. North Wilkesboro Speedway is served by U.S. Route 421.
The track has currently a capacity of 25,000 as of 2023, down from its peak of 60,000 in 1996. NWS retains a vintage aesthetic from the 1990s as part of an effort to preserve the historical value of the track. As a result, the facility retains some of its original buildings built before the track's first closure in 1996, including buildings featuring Winston Cigarettes sponsorship and suites built in the 1980s. Developers in recent years have also added other amenities as part of a revival effort that started in 2022.
On April 23, 2026, it was announced that FaithFest, a Christian music festival in the North Wilkesboro area, along with North Carolina trucking company Mercer Transportation, would assume naming rights for the 2026 race. Entry list (R) denotes rookie driver. (i) denotes driver who is ineligible for series driver points.
Driver Team Make 1 Nick Leitz Tricon Garage Toyota 2 Luke Baldwin Team Reaume Ford 4 Donovan Strauss Niece Motorsports Chevrolet 5 Corey Heim Tricon Garage Toyota 7 Chase Elliott (i) Spire Motorsports Chevrolet 9 Grant Enfinger CR7 Motorsports Chevrolet 10 Corey LaJoie 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 Clayton Green Team Reaume Ford 25 Ryan Newman Kaulig Racing Ram 26 Dawson Sutton Rackley W.A.R. Chevrolet 27 Kasey Kleyn 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 Tyler Reif Niece Motorsports Chevrolet 44 Andrés Pérez de Lara Niece Motorsports Chevrolet 45 Landen Lewis Niece Motorsports Chevrolet 52 Stewart Friesen Halmar Friesen Racing Toyota 56 Timmy Hill Hill Motorsports Toyota 62 Christopher Bell (i) Halmar Friesen Racing Toyota 71 Shane van Gisbergen (i) Spire Motorsports Chevrolet 75 Landon Huffman Henderson Motorsports Chevrolet 76 Nathan Nicholson Freedom Racing Enterprises Chevrolet 77 Carson Hocevar (i) Spire Motorsports Chevrolet 81 Kris Wright McAnally–Hilgemann Racing Chevrolet 88 Ty Majeski ThorSport Racing Ford 91 Christian Eckes McAnally–Hilgemann Racing 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, July 17, at 2:00 PM EST, and lasted for 50 minutes.
Carson Hocevar, driving for Spire Motorsports, set the fastest time in the session, with a lap of 18.639 seconds, and a speed of . Pos.DriverTeamMakeTime177Carson Hocevar (i)Spire MotorsportsChevrolet18.639120.715262Christopher Bell (i)Halmar Friesen RacingToyota18.643120.689311Kaden HoneycuttTricon GarageToyota18.716120.218Full practice results
Qualifying Qualifying was held on Friday, July 17, at 3:05 PM EST. Since North Wilkesboro Speedway is a short track, the qualifying procedure used was a single-car, two-lap system with one round. Drivers were on track by themselves and had two laps to post a qualifying time, and whoever set the fastest time won the pole.
Layne Riggs, driving for Front Row Motorsports, qualified on pole position with a lap of 18.502 seconds, and a speed of .
Two drivers failed to qualify: Landon Huffman and Timmy Hill.
Qualifying results Pos.DriverTeamMakeTime134Layne RiggsFront Row MotorsportsFord18.502121.608277Carson Hocevar (i)Spire MotorsportsChevrolet18.518121.503362Christopher Bell (i)Halmar Friesen RacingToyota18.571121.15745Corey HeimTricon GarageToyota18.608120.916517Gio RuggieroTricon GarageToyota18.615120.87067Chase Elliott (i)Spire MotorsportsChevrolet18.627120.792711Kaden HoneycuttTricon GarageToyota18.658120.59289Grant EnfingerCR7 MotorsportsChevrolet18.668120.527938Chandler SmithFront Row MotorsportsFord18.697120.3401052Stewart FriesenHalmar Friesen RacingToyota18.702120.3081113Cole Butcher (R)ThorSport RacingFord18.721120.186121Nick LeitzTricon GarageToyota18.734120.1021316Justin HaleyKaulig RacingRam18.753119.9811415Tanner GrayTricon GarageToyota18.791119.7381598Jake GarciaThorSport RacingFord18.807119.6361645Landen LewisNiece MotorsportsChevrolet18.839119.4331726Dawson SuttonRackley W.A.R.Chevrolet18.857119.3191891Christian EckesMcAnally–Hilgemann RacingChevrolet18.858119.3131971Shane van Gisbergen (i)Spire MotorsportsChevrolet18.859119.3062044Andrés Pérez de LaraNiece MotorsportsChevrolet18.868119.2502119Daniel HemricMcAnally–Hilgemann RacingChevrolet18.871119.2312299Ben RhodesThorSport RacingFord18.894119.0852312Brenden Queen (R)Kaulig RacingRam18.894119.0852418Tyler AnkrumMcAnally–Hilgemann RacingChevrolet18.896119.0732525Ryan NewmanKaulig RacingRam18.910118.9852681Kris WrightMcAnally–Hilgemann RacingChevrolet18.978118.5582788Ty MajeskiThorSport RacingFord18.998118.4342814Mini Tyrrell (R)Kaulig RacingRam19.019118.303292Luke BaldwinTeam ReaumeFord19.101117.7953042Tyler ReifNiece MotorsportsChevrolet19.119117.6843127Kasey KleynRackley W.A.R.Chevrolet19.123117.659Qualified by owner's points324Donovan StraussNiece MotorsportsChevrolet19.221117.0593376Nathan NicholsonFreedom Racing EnterprisesChevrolet19.260116.8223410Corey LaJoieKaulig RacingRam19.401115.9733522Clayton GreenTeam ReaumeFord19.550115.0903633Frankie MunizTeam ReaumeFord19.619114.685Failed to qualify3775Landon HuffmanHenderson MotorsportsChevrolet19.496115.4083856Timmy HillHill MotorsportsToyota——Official qualifying resultsOfficial starting lineup
Race
Race results
Stage Results Stage One Laps: 70 Pos.DriverTeamMakePts134Layne RiggsFront Row MotorsportsFord10277Carson Hocevar (i)Spire MotorsportsChevrolet0338Chandler SmithFront Row MotorsportsFord8462Christopher Bell (i)Halmar Friesen RacingToyota057Chase Elliott (i)Spire MotorsportsChevrolet065Corey HeimTricon GarageToyota5711Kaden HoneycuttTricon GarageToyota4891Christian EckesMcAnally–Hilgemann RacingChevrolet3917Gio RuggieroTricon GarageToyota2109Grant EnfingerCR7 MotorsportsChevrolet1 Stage Two Laps: 70 Pos.DriverTeamMakePts188Ty MajeskiThorSport RacingFord10238Chandler SmithFront Row MotorsportsFord9399Ben RhodesThorSport RacingFord8491Christian EckesMcAnally–Hilgemann RacingChevrolet7552Stewart FriesenHalmar Friesen RacingToyota6619Daniel HemricMcAnally–Hilgemann RacingChevrolet5744Andrés Pérez de LaraNiece MotorsportsChevrolet4817Gio RuggieroTricon GarageToyota395Corey HeimTricon GarageToyota2107Chase Elliott (i)Spire MotorsportsChevrolet0
Final Stage Results Stage Three Laps: 110 FinStDriverTeamMakeLapsLedStatusPts1938Chandler SmithFront Row MotorsportsFord250105Running732134Layne RiggsFront Row MotorsportsFord25025Running4531971Shane van Gisbergen (i)Spire MotorsportsChevrolet2500Running041891Christian EckesMcAnally–Hilgemann RacingChevrolet2500Running4351645Landen LewisNiece MotorsportsChevrolet2500Running326517Gio RuggieroTricon GarageToyota2500Running36767Chase Elliott (i)Spire MotorsportsChevrolet2501Running081052Stewart FriesenHalmar Friesen RacingToyota2500Running35945Corey HeimTricon GarageToyota2500Running35102788Ty MajeskiThorSport RacingFord25023Running3711711Kaden HoneycuttTricon GarageToyota2490Running30123042Tyler ReifNiece MotorsportsChevrolet2490Running25131598Jake GarciaThorSport RacingFord24922Running24142299Ben RhodesThorSport RacingFord2490Running3115362Christopher Bell (i)Halmar Friesen RacingToyota2490Running0161726Dawson SuttonRackley W.A.R.Chevrolet2490Running2117121Nick LeitzTricon GarageToyota2490Running20181415Tanner GrayTricon GarageToyota2490Running19192418Tyler AnkrumMcAnally–Hilgemann RacingChevrolet2490Running18202119Daniel HemricMcAnally–Hilgemann RacingChevrolet2490Running22212312Brenden Queen (R)Kaulig RacingRam2490Running16221113Cole Butcher (R)ThorSport RacingFord2490Running15232044Andrés Pérez de LaraNiece MotorsportsChevrolet2480Running18242525Ryan NewmanKaulig RacingRam2480Running132589Grant EnfingerCR7 MotorsportsChevrolet2480Running13261316Justin HaleyKaulig RacingRam2480Running1127277Carson Hocevar (i)Spire MotorsportsChevrolet24874Running0282814Mini Tyrrell (R)Kaulig RacingRam2480Running9293410Corey LaJoieKaulig RacingRam2470Running8302681Kris WrightMcAnally–Hilgemann RacingChevrolet2470Running7313522Clayton GreenTeam ReaumeFord2460Running6323633Frankie MunizTeam ReaumeFord2460Running533292Luke BaldwinTeam ReaumeFord2450Running4343376Nathan NicholsonFreedom Racing EnterprisesChevrolet2420Accident3353127Kasey KleynRackley W.A.R.Chevrolet2030Electrical236324Donovan StraussNiece MotorsportsChevrolet1340Overheating1Official race results
Race statistics
Lead changes: 7 among 6 different drivers Cautions/Laps: 4 for 34 laps Red flags: 0 Time of race: 1 hour, 42 minutes and 19 seconds Average speed:
Standings after the race
Drivers' Championship standings Pos Driver Points 1 Layne Riggs 640 2 Kaden Honeycutt 581 (–59) 3 Chandler Smith 514 (–126) 4 Christian Eckes 483 (–157) 5 Gio Ruggiero 467 (–173) 6 Ty Majeski 400 (–240) 7 Ben Rhodes 386 (–254) 8 Daniel Hemric 376 (–264) 9 Grant Enfinger 356 (–284) 1 10 Stewart Friesen 336 (–304)Official driver's standings
Manufacturers' Championship standings Pos Manufacturer Points 1 Toyota 577 2 Ford 560 (–17) 3 Chevrolet 558 (–19) 4 Ram 378 (–199) Note: Only the first 10 positions are included for the driver standings.
Notes
References