Gifts for NASCAR Fans
We are mere weeks away from the start of the 2026 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series. After a transformative offseason, there are many questions facing the drivers of NASCAR’s third-highest National Series. Here are five hot takes ahead of the coming NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series season.
Daniel Hemric took a step down once again in 2025, opting to race in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series with McAnally–Hilgemann Racing.
In spite of the nearly seven-year gap between his most recent start in the series, this move quickly paid off, with the former NASCAR Xfinity Series Champion scoring his second career NASCAR National Series win just five races into the season.
But from there, his efforts to keep winning fell flat, thanks in part to 2025 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Champion Corey Heim, with Hemric finishing second behind Heim three times en route to an effort that fell short of the Championship Four.
With Heim now gone, if Hemric can take yet another step in the direction of consistency, he could play a role similar to other former Cup Series regulars like Johnny Benson and Mike Skinner, serving as a savvy veteran atop the throne of the Truck Series.
Much like Daniel Hemric, after his time in a higher level came to an end, Chandler Smith took a step back down to the Craftsman Truck Series.
Driving a new second truck for Front Row Motorsports, Smith proved that he can go toe to toe with the best the Truck Series has to offer. This included two wins, one win short of his career single-season high in the series.
Though Smith flexed his muscle in 2026, his efforts were somewhat overlooked, thanks in part to his teammate Layne Riggs trading blows with Corey Heim in the playoffs.
Riggs had another impressive season, riding the high of late-season success in 2024 into a drastically improved junior season.
Now with Heim out of the way, Smith and Riggs could not only have a close battle in-house, but FRM as a whole could lead the way in the Craftsman Truck Series.
If this were the case, the only question left is whether or not the two drivers could get in each other’s way in pursuit of the championship.
Ram Trucks is making its return to the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series competition in 2025 with a stacked roster of talent.
This includes former Truck Series playoff driver Daniel Dye, former Cup Series driver Justin Haley, and the reigning ARCA Menards Series Champion Brenden Butterbean Queen.
For the most part, fans are viewing Haley, a former Truck Series standout in his own right, as the ring leader of the team; after all, Dye is not known to be a threat to win week in and week out, and Queen is a rookie.
But, this same time last year, when Queen announced his first full-time ARCA effort, fans were, much like this year, wondering how long it would take the former CARS Tour Champion to adjust to the next level.
Winning right out of the gate at Daytona is one thing, but the season Queen put together proved that he might just be one of the most overlooked talents in the garage area.
Even if Justin Haley has winning experience, if he gets the experience he had in the ARCA Menards Series, Queen very well could be the star of Ram’s return to NASCAR.
Since transforming from Team DGR to TRICON Garage in 2023, Toyota’s top NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series team has dominated, winning 22 races over the past three seasons.
Of course, it’s easy to assume this was achieved through TRICON fielding with five full-time trucks, top Toyota developmental talent, and a rotation of part-time Toyota drivers in their No. 1 truck. But you would be wrong.
Corey Heim won 21 of the team’s 22 races during these three years, and Giovanni Ruggiero won that lone 22nd race in the fall after missing the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series playoffs, though that doesn’t mean he didn’t walk away without any major hardware, taking home Rookie of the Year honors.
It’s hard to imagine a world where TRICON runs through the No. 17 truck, but by this time next season, that very well could be reality. With his first year behind him and Corey Heim gone, Ruggiero has a chance to step up and show that the No. 11 truck is no longer the class of the field or the TRICON race shop.
But that will be easier said than done.
Each of these entries has one thing in common. Corey Heim.
Heim was the class of the field and may have had the greatest season in Truck Series history last year, shattering the late Greg Biffle’s single-season wins record, and winning on all types of circuits.
Though the legacy of the No. 11 could be on the ropes, TRICON and Toyota are not putting the brakes on entering this season, with Kaden Honeycutt, a former CARS Tour Champion, taking over the reins upon Heims’ departure.
Honeycutt had a quiet, unstable, yet very successful year with Niece Motorsports and Halmar Freisen Racing, ending the season looking like he could upset Heim at Phoenix Raceway.
This take may detract from the previous one, though; they could work concurrently, as the name of the game for Honeycutt has been consistency, as he is still winless in his young career.
Even in a world where the No. 17 team, Layne Riggs, or even Daniel Hemric, wins the most races during the 2026 season, Honeycutt’s consistent ways could take the No. 11 to back-to-back titles.
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