DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — You couldn't wipe the smiles off the faces of NASCAR's drivers after a star-studded Craftsman Truck Series race at Daytona International Speedway.
Videos by FanBuzz
This race delivered thrills, big moments, and plenty of laughs. It also tested them in ways that the Cup Series cars can't.
Simply put, these drivers just had a blast, regardless of their experience level in the third-tier NASCAR series.
"Man, it was one heck of a race," John Hunter Nemechek, who drove for Halmar Friesen Racing, said. "I had a lot of fun all night. We came from the back to the front multiple times."
#NASCAR - I can argue that no one was happier after the Truck Series race than @TravisPastrana.
"I'm here for a good time, not a long time."
Here's what he learned in his Truck Series return, and his reaction to Carson Hocevar throwing him the horns while three-wide. pic.twitter.com/02ZJ4X8R6t— John Newby (@JohnNewby_) February 14, 2026
This race featured a packed entry list. It had Truck Series regulars such as Ben Rhodes, race-winner Chandler Smith, Ty Majeski, Brenden Queen, and Gio Ruggiero.
It also had guest stars in Tony Stewart, Cleetus McFarland, Nemechek, Travis Pastrana, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Carson Hocevar, and Michael McDowell.
"It was definitely fun, definitely running with a group of guys that are aggressive," Stewart said after a crash out of his control ended his night. "I mean, those kids, if there was a hole, they took it."
Stenhouse, in particular, made his first Truck Series start, and he got the full experience while dealing with an ill-handling truck. He still crossed the finish line in sixth place after a wild four-wide finish.
"I felt like there were a few times I was trying to catch up with what the truck was doing," Stenhouse told FanBuzz. "Because I couldn't really feel what it was doing. I like to feel a lot through the steering box. And they handle a lot worse than the Cup cars.
"Honestly I wish our Cup cars handled worse. I think the racing would be better. You'd have to work on your set ups a little bit. I feel like in this truck you feel the old Daytona a little bit more than you do in our Cup cars. I had fun."
Stenhouse is far from the only driver who dealt with handling issues. Queen laughed when asked about his truck. Smith talked during his post-race press conference about how the entire field was squirrelly.
"It was fun," Smith said. "I was thoroughly impressed with how out of control I seen so many trucks tonight, how out of control those trucks were tonight, and we didn't have as many wrecks.
"I bailed, I think, halfway through the first stage specifically because I was like, 'These jokers are about to junk it. I want to make it to the end of this thing.' And they were able to keep it all going straight. So I was pretty impressed by it."
These ill-handling trucks made for a chaotic, yet clean race. Only two multi-car incidents occurred, and they didn't collect more than a few trucks. The other three cautions for incident featured single-truck spins.
"I learned more tonight (than an ARCA race), and I had so much fun," Queen told FanBuzz. "Obviously, I'm saying that because I didn't hit nothing, but I learned so much.
"And that was the whole thing. I was like, 'I just want to get to the end of the race because I'm having so much fun.'"
The regulars and guest drivers alike had a blast during this season opener, none more so than Pastrana. The man who has competed in a wide variety of motorsports had the time of his life, even while debating pit strategies with spotter TJ Majors.
Pastrana spent the entire night dropping quotes from "Days of Thunder" and "Talladega Nights" even while avoiding potential race-ending mistakes. He gave McFarland the new nickname of "Cleeter."
One particular late-race sequence featured him laughing loudly while explaining how Hocevar had raced past him in a three-wide group while using one hand to throw up the horns in Pastrana's direction.
"The truck is the most fun, in my opinion," Pastrana said when asked about the different NASCAR vehicles he has controlled. "Don't get me wrong — there is nothing like the Daytona 500.
"Like in all racing, anywhere in the world, anything I've done, that's the biggest, single-biggest event. But truck racing here, as soon as you're in the draft, that thing is moving and sliding. It doesn't look like that on TV — it looks like everyone is driving around. Holy cow, it's like, we're moving!"
