Christopher Bell back in victory lane in the Craftsman Truck Series, wins at Bristol

Christopher Bell during his qualifying lap at Bristol, 2026. Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images

The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series headed south for the Tennessee Army National Guard 250 at Bristol Motor Speedway, giving us one of the most stacked fields we’ve seen all season—ranging from future Hall of Famers to rising stars.

Stage 1 was relatively clean, aside from a lap 16 spin by Andres Perez that brought out the first caution. Christian Eckes went on to secure the stage win.

Ben Rhodes held off a surging Kyle Busch to secure the win in stage two. Frankie Muniz and Tyler Reif both crashed on lap 118, leading to the final restart and an intense battle to end the stage.

Tanner Gray ends up in the wall and brings out the first caution of Stage 2. Cole Butcher spins, and collects Ricky Stenhouse Jr. to bring out the caution with 95 to go. The big one happened on lap 180, taking out numerous contenders such as Corey Heim, and Kaden Honeycutt, ending the nights of two drivers who had trucks capable of winning. 

On the final restart, Christian Eckes lost 4 spots which would take him out of contention. Christopher Bell however, would maintain control of the race and was able to hold off the No. 38 of Chandler Smith to secure his first win in the Truck Series since 2017 at Homestead-Miami Speedway.