Jake Garcia Won First Truck Series Race at Bristol
NXTbets Pro | Published On: September 18, 2026
Garcia’s Bristol breakthrough
Jake Garcia won the UNOH 250 at Bristol Motor Speedway for ThorSport Racing and earned his first career NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series victory. He made the move that decided the race on Lap 230, passing Stewart Friesen to take the lead late. Garcia then held on in the No. 98 ThorSport Ford F-150 and finished 1.305 seconds ahead of Bayley Currey. The result gave Garcia a milestone win and put ThorSport in victory lane after a long run without one. Garcia also backed up the finish with race control, leading 104 laps in all. That number mattered in a race that came down to track position and timing, with Garcia delivering both when the field tightened late. Currey followed Garcia to the stripe in second in his first Truck Series start of the season, which added another layer to the finish and gave the front of the field a fresh look behind the winner.
Friesen, McKee and Riggs
Friesen finished third, Justin Haley was fourth and Tristan McKee came home fifth. McKee’s run stood out because it made him the youngest driver in series history to record a top-five finish. The result gave the race a mix of veteran strength and youth at the front, with Garcia and Currey taking the top two spots and McKee adding a mark that will follow him through the series record book. Layne Riggs also played a major role in the race before his night went sideways. He swept the opening two stages, then faded to 32nd after a loose wheel, pit-road problems and late contact. Riggs still left Bristol three points ahead of Kaden Honeycutt in the standings, so the setback did not erase his position at the top of that battle. Chandler Smith also lost ground after a speeding penalty sent him to 24th, two laps down. Those finishes gave Bristol a sharp split between the drivers who stayed clean and the ones who had the race turn against them in the final stretches.
ThorSport’s streak ends
Garcia’s win ended ThorSport Racing’s winless streak, which dated back to Ty Majeski’s Championship 4 win at Phoenix. That run had stretched through the season and made Bristol a needed breakthrough for the organization. Garcia delivered it with a strong late-race push, a long run at the front and a finish that left no doubt about the result once he got by Friesen. The victory also fit the shape of the race, with Garcia controlling the strongest portion of the closing laps after Currey, Friesen, Haley and McKee had all shown speed in the top five. Riggs’ early-stage sweep and late trouble, along with Smith’s penalty, added to a race that kept shifting as the laps wound down. Garcia left Bristol with his first Truck Series win, ThorSport left with a broken streak and the standings left with more movement at the front. The Truck Series now resumes at Kansas Speedway.
