For the second consecutive season, the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series will take the green flag at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. This race will see the largest entry list for a Truck event not held at Daytona International Speedway since 2023, with 41 teams entered for 36 spots. These 41 entries range from NASCAR Cup Series winners to the smallest teams just fighting to make the race.
Top Teams Secure Drivers
Cup Series Drivers
New Hampshire serves as the Regular Season Finale for the Truck Series. Therefore, it marks the final race this season where Cup Series drivers are eligible to compete.
First, Christopher Bell will finish his schedule for Halmar Friesen Racing’s No. 62 Toyota Tundra. Bell has piloted this entry in five races so far with one win, two top-5s and four top-10s. The No. 62 currently sits 21 points out of the Owner’s Chase, and arguably could not have found a better driver than Bell to help them make it. In six Truck and NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series starts, Bell has five wins and a worst finish of second place at the track.
Fellow Toyota driver John Hunter Nemechek will make his third start of the season in the Tricon Garage No. 5 Toyota. Nemechek opened the 2026 Truck season with a pair of top-10s in the same No. 62 Bell will pilot. The 29-year-old has a pair of top-5s in Truck competition at New Hampshire. Additionally, he also has a win at the track from the 2023 O’Reilly season.
Rounding out the Cup Series entrants, Connor Zilisch will also make his third start of the season for Spire Motorsports. He returns to their part-time No. 71 Chevrolet Silverado for the first time since a runner-up result at Watkins Glen International. This event will see Zilisch’s first ever laps at New Hampshire.
Other Rotational Rides
Connor Mosack and Tristan McKee join Connor Zilisch at Spire Motorsports for this event. Mosack will make his eighth start of the season in Spire’s No. 7 and McKee his second in the No. 77. Mosack has two top-5s and four top-10s this season while McKee secured an impressive top-10 in his debut at Richmond Raceway. Like Zilisch, the driver of the No. 77 has never raced at New Hampshire. Meanwhile, the driver of the No. 7 has two New Hampshire races but a best finish of only 26th-place in the 2023 O’Reilly race.
Like McKee, Gavan Boschele will make his second career start in Tricon’s No. 1. Boschele has never raced New Hampshire, but has five top-5s in seven ARCA Menards Series races. Also like McKee, the 18-year old scored an 8th-place finish in his debut.
Parker Eatmon and Landen Lewis will continue their partial schedules for Niece Motorsports. Eatmon has a best finish of 12th-place in four races for Niece, while Lewis has three top-5s and four top-10s in seven. Both drivers will be making their New Hampshire debuts.
Colin Braun will make his third start in Kaulig Racing’s “Free Agent” No. 25 Ram 1500. Braun has two top-10s in his two road course races, but has not raced an oval since 2011. The 37-year old does have three starts at New Hampshire, including a top-10 in the 2009 truck race.
The Battle to Make the Race
With 41 entries for 36 spots, five drivers will fail to make the race. The top-31 trucks will make it on qualifying time. From there, the five highest vehicles in Owners Points that did not make the top-31 will round out the field.
Go or Go Home
The lowest Truck in owners points is the No. 69 Ford F-150 for Motorsports Business Management. A season-altering penalty after IRP left the team with a total of -14 points earned this season. Derek White will return to the truck for the first time since St. Petersburg. In the 2025 New Hampshire race, he took the No. 69 to a 30th-place result. The 55-year old did not have to qualify his way into that race, but will have to out-qualify 10 trucks to make his second start of the season.
One entry will make it’s first start of the season. For the first time, Halmar Friesen Racing will field three trucks. Michael Christopher Jr. will pilot the No. 72 Toyota for the team. Christopher Jr. has three career Truck Series starts, including a 13th at New Hampshire in 2025 and a top-10 at IRP, all for HFR.
Dawson Sutton will move from Rackley W.A.R’s full-time No. 26 Chevrolet to their part-time No. 27. Last season, Sutton qualified 21st-place and finished in 14th. The No. 27 has failed to qualify for three races this season, two of which were with Toni Breidinger behind the wheel. Breidinger will pilot the No. 26 in Sutton’s place.
D.L. Wilson will pilot the No. 93 for Costner Motorsports. Wilson, who in the past has run for political office, will attempt to make his Truck Series debut. The 61-year old has never run an NCTS race, but has one top-10 in 39 ARCA races. Costner Motorsports has failed to qualify twice in ten attempts, all but one of which came with Costner himself behind the wheel.
The final ‘go or go home’ entry is Mason Massey. Massey will make his second consecutive start in the McAnally-Hilgemann Racing No. 20. Massey qualified 20th and finished 25th at Richmond. Notably, Massey has two top-10s in the O’Reilly series at New Hampshire in 2022 and 2023 as well as a top-20 for Young’s Motorsports in the 2025 truck race.
The Danger Zone
Any of the previously mentioned five teams qualifying will force trucks higher in points into ‘go or go home’ territory.
The next entry in danger is Timmy Hill’s No. 56. Hill has failed to qualify twice in ten attempts this season. The 33-year old has a 20th-place finish in the 2015 New Hampshire truck race, but has not attempted a race at the venue since the 2020 Cup Series race. From there, Zilisch’s No. 71 is the next lowest entry in points.
The Reaume Brothers Racing trucks are next in danger. Luke Baldwin will pilot the No. 2 while Patrick Emerling will pilot the No. 22. Baldwin will make his sixth start of the season and looks to improve on a season best finish of 21st-place. The 20-year-old has one race at New Hampshire, a 20th-place result in the 2024 Whelen Modified Tour event. Emerling, who currently leads the Modified Tour standings, returns to the Truck Series for the first time since a 28th-place result in the 2025 New Hampshire event. The 33-year-old has multiple top-20 finishes in O’Reilly at the track, and did qualify 22nd in that 2025 race.
Connor Hall will drive Niece Motorsports’ No. 4 for the second consecutive race. Richmond was a somewhat disappointing race, with the 29-year-old qualifying 31st and only improving to 28th. Another disappointing qualifying run could result in Hall missing a race for the first time in his fourth attempt.
Looking Forward
This qualifying battle will take place on Friday, August 21, at 5:05 p.m. Eastern Standard Time. The race itself will take place the next day at 1:30 p.m. EST on FS1.
As written earlier, is the regular season finale for the Truck Series. McAnally teammates Daniel Hemric and Tyler Ankrum will attempt to hold off Stewart Friesen and Jake Garcia for the final spots in the Chase. Corey Heim, who dominated the 2025 event, did not enter. Chandler Smith ran second to him that race; expect he, Layne Riggs, Kaden Honeycutt, and the rest of the field to settle it out in the final race before the Chase.
