It has been an eventful month for Chandler Smith. Just two weeks after son Chandler Jr. was born, the new father got to punch his ticket to the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series‘ Round of 8 by dominating Saturday’s Worldwide Express 250 at Richmond Raceway. It marked his third win of the year.
He and his Toyota allies dominated the race as if to hoping to live up to its previous name ToyotaCare 250, with all 250 laps being led by Tundras. After Smith led the opening lap, pole sitter Ty Majeski cleared him for the lead and held it for the remainder of Stage #1. Smith’s Kyle Busch Motorsports team-mate and defending winner John Hunter Nemechek led a lap between stages before Smith reclaimed it. Nemechek’s 2021 victory also saw a Toyota sweep of the laps led counter.
Smith would not lose the lead at any point for the rest of the race. The 176 total laps led are the most in Smith’s Truck career by a wide margin (his previous best was 71 at Knoxville in 2021) and the third highest in a Richmond Truck race behind Ted Musgrave‘s 199 in 2005 and Jack Sprague‘s 196 in 2001.
“God is so good,” said Smith. “I’m a Daddy now. My wife had such an amazing labour and delivery. We have an amazing and beautiful baby boy at home. Honey, this is for you and Jr., this is for you as well. I can’t wait to get home to you two tonight. The blessings just keep stacking up. I have an incredible group behind me at KBM and an incredible group of partners with ChargeMe, Safelite and everybody. I’m taking this in. I don’t know what I’ve done to deserve it, but I’ve going to keep taking it in and giving all glory to the Lord.
“Just like I said at Media Day, if the Good Lord wants it to be our championship, then it will and if it’s not, it’s not. I like how everything is going right now for sure.”
Playoff drivers dominated the top ten, with Corey Heim and Taylor Gray breaking up the party by finishing fifth and sixth, respectively. The two part-timers pushed Stewart Friesen to eleventh, while reigning champion Ben Rhodes was the worst finishing playoff contender in a frustrating eighteenth.
“I guess we can run just as bad in Kansas and make it into the next round,” Rhodes commented. “We had a terrible night tonight, but to go win a second championship, that’s not what we needed to do. We have to right the ship and get better.
“Honestly, I’m a little confused on the issues we fought all night. I had some brake issues in practice. We were trying something new and I didn’t like it from the start, from the first laps on the track. But something else was going on tonight, stuff that I’ve never really felt in a race car before. We’ll have to go back and diagnose it and make sure it never happens again. Overall, just have to say thank you to my team. They work their butts off. Not the night we wanted, but we can run this bad again. We need to get wins and run better to contend for this championship.”
The lone race-related caution came on lap 216 when Nick Leitz was turned into the outside wall by playoff drivers Carson Hocevar. Leitz subsequently called him out on Twitter by posting, “That’s one way to stay in the leap lap I guess”.
Race results
| Finish | Start | Number | Driver | Team | Manufacturer | Laps | Status |
| 1 | 2 | 18 | Chandler Smith | Kyle Busch Motorsports | Toyota | 250 | Running |
| 2 | 7 | 4 | John Hunter Nemechek | Kyle Busch Motorsports | Toyota | 250 | Running |
| 3 | 1 | 66 | Ty Majeski | ThorSport Racing | Toyota | 250 | Running |
| 4 | 5 | 23 | Grant Enfinger | GMS Racing | Chevrolet | 250 | Running |
| 5 | 16 | 51 | Corey Heim | Kyle Busch Motorsports | Toyota | 250 | Running |
| 6 | 24 | 17 | Taylor Gray | David Gilliland Racing | Ford | 250 | Running |
| 7 | 15 | 88 | Matt Crafton | ThorSport Racing | Toyota | 250 | Running |
| 8 | 9 | 98 | Christian Eckes | ThorSport Racing | Toyota | 250 | Running |
| 9 | 6 | 38 | Zane Smith | Front Row Motorsports | Ford | 250 | Running |
| 10 | 12 | 42 | Carson Hocevar | Niece Motorsports | Chevrolet | 250 | Running |
| 11 | 3 | 52 | Stewart Friesen | Halmar Friesen Racing | Toyota | 250 | Running |
| 12 | 18 | 19 | Derek Kraus | McAnally-Hilgemann Racing | Chevrolet | 250 | Running |
| 13 | 11 | 16 | Tyler Ankrum | Hattori Racing Enterprises | Toyota | 250 | Running |
| 14 | 8 | 61 | Chase Purdy | Hattori Racing Enterprises | Toyota | 250 | Running |
| 15 | 31 | 32 | Bret Holmes | Bret Holmes Racing | Chevrolet | 249 | Running |
| 16 | 19 | 15 | Tanner Gray | David Gilliland Racing | Ford | 248 | Running |
| 17 | 10 | 25 | Matt DiBenedetto | Rackley WAR | Chevrolet | 248 | Running |
| 18 | 14 | 99 | Ben Rhodes | ThorSport Racing | Toyota | 248 | Running |
| 19 | 4 | 62 | Layne Riggs | Halmar Friesen Racing | Toyota | 248 | Running |
| 20 | 17 | 35 | Jake Garcia | McAnally-Hilgemann Racing | Chevrolet | 248 | Running |
| 21 | 21 | 30 | Kaden Honeycutt | On Point Motorsports | Toyota | 247 | Running |
| 22 | 26 | 02 | Kaz Grala | Young’s Motorsports | Chevrolet | 247 | Running |
| 23 | 25 | 24 | Jack Wood # | GMS Racing | Chevrolet | 247 | Running |
| 24 | 27 | 45 | Lawless Alan | Niece Motorsports | Chevrolet | 247 | Running |
| 25 | 28 | 7 | Rajah Caruth | Spire Motorsports | Chevrolet | 247 | Running |
| 26 | 20 | 1 | Hailie Deegan | David Gilliland Racing | Ford | 247 | Running |
| 27 | 13 | 22 | Austin Wayne Self | AM Racing | Chevrolet | 247 | Running |
| 28 | 22 | 91 | Colby Howard | McAnally-Hilgemann Racing | Chevrolet | 246 | Running |
| 29 | 30 | 20 | Joey Gase* | Young’s Motorsports | Chevrolet | 246 | Running |
| 30 | 33 | 44 | Chad Chastain | Niece Motorsports | Chevrolet | 246 | Running |
| 31 | 36 | 56 | Timmy Hill | Hill Motorsports | Toyota | 245 | Running |
| 32 | 32 | 12 | Spencer Boyd | Young’s Motorsports | Chevrolet | 244 | Running |
| 33 | 35 | 43 | Mason Maggio† | Reaume Brothers Racing | Toyota | 242 | Running |
| 34 | 23 | 9 | Blaine Perkins | CR7 Motorsports | Chevrolet | 224 | Running |
| 35 | 29 | 40 | Dean Thompson | Niece Motorsports | Chevrolet | 223 | Running |
| 36 | 34 | 33 | Nick Leitz | Reaume Brothers Racing | Chevrolet | 209 | Accident |
| DNQ | 5 | Tyler Hill | Hill Motorsports | Toyota | |||
| DNQ | 46 | Brennan Poole | G2G Racing | Toyota | |||
| DNQ | 90 | Justin Carroll | TC Motorsports | Toyota | |||
| DNQ | 14 | Trey Hutchens | Trey Hutchens Racing | Chevrolet | |||
| DNQ | 96 | Mason Maggio | Peck Motorsports | Chevrolet | |||
| DNQ | 6 | Norm Benning | Norm Benning Racing | Chevrolet |
Italics – Competing for Rookie of the Year
* – Ineligible for points
† – Replaced Josh Reaume