As the race was starting to come to a climactic conclusion, we saw a split in strategy. Prior to the end of the second stage, a number of drivers came down pit road with an attempt to stretch their fuel to the end of the race. Meanwhile, the two dominant trucks of the day, stage winners Layne Riggs and Kaden Honeycutt, pitted, which cost them a lot of track position. Both drivers started back in the pack, making them especially susceptible to get caught up in someone else’s mess. The inevitable happened when leader Stewart Friesen, on that alternate strategy, got spun by Gio Ruggiero, who plowed through the leaders to take the race lead.
The caution flew with 29 laps to go when Chandler Smith’s No. 38 Ford F150 stalled on track. During this caution period, Thomas Annunziata came to a stop at the pit road entrance as his No. 1 Tricon Toyota burst into flames after an oil line broke. This extended the caution period allowed for Ruggiero, Landen Lewis, Grant Enfinger, and Cole Bitcher to further save fuel as Honeycutt and Riggs felt their advantage start to slip away.
After the restart, a number of drivers got off course. But what ultimately caused the caution flag with 9 laps to go was the No. 10 of Corey Lajoie stalling on track. Gio Ruggiero led Grant Enfinger and Landen Lewis but, as the caution flag waived, Stage 2 winner Kaden Honeycutt, one of the stronger trucks of the day, found himself in the 7th position, his window of opportunity for a race win reopening ever so slightly.
During the caution, Cole Butcher pitted despite previously believing that they could make it to the end of the race. He did receive some minor damage in the carnage in the preceeding laps.
The race restarted with three laps to go. Gio Ruggiero got off to a bad restart, handing the race lead over to Grant Enfinger. Landen Lewis slipped by to take 2nd. Lewis, a part-timer, had never won in his limited starts and he and leader Enfinger pulled away from the rest of the pack as the field took two to go. Meanwhile, Kaden Honeycutt with a superior truck spun teammate Gio Ruggiero for 3rd. He set his sights on the race leaders as the field took the white flag. The race was hereby official, the next flag would end the race. Behind the race for the lead, several trucks went off the course. Lewis tried to make a move on Enfinger but Enfinger fended him off. Honeycutt tried his best to get there but ultimately ran out of time.
Grant Enfinger went on to score his first win of the 2026 season, snapping an over 40 race win drought. It also marks Enfinger’s first win on a road course. Rounding out the top 5 were Landen Lewis, Kaden Honeycutt, Parker Kligerman, and Christian Eckes.
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