DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Chandler Smith snuck by on the inside line in the final yards to win the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Fresh From Florida 250 season opener at Daytona International Speedway.

On the final lap of Friday night’s race, the leaders had lost contact but came back together as they raced down the backstretch for the final time. Smith was sitting in fifth as the leaders entered Turn 4, but the seas parted, and thanks to a push by Ty Majeski, the driver of the Front Row Motorsports No. 38 TrophyCatch Ford eked by on the bottom lane to pull off the four-wide pass for the win. The victory is Smith’s eighth win in the series.

“First off, I want to shout out all glory to God,” Smith said. “Without Him, none of this would be possible. And I am super, super grateful that I serve such a loving God that blessed me with such a good group of men and women around me at Front Row Motorsports.

“Ty Majeski, one of my best four teammates I’ve ever worked with. He is all credit to how we just won that race truthfully. He stayed committed to a Ford and pushed a blue oval to a win.”

Giovanni Ruggiero finished runner-up in the No. 17 JBL Toyota. The TRICON Garage driver didn’t collect any stage points throughout Stages 1 and 2, but he was in the mix when it mattered most. He was running second when the leaders exited Turn 4, and through all the jockeying for position, he was able to hold the spot at the finish line.

Yeah, it was tight there at the end of the race,” Ruggiero said. “Everybody was trying to do whatever it takes to win, and that’s what I did for myself and my team.

“Probably would have pushed John Hunter to the win there, but he almost wrecked me twice. I think overall as a group, we need to do better as Toyotas.”

Christian Eckes finished third, and Majeski finished fourth.

Completing the top-five was Nemechek, who was in command of the lead out of Turn 4 and into the trioval on the final lap, but he was pressured from all sides and couldn’t block Smith fast enough.

“Just hard to cover all the lanes there,” Nemechek said. “Should have got to the middle and blocked the 17 (Ruggiero) a little bit faster than I did.

“Didn’t anticipate it quite like I probably should have off of Turn 4. But man, it was one heck of a race. It was a lot of fun all night. We came from the back to the front multiple times.”

Rounding out the top-10 was NASCAR Cup Series driver Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Brenden Queen in seventh, earning RAM’s best finish since returning after a 13-year hiatus, Kaden Honeycutt, Tyler Ankrum and Stewart Friesen.

NASCAR Cup Series driver, Carson Hocevar won Stage 1, and Smith won Stage 2.

There were 31 lead changes among 12 drivers. Justin Haley, Michael McDowell and Hocevar all led a race high of 20 laps.

The caution flew on six occasions for 31 laps. Only two cautions were for multi-truck accidents.

On Lap 37, Jake Garcia slid up the track in the tri-oval and collected NASCAR Hall of Famer Tony Stewart. Garcia finished 32^nd, and Stewart retired from the race in 36^th.

A crash on Lap 97 brought out the final caution of the night. Taylor Gray spun in Turn 4 and collected Dawson Sutton, Spencer Boyd and others.

Smith leads the point standings by 19 points over Eckes.

The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series will be back in action at EchoPark Speedway on Saturday, Feb. 21. Live coverage of the Fr8 208 will broadcast on FS1 at 1:30 p.m. ET.

Photo Credit: Mitchell White/TheFourthTurn.com