Christopher Bell Wins Caution-Filled Truck Race at Bristol

Christoper Bell won the Tennessee Army National Guard 250 at Bristol Motor Speedway on Friday, evading a slew of cautions and prevailing in a field full of veteran drivers. The race was Bell’s first NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series win since 2017. Tonight, Bell was driving the No. 62 Toyota, a part-time second entry for Halmar Friesen Racing.

“That was just so awesome to be able to win a Truck race,” Bell said. “It’s a lot of fun racing with this group, this HMR group. I got the unfortunate call last year to drive for Stewart [Friesen] when he got hurt and went out to Watkins Glen and almost got it.”

Chandler Smith Finishes Second

Chandler Smith finished runner-up for Front Row Motorsports, his third top-five in the first six races of the season. After winning the April race at Bristol in 2025, Smith was the highest-finishing Truck Series regular in the field on Friday.

“Maybe if I had ten more laps [I could’ve caught Bell],” Smith said after the race. “We struggled all day on our initial fire-off speed for 15 or 20 laps. Just couldn’t really…I don’t know, my truck just got so much better the longer I ran.”

Smith reclaimed the Truck Series points lead with his second-place finish after relinquishing it due to a disqualification at Rockingham Speedway. He holds a narrow one-point advantage over Tricon Garage’s Kaden Honeycutt, with third-place Layne Riggs four points back.

Rounding out the top five was Gio Ruggiero in third, Ross Chastain in fourth, and Christian Eckes in fifth. Chastain was the second best Cup Series driver after Bell in a field that was full of them. Kyle Busch was the next highest eighth, with Carson Hocevar in ninth.

Big Days for Young Racers

Dawson Sutton notched his first top-ten of the year with a seventh-place finish for Rackley W.A.R. in the No. 26 Chevrolet. Kaulig Racing’s Brenden Queen also ran strong in the No. 12 Ram, walking away with the second top-ten of his rookie Truck Series season.

Originally not slated to make his series debut until later in the year, Carson Ferguson ran his first ever Truck Series race in the No. 25 Kaulig Racing Ram. Having finished runner-up to Mini Tyrrell in Kaulig’s off-season competition show for the No. 14 ride, Ferguson turned heads with a 21st place run, only two spots behind Tyrrell.

Carving Through the Chaos

The race’s first two stages were won by Christian Eckes and Ben Rhodes, each of whom fended off a litany of Cup Series veterans to maintain the lead on the long run. The race’s first caution came out on Lap 16, when Andrés Pérez de Lara spun following contact from Kris Wright.

Another caution was thrown on Lap 118, when Frankie Muniz and Tyler Reif made contact entering Turn 3. Both trucks were totaled in the incident, including Muniz’s fan-favorite Team Reaume machine promoting the revival of his hit TV series, Malcolm in the Middle.

Eckes vs. Heim

The leaders make contact! @CoreyHeim_ hits the wall in Turn 1. pic.twitter.com/wwMQ7ExbRW

— NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Trucks (@NASCAR_Trucks) April 11, 2026

On Lap 180, a three-truck wreck was kicked off by contact between Christian Eckes and Corey Heim. Moments prior, Heim’s No. 1 Tricon Garage Toyota nudged Eckes’ No. 91 McAnally-Hilgemann Racing Chevrolet up the track for the lead. Eckes expressed frustration at Heim earlier in the race over his radio, but neither he nor Heim felt the contact was intentional.

“I don’t think he did it on purpose or anything,” Heim said. “I think he was just trying to get behind me and then ship me, which would’ve been totally fine because that’s what I did to him. And he just misjudged it.” Heim was credited with a 30th-place finish, his first DNF since May 2024.

All the same, two other top-contending trucks were damaged in the wreck: Kaden Honeycutt and Layne Riggs. With both drivers top contenders for the Truck Series championship (and Heim the incidental points leader entering the race), the wreck proved costly to multiple top teams.

Race Results