DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Just when the Fresh From Florida 250 felt like it needed a cup of Cuban coffee, it detonated into one of the wildest finishes Daytona has delivered in years.
Chandler Smith charged from the bottom lane and edged Gio Ruggiero and John Hunter Nemechek in a four-wide drag race to the stripe, winning Friday night’s season-opening event for the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series in a photo finish that had spotters screaming and fans on their feet.
For 90 laps, the race simmered. The draft locked in. Drivers played nice. It felt methodical.
Then Daytona remembered it was Daytona.
With the field stacked two-by-two — then three-by-three — Smith saw daylight on the bottom entering the tri-oval and never hesitated. While the outside lanes wobbled and shuffled air, Smith glued the No. 38 to the yellow line, found clean momentum and blasted forward as the pack fanned out four-wide behind him.
At the stripe, it was Smith by inches.
The finish capped a redemption arc less than 24 hours in the making. Smith narrowly missed transferring into the Daytona 500 in Thursday night’s Duels, a gut punch for any driver with Cup aspirations. Instead of sulking, he responded the only way racers know how — by winning.
And not just winning.
Winning at Daytona.
Behind him, Ruggiero and Nemechek threw everything they had at the draft, but the bottom lane simply carried more steam. The margin was razor thin. The energy was anything but.
The race wasn’t without attrition. Internet personality turned racer Cleetus McFarland saw his night end early and Tony Stewart also failed to see the checkered flag, victims of the kind of superspeedway chaos that eventually finds everyone.
What began as a patient chess match ended in controlled mayhem — trucks scattering across the tri-oval, engines at full song, 190 mph courage required.
When Smith climbed from his truck, the emotion hit. He celebrated on pit road with his family, a moment equal parts relief and joy. Daytona has a way of testing resolve. Friday night, it rewarded it.
The crowd? Loud. Engaged. Very real. The grandstands were packed for a typical truck crowd and pulsing when the field roared to the line, a reminder that Speedweeks still carries its old-school electricity at times.
We are so back.
Stick with EasySportz all weekend for continuing coverage from Daytona Beach, where the racing is fast, the finishes are tighter than a lug nut and the season has officially come alive.
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