2026 Buckle Up South Carolina 200
NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race at Darlington Raceway
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The 2026 Buckle Up South Carolina 200 was a NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race held on March 20, 2026, at Darlington Raceway in Darlington, South Carolina. Contested over 157 laps—extended from 147 laps due to a double overtime finish on the 1.366-mile (2.198 km) egg-shaped oval, it was the fourth race of the 2026 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series season, and the seventh running of the event.
| Race details[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9] | |||
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| Race 4 of 25 in the 2026 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series | |||
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| Date | March 20, 2026 | ||
| Location | Darlington Raceway in Darlington, South Carolina | ||
| Course | Permanent racing facility | ||
| Course length | 1.366 miles (2.198 km) | ||
| Distance | 157 laps, 214.462 mi (345.142 km) | ||
| Scheduled distance | 147 laps, 200.802 mi (323.159 km) | ||
| Average speed | 97.005 miles per hour (156.114 km/h) | ||
| Pole position | |||
| Driver | Tricon Garage | ||
| Time | 28.848 | ||
| Most laps led | |||
| Driver | Kaden Honeycutt | Tricon Garage | |
| Laps | 59 | ||
| Fastest lap | |||
| Driver | Carson Hocevar | Spire Motorsports | |
| Time | 29.599 | ||
| Winner | |||
| No. 5 | Corey Heim | Tricon Garage | |
| Television in the United States | |||
| Network | FS1 | ||
| Announcers | Kevin Harvick, Ryan Blaney, and Joey Logano | ||
| Radio in the United States | |||
| Radio | NRN | ||
| Booth announcers | Alex Hayden, Mike Bagley, and Todd Gordon | ||
| Turn announcers | Dave Moody (1 & 2) and Tim Catafalmo (3 & 4) | ||
After chaos in the late stages, Corey Heim, driving for Tricon Garage, took advantage of fresher tires, restarting from ninth position on the final restart and made a last lap, final corner pass on Ross Chastain to earn his 24th career NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series win, and his first of the season.[10] Chastain finished second, and Christian Eckes finished third. Pole-sitter Kaden Honeycutt and Connor Mosack rounded out the top five, while Christopher Bell, Grant Enfinger, Gio Ruggiero, Daniel Hemric, and William Sawalich rounded out the top ten.
This was the first of three races for the Triple Truck Challenge.[11] Heim won the race and was granted the $50K bonus cash.
Report
Background
Darlington Raceway is a race track built for NASCAR racing located near Darlington, South Carolina. It is nicknamed "The Lady in Black" and "The Track Too Tough to Tame" by many NASCAR fans and drivers and advertised as "A NASCAR Tradition." It is of a unique, somewhat egg-shaped design, an oval with the ends of very different configurations, a condition which supposedly arose from the proximity of one end of the track to a minnow pond the owner refused to relocate. This situation makes it very challenging for the crews to set up their cars' handling in a way that is effective at both ends.
Since 2015, this weekend has served as a retro-themed weekend. From 2015 to 2023, the race has hosted NASCAR's Throwback weekend, which featured cars sporting paint schemes that pay homage to past teams and drivers.[12] In 2024, the theme was changed to Alumni Weekend, where former drivers, crew chiefs, mechanics, and other significant figures are invited as guests. Some teams still use retro schemes, while the main focus has shifted to legends themselves.
Entry list
- (R) denotes rookie driver.
- (i) denotes driver who is ineligible for series driver points.
Practice
The first and only practice session was held on Friday, March 20, at 3:30 PM EST, and would last for 50 minutes.[13]
Kaden Honeycutt, driving for Tricon Garage, set the fastest time in the session, with a lap of 29.459 seconds, and a speed of 166.930 miles per hour (268.648 km/h).[14]
Practice results
| Pos. | # | Driver | Team | Make | Time | Speed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 11 | Kaden Honeycutt | Tricon Garage | Toyota | 29.459 | 166.930 |
| 2 | 88 | Ty Majeski | ThorSport Racing | Ford | 29.712 | 165.509 |
| 3 | 5 | Corey Heim | Tricon Garage | Toyota | 29.764 | 165.220 |
| Full practice results | ||||||
Qualifying
Qualifying was held on Friday, March 20, at 4:35 PM EST.[13] Since Darlington Raceway is an intermediate racetrack, the qualifying procedure used was a single-car, one-lap system with one round. Drivers were on track by themselves and had one lap to post a qualifying time, and whoever set the fastest time won the pole.[15]
Kaden Honeycutt, driving for Tricon Garage, qualified on pole position with a lap of 28.848 seconds, and a speed of 170.466 mph (274.338 km/h).[16]
No drivers failed to qualify.
Qualifying results
Race
Race results
Stage results
Stage One Laps: 45
| Pos. | # | Driver | Team | Make | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 91 | Christian Eckes | McAnally–Hilgemann Racing | Chevrolet | 10 |
| 2 | 11 | Kaden Honeycutt | Tricon Garage | Toyota | 9 |
| 3 | 5 | Corey Heim | Tricon Garage | Toyota | 8 |
| 4 | 34 | Layne Riggs | Front Row Motorsports | Ford | 7 |
| 5 | 1 | William Sawalich (i) | Tricon Garage | Toyota | 0 |
| 6 | 88 | Ty Majeski | ThorSport Racing | Ford | 5 |
| 7 | 77 | Carson Hocevar (i) | Spire Motorsports | Chevrolet | 0 |
| 8 | 45 | Ross Chastain (i) | Niece Motorsports | Chevrolet | 0 |
| 9 | 15 | Tanner Gray | Tricon Garage | Toyota | 2 |
| 10 | 19 | Daniel Hemric | McAnally–Hilgemann Racing | Chevrolet | 1 |
Stage Two Laps: 45
| Pos. | # | Driver | Team | Make | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 11 | Kaden Honeycutt | Tricon Garage | Toyota | 10 |
| 2 | 45 | Ross Chastain (i) | Niece Motorsports | Chevrolet | 0 |
| 3 | 88 | Ty Majeski | ThorSport Racing | Ford | 8 |
| 4 | 5 | Corey Heim | Tricon Garage | Toyota | 7 |
| 5 | 91 | Christian Eckes | McAnally–Hilgemann Racing | Chevrolet | 6 |
| 6 | 18 | Tyler Ankrum | McAnally–Hilgemann Racing | Chevrolet | 5 |
| 7 | 77 | Carson Hocevar (i) | Spire Motorsports | Chevrolet | 0 |
| 8 | 34 | Layne Riggs | Front Row Motorsports | Ford | 3 |
| 9 | 98 | Jake Garcia | ThorSport Racing | Ford | 2 |
| 10 | 1 | William Sawalich (i) | Tricon Garage | Toyota | 0 |
Final Stage results
Stage Three Laps: 67
| Fin | St | # | Driver | Team | Make | Laps | Led | Status | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 5 | 5 | Corey Heim | Tricon Garage | Toyota | 157 | 28 | Running | 70 |
| 2 | 9 | 45 | Ross Chastain (i) | Niece Motorsports | Chevrolet | 157 | 35 | Running | 0 |
| 3 | 16 | 91 | Christian Eckes | McAnally–Hilgemann Racing | Chevrolet | 157 | 7 | Running | 50 |
| 4 | 1 | 11 | Kaden Honeycutt | Tricon Garage | Toyota | 157 | 59 | Running | 52 |
| 5 | 10 | 7 | Connor Mosack | Spire Motorsports | Chevrolet | 157 | 0 | Running | 32 |
| 6 | 6 | 62 | Christopher Bell (i) | Halmar Friesen Racing | Toyota | 157 | 6 | Running | 0 |
| 7 | 11 | 9 | Grant Enfinger | CR7 Motorsports | Chevrolet | 157 | 0 | Running | 30 |
| 8 | 4 | 17 | Gio Ruggiero | Tricon Garage | Toyota | 157 | 0 | Running | 29 |
| 9 | 14 | 19 | Daniel Hemric | McAnally–Hilgemann Racing | Chevrolet | 157 | 0 | Running | 29 |
| 10 | 27 | 1 | William Sawalich (i) | Tricon Garage | Toyota | 157 | 0 | Running | 0 |
| 11 | 22 | 10 | A. J. Allmendinger (i) | Kaulig Racing | Ram | 157 | 0 | Running | 0 |
| 12 | 8 | 34 | Layne Riggs | Front Row Motorsports | Ford | 157 | 0 | Running | 35 |
| 13 | 3 | 15 | Tanner Gray | Tricon Garage | Toyota | 157 | 0 | Running | 26 |
| 14 | 26 | 56 | Timmy Hill | Hill Motorsports | Toyota | 157 | 3 | Running | 23 |
| 15 | 25 | 16 | Justin Haley | Kaulig Racing | Ram | 157 | 0 | Running | 22 |
| 16 | 19 | 42 | Conner Jones | Niece Motorsports | Chevrolet | 157 | 3 | Running | 21 |
| 17 | 12 | 38 | Chandler Smith | Front Row Motorsports | Ford | 157 | 0 | Running | 20 |
| 18 | 36 | 33 | Frankie Muniz | Team Reaume | Ford | 157 | 0 | Running | 19 |
| 19 | 24 | 26 | Dawson Sutton | Rackley W.A.R. | Chevrolet | 157 | 0 | Running | 18 |
| 20 | 29 | 12 | Brenden Queen (R) | Kaulig Racing | Ram | 157 | 0 | Running | 17 |
| 21 | 20 | 25 | Corey LaJoie (i) | Kaulig Racing | Ram | 157 | 0 | Running | 0 |
| 22 | 2 | 77 | Carson Hocevar (i) | Spire Motorsports | Chevrolet | 157 | 16 | Running | 0 |
| 23 | 23 | 98 | Jake Garcia | ThorSport Racing | Ford | 157 | 0 | Running | 16 |
| 24 | 18 | 18 | Tyler Ankrum | McAnally–Hilgemann Racing | Chevrolet | 157 | 0 | Running | 18 |
| 25 | 13 | 52 | Stewart Friesen | Halmar Friesen Racing | Toyota | 157 | 0 | Running | 12 |
| 26 | 34 | 90 | Justin Carroll | TC Motorsports | Toyota | 157 | 0 | Running | 11 |
| 27 | 35 | 93 | Caleb Costner | Costner Motorsports | Chevrolet | 155 | 0 | Running | 10 |
| 28 | 17 | 13 | Cole Butcher (R) | ThorSport Racing | Ford | 153 | 0 | Running | 9 |
| 29 | 33 | 2 | Clayton Green | Team Reaume | Ford | 148 | 0 | Running | 8 |
| 30 | 32 | 76 | Spencer Boyd | Freedom Racing Enterprises | Chevrolet | 147 | 0 | Running | 7 |
| 31 | 7 | 88 | Ty Majeski | ThorSport Racing | Ford | 123 | 0 | DVP | 19 |
| 32 | 21 | 44 | Andrés Pérez de Lara | Niece Motorsports | Chevrolet | 122 | 0 | Accident | 5 |
| 33 | 28 | 81 | Kris Wright | McAnally–Hilgemann Racing | Chevrolet | 111 | 0 | Suspension | 4 |
| 34 | 30 | 14 | Mini Tyrrell (R) | Kaulig Racing | Ram | 93 | 0 | Steering | 3 |
| 35 | 31 | 22 | Josh Reaume | Team Reaume | Ford | 51 | 0 | Suspension | 2 |
| 36 | 15 | 99 | Ben Rhodes | ThorSport Racing | Ford | 2 | 0 | Accident | 1 |
| Official race results | |||||||||
Race statistics
- Lead changes: 14 among 8 different drivers
- Cautions/Laps: 9 for 47 laps
- Red flags: 0
- Time of race: 2 hours, 12 minutes and 39 seconds
- Average speed: 97.005 miles per hour (156.114 km/h)
Standings after the race
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