Inaugural NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Chase Field Set at New Hampshire

Layne Riggs won his sixth race of the 2026 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series season at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. His run looked very much like his regular season: He looked beatable in the early stints, but turned on the jets to pull away from the competition when it mattered the most.

“I wouldn’t say (a) dominant (victory),” Riggs said. “I thought I was off a little bit and was in trouble when (Connor) Zilisch and Chandler (Smith) got by me and I was just really really tight. I couldn’t get where I needed to be. My (team) made some excellent, excellent adjustments for me.”

Riggs securing yet another win was impressive, but the primary story of this race was the Chase battle.

Chase Battle

Riggs, Kaden Honeycutt, Chandler Smith, Gio Ruggiero, Christan Eckes, and Ty Majeski entered the race locked into the Chase. Grant Enfinger secured his spot following Stage 1, and Daniel Hemric and Ben Rhodes also made the Chase during the course of this event.

The three “protagonists” of the Chase battle were Tyler Ankrum, Stewart Friesen, and Jake Garcia.

First, Ankrum had a 20 point advantage entering the race. However, he had a major issue early on: The McAnally-Hilgemann Racing No. 18 truck had no rear brakes. A caution came out in the middle of Stage 2 during which he would come down pit road. For a majority of the race, Ankrum ran as the last car on the lead lap in around 28th-place.

Second, Garcia ran mid-pack in Stage 1, but the No. 98 team used a two-tire strategy to get track position for Stage 2. The 21-year old led a bit of the race, and earned six valuable stage points. From there, a disastrous pit stop resulting in a penalty sent them right to the back of the pack. Garcia then spent Stage 3 clawing back through the field.

“I didn’t do my job,” Garcia said simply on the penalty.

Finally, Friesen took two tires from inside the top-10 for Stage 3. He led the field to green and maintained the lead briefly, but settled into 3rd-place. This would be enough for him to make the Chase as things ran.

The Final Laps

With 35 laps to go, the situation seemed clear. Ankrum would likely finish where he was running, Friesen would play defense with two tires from third, and Garcia would play offense with four tires from 18th.

The Canadian driver-owner entered this stint with a seven point lead. With 20 to go, the advantage was three points to the No. 52 with No. 18 three points out and No. 98 four points out. But, with six laps to go, the race was sent into overtime due to a crash from Gavan Boschele. Friesen and Ankrum were tied for the final spot with Garcia one point out.

Ankrum entered the overtime with a 10 point advantage, but took the green flag as the last truck that did not pit. All three survived the first overtime wreck started by Ruggiero, with the No. 18 barely avoiding it.

The drama at @NHMS continues!

A second overtime coming up on @NASCARONFOX. pic.twitter.com/Gk30OaDaO7

— NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Trucks (@NASCAR_Trucks) August 22, 2026

The 25-year old entered the second overtime with a slightly reduced advantage of nine points to Garcia and ten to Friesen. Ankrum maintained his advantage and secured his third consecutive postseason appearance.

“It’s very rare you get to come to a place as fast as this and you have no rear breaks and we can’t fix the problem,” Ankrum said. “We’ve had adversities like this throughout the year and I thought we were done with them. Luckily, Eddie D’Hondt (The No. 18’s spotter) gave some awesome advice. He told me just to turn the left rear break off and to run all around our break to the rear and if it gets worse run all the way to the front and it was able to solve half the problem. We were back there in 27th and I was like ‘it’s over’. I didn’t really think that race would go that way for us.”

Rest of the Race

Riggs, the pole sitter, kept the lead through two early cautions, but Connor Zilisch, who piloted the No. 71 for Spire Motorsports, ran him down as the stage went on. The two young drivers battled hard, with Zilisch taking the lead on Lap 36 and going onto win the stage. Riggs, Hemric, Smith, Christopher Bell, Ruggiero, Tristian McKee, Enfinger, Garcia, and Boschele also earned stage points.

Garcia won the race off pit road and kept the lead on the restart but Smith took the lead on Lap 19 of the stage. Four laps later, an issue for Spencer Boyd brought out the race’s fourth yellow. The race restarted another five laps later, where Zilisch retook the lead and went on to sweep the stages. Also earning stage points were Smith, Riggs, Bell, Garcia, Ruggiero, Hemric, Boschelle, Connor Mosack, and Stewart Friesen.

Halmar Friesen Racing teammates Friesen and Christopher Jr. led Stage 3 to green, with the No. 52 briefly taking the lead before surrendering it to the dominant 24-year old. The driver of the No. 34 truck survived four cautions and two overtimes to claim victory.

Results