BRISTOL, Tenn. — Jake Garcia has his first NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series victory.

The ThorSport Racing driver captured Thursday night’s playoff opener at Bristol Motor Speedway, taking the checkered flag after a race that appeared to belong to Front Row Motorsports for much of the night.

Layne Riggs dominated the opening portion of the race from the pole, leading the first two stages in commanding fashion. The No. 34 Ford had the speed to control the field, while teammate Chandler Smith also showed strong pace after starting alongside Riggs on the front row.

But the race changed on pit road.

Riggs suffered lug nut issues during a pit stop, costing the dominant No. 34 valuable track position and taking him out of the position he had held for much of the night.

Smith’s night would also unravel late. The No. 38 Front Row Motorsports Ford was forced onto pit road under green with issues, further opening the door for the competition.

Garcia was there to capitalize.

The No. 98 ThorSport Racing Ford stayed in contention and took advantage as the leaders encountered problems, ultimately bringing Garcia his first career Truck Series win on one of NASCAR’s toughest short tracks.

Kaden Honeycutt and Stewart Friesen also put together strong showings, remaining competitive as the race unfolded and the battle at the front continued to change.

For Riggs, it was a frustrating end to a night in which he had looked like the driver to beat. After dominating the first two stages, a lug nut issue on pit road proved costly.

For Garcia, it was the breakthrough moment.

After coming close without finding Victory Lane, Garcia can now add his name to the list of Truck Series winners after surviving a chaotic Bristol night and taking advantage when the opportunity finally came.

Jake Garcia is a NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series winner for the first time in his career — and Bristol is where he finally broke through.

By Ethan Boyles

BRISTOL, Tenn. — Tristan McKee is an ARCA Menards Series East champion.

The 16 year old driver officially secured the 2026 championship Thursday night at Bristol Motor Speedway, capping off a breakthrough season in the ARCA Menards Series East.

McKee entered the Bristol finale with a one point advantage over Max Reaves, making the Bush’s Best 200 a championship battle that came down to the final race of the season.

McKee’s season included four East Series victories before the Bristol finale, with wins at Hickory Motor Speedway, Rockingham Speedway, Toledo Speedway and Iowa Speedway. His consistency throughout the season kept him at the top of the championship standings and ultimately put him in position to claim the title.

The championship adds another major accomplishment to McKee’s young racing career and continues the momentum he has built across multiple touring series.

Brown Takes Bristol Victory

While McKee celebrated a championship, Carson Brown had his own reason to celebrate Thursday night.

Brown captured the Bush’s Best 200 at Bristol Motor Speedway, giving Pinnacle Racing Group a victory to go along with McKee’s championship on the same night.

Brown started from the pole for the Bristol finale, with McKee starting third, putting both Pinnacle Racing Group cars near the front of the field from the opening laps.

Brown’s victory provided the final piece to a memorable night for the organization as McKee officially became the 2026 ARCA Menards Series East champion.

For McKee, however, the biggest prize came at the end of the night.

Tristan McKee is the 2026 ARCA Menards Series East champion.

By Ethan Boyles

Bristol Motor Speedway is ready for another weekend under the lights as NASCAR heads to the “Last Great Colosseum” for three nights of national series racing and championship pressure.

The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series will open the weekend Thursday night, followed by the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series on Friday and the NASCAR Cup Series on Saturday night.

With the Chase continuing to take shape, here are the drivers to watch across each of the three races.

NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series

Layne Riggs

Layne Riggs returns to Bristol as the defending Truck Series race winner and the current championship leader.

Last year, Riggs started from the pole but spun on the opening lap before fighting his way back through the field to win the race. He returns to Bristol having already collected six wins this season, making him one of the biggest names to watch when the green flag drops Thursday night.

Nick Sanchez

Nick Sanchez will take over the No. 75 truck for Parker Kligerman in Thursday night’s race.

With Kligerman unable to compete, Sanchez gets the opportunity to step into the Truck Series Chase and take on one of the most demanding short tracks on the schedule. Bristol’s tight quarters leave little room for error, making Sanchez’s performance one to watch.

NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series

Jesse Love

Jesse Love comes into Bristol with momentum after earning his first win of the 2026 season at Gateway.

The defending series champion has also found success at Bristol, finishing 12th or better in three of his four O’Reilly starts at the track. After finally getting to Victory Lane, Love will look to carry that momentum into the third race of the Chase.

Justin Allgaier

Justin Allgaier enters Bristol looking to regain ground in the championship battle.

Allgaier came into Gateway leading the Chase standings but now sits second after a 13th place finish. With six wins already this season, Allgaier has shown the speed to contend for another championship, and Bristol gives him another opportunity to close the gap.

With one win, 12 top fives and 18 top tens in 28 starts, Allgaier is always a threat to win at Bristol.

NASCAR Cup Series

Ryan Blaney

Ryan Blaney heads to Bristol fourth in the Cup Series Chase standings after a difficult night at Gateway.

Blaney was running toward the front before a brake failure sent him deep into the field, resulting in a 35th place finish. Despite the setback, he remains in the championship fight and now gets a chance to rebound at Bristol.

Joey Logano

Joey Logano enters Bristol coming off one of the strongest performances at Gateway that did not end in Victory Lane.

Logano started from the pole, led a race high 96 laps and finished third. He now sits seventh in the Chase standings and heads to Bristol looking for the win that could immediately change the championship picture.

William Byron

William Byron comes into Bristol after finishing fourth at Gateway, matching his best finish since winning at Chicago earlier this season.

Byron currently sits 15th in the Chase standings after a difficult start to the postseason. With the championship field beginning to separate, Bristol gives Byron an important opportunity to gain ground.

Bristol Honors Dolly and Kyle

The championship battles are only part of what makes Bristol weekend special.

Dolly Parton will be honored throughout the weekend as Bristol celebrates the Tennessee icon, while Kyle Busch will receive a special Lap 18 tribute during Saturday night’s Cup Series race.

Busch has won eight Cup Series races at Bristol and has 23 victories across NASCAR’s three national series at the track.

With three nights of racing, championship pressure and plenty of Bristol history, the weekend is set to deliver another chapter at one of NASCAR’s most recognizable tracks.

Ethan Boyles

Kyle Larson returned to Victory Lane Sunday at World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway, ending a 51 race NASCAR Cup Series winless streak in a race marked by brake failures, 18 cautions, multiple green white checkered attempts and a chaotic closing stretch.

Larson led the way to the finish, with Alex Bowman finishing second and Joey Logano crossing the line third. William Byron also brought home a top five finish, giving Hendrick Motorsports a strong showing at Gateway.

The race was anything but calm.

Brake failures became one of the major storylines throughout the afternoon, while multiple incidents collected several Cup Series playoff contenders. Tyler Reddick, Chase Elliott and Christopher Bell were among the championship contenders who suffered damage or were taken out of contention early, adding even more pressure to an already critical playoff race.

Logano appeared to have the race firmly in his control for much of the afternoon, building a commanding lead. But with roughly 40 laps remaining, the race began to change.

Cautions breed cautions, and the final portion of the race became a battle of pit strategy, restarts and survival. Teams were forced to make critical decisions as track position became increasingly valuable and the possibility of another caution remained at every restart.

Multiple green white checkered attempts extended the race and kept the outcome in doubt until the final laps.

When it mattered most, Larson and Hendrick Motorsports were ready.

Larson held on to take the win, with Bowman finishing second and Logano third. Byron secured a top five finish, giving Hendrick Motorsports a strong day at Gateway.

The Gateway victory marked a significant moment for Larson, snapping his 51 race winless streak and putting the No. 5 team back in Victory Lane at a critical point in the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs.

Updated Playoff Standings After Gateway

Denny Hamlin remains at the top of the standings with 2,168 points, while Larson moved to second, just nine points behind Hamlin.

1. Denny Hamlin — 2,168

2. Kyle Larson — -9

3. Christopher Bell — -18

4. Ryan Blaney — -33

5. Tyler Reddick — -42

6. Ty Gibbs — -51

7. Joey Logano — -51

8. Chase Briscoe — -59

9. Carson Hocevar — -88

10. Bubba Wallace — -90

11. Chase Elliott — -93

12. Austin Cindric — -108

13. Chris Buescher — -111

14. Ryan Preece — -113

15. William Byron — -114

16. Daniel Suárez — -119

With Larson now just nine points behind Hamlin and several playoff contenders leaving Gateway with significant deficits, the championship picture continues to tighten.

Things get interesting in THE CHASE headed to Bristol next Saturday night.

The NASCAR Cup Series heads to Bristol Motor Speedway, where the pressure will only increase and every position in the playoff standings becomes more important.

After a chaotic race at Gateway and Larson’s return to Victory Lane, the championship picture is tightening up heading into Bristol.

By Ethan Boyles

Photo/Graphic: NASCAR

Kyle Larson will honor Kyle Busch with a throwback paint scheme during the NASCAR Cup Series race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

Hendrick Motorsports announced that Larson’s No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet will feature a design inspired by the No. 5 Chevrolet Busch drove to his first career Cup Series victory at Bristol Motor Speedway in 2007.

There is already a lot of history behind the win and the paint scheme, but the timing of this announcement comes shortly after Brexton Busch captured a historic victory at Tri County Speedway. Whether intentional or not, that timing adds a little sentimental value to what is already a meaningful throwback.

Busch’s first Cup Series win came driving for Rick Hendrick, and now Larson will bring that same look back to the track nearly two decades later.

There is another connection that makes this more than just a throwback to Busch’s first Cup Series victory. Busch’s most recent NASCAR victory came at Dover in the Craftsman Truck Series, driving a vehicle carrying the same HendrickCars.com sponsorship that will appear on Larson’s car.

In that sense, this paint scheme reaches across Busch’s career, connecting his first Cup Series win with his most recent NASCAR victory in a way that feels uniquely fitting for Hendrick Motorsports.

The Las Vegas race is scheduled for October 4.

By Ethan Boyles

Source: Hendrick Motorsports.

Photo/Graphic: Hendrick Motorsports.

The NASCAR Cup Series heads to World Wide Technology Raceway this weekend for the second race of the 2026 Chase, and the Enjoy Illinois 300 comes with plenty of questions following an unpredictable opening round at Darlington Raceway.

Christopher Bell enters Gateway with the biggest momentum swing in the championship field after finally breaking through for his first win of the season at Darlington. The victory ended a 33 race winless streak and moved Bell from sixth to second in the standings, putting him just 12 points behind championship leader Denny Hamlin.

Hamlin may still hold the points lead, but his 18th place finish at Darlington does not tell the entire story of his race. The No. 11 Toyota showed strong speed early and ran inside the top three during Stage 1 before contact, damage and pit road problems ultimately took him out of contention. Now, Hamlin returns to Gateway as the defending winner with another opportunity to turn that speed into the finish he needs. But he needs to leave the monkey at home this week.

Gateway, however, presents an entirely different challenge from Darlington.

The 1.25 mile oval has quickly developed its own identity on the Cup schedule. Since the series first raced there in 2022, four different drivers have taken the checkered flag. Joey Logano won the inaugural event, the late Kyle Busch won in 2023, Austin Cindric won in 2024 and Hamlin won last year.

That history makes this weekend particularly difficult to predict. Drivers now have to adapt to Gateway’s unique layout, braking zones and corner characteristics while dealing with the added pressure of a championship race.

Ryan Blaney enters the weekend third in the Chase, only 16 points behind Hamlin. While he has never won at Gateway, Blaney has been consistently competitive there. He has led laps in three of the four Cup races at the track, including 83 laps in 2023, and has finished fourth twice, including last year’s race.

Cindric is another driver with a reason to feel confident. The 2024 Gateway winner enters the weekend 14th among the Chase drivers, 102 points behind Hamlin. A return to the form that produced his first Cup victory at WWTR would give him an opportunity to make up significant ground.

And then there is the unfinished business coming out of Darlington.

Brad Keselowski made it clear following the Southern 500 that he had not forgotten his incident with Carson Hocevar. Hocevar made contact with Keselowski during the opening race of the Chase, sending the No. 6 spinning, and Keselowski did not hide his frustration afterward. He promised payback.

Now both drivers head to Gateway.

Hocevar is part of the Chase and has a championship to protect, while Keselowski is outside the title fight and has nothing to lose by settling the score. Whether Keselowski actually follows through on his warning or the two drivers are able to put Darlington behind them is one of the biggest wild cards heading into Sunday.

It also adds another layer to a race that already has plenty of championship implications.

Shane van Gisbergen could provide another wildcard of his own. He is not part of the Chase, but his ability to adapt to different tracks makes him a driver capable of changing the complexion of the race. He may not be on everyone’s list of drivers to watch, but that is exactly what could make him interesting when the green flag falls.

Drivers to Watch

Going into WWTR, three drivers stand out as the ones we believe have the best opportunity to win the Enjoy Illinois 300.

Joey Logano

Logano’s season has been a difficult one for much of the year, with multiple DNFs and finishes that left him much farther behind than expected. What makes his current stretch so impressive is how far he has climbed back. After spending much of the season trying to recover from that early deficit, Logano has suddenly become one of the hottest drivers in the field with two wins late in the season.

Gateway could be the perfect place for that resurgence to continue. Logano won the inaugural Cup race at WWTR in 2022 and has never finished worse than fifth in four Cup starts at the track. His recent momentum combined with his history at Gateway makes him a serious threat on Sunday.

Kyle Larson

Larson showed at Darlington that he has the speed to dominate a race. He led 99 laps and appeared to have control of the Southern 500 until the final 12 laps before ultimately finishing fifth after pit strategy plagued his chances to win.

That speed makes him difficult to overlook at Gateway, where he led 52 laps last year. Larson has already shown that he can put himself in position to win at WWTR. If he can put together the entire race this time, he has a legitimate opportunity to take the checkered flag.

Christopher Bell

Bell comes into Gateway with perhaps the strongest momentum in the Chase. His Darlington victory ended the 33 race winless streak that followed seven runner up finishes and moved him to within 12 points of Hamlin in the championship standings.

He then followed that victory with another win at Tri County Speedway in the ASA STARS National Tour Ebb Logistics 250 Presented by SAVE22.VET. Add three top 10 finishes in four career Cup starts at Gateway, including a seventh place finish last year, and Bell has plenty working in his favor.

The Bottom Line

The Enjoy Illinois 300 is only the second race of the Chase, but there is already plenty at stake. Hamlin is trying to protect the championship lead, Bell is trying to keep his momentum rolling, and the rest of the playoff field is looking for an opportunity to close the gap.

At the same time, the Keselowski and Hocevar situation adds a completely different storyline to the weekend. Whether that tension follows them from Darlington to Gateway could become one of the most talked about moments of Sunday’s race. Will Hocevar’s belts be pulled tighter than the tension between himself and Keselowski?

Gateway has produced four different Cup winners in four races, and the track’s unique characteristics leave plenty of room for another driver to add his name to that list.

When the green flag falls Sunday, the championship battle will continue, old business may become new business, and 300 miles will determine which drivers leave WWTR with momentum on their side.

By Ethan Boyles

Where It Started — And Where It’s Going

Before KF Media…

Before any of this…

There was just General Admission.

Back in 2021, it started simple.

We went to a race with general admission tickets and asked a question:

How close can we actually get?

We didn’t know what to expect.

But we quickly found out — you could get closer than I ever thought.

I was talking to drivers. Meeting people.

Having real conversations.

Guys like Layne Riggs — before everything took off — just standing there, talking like it was nothing.

Moments that felt small at the time, but looking back, they mattered.

So we went to another race.

And then another.

At one point at Hickory, we crossed paths with Jeff Hammond.

He saw what we were doing, supported it, and told us straight up — keep going.

That was the moment it started to shift.

It went from just showing up with cameras…

to realizing this might actually be something.

Not just friends going to the track taking pictures…

trying to find a little escape, a bit of therapy from everyday life —

but a brand.

And then it took off.

The next year turned into 57 races across 42 weekends,

up and down the East Coast — from New York to Florida.

Including being part of the Racetrack Revival at North Wilkesboro.

Some of the biggest opportunities — like working at Bristol and covering the Southeast Super Trucks Series — came early, before I even really understood what I was building.

Tri County Speedway and the Higgins family gave me access and opportunities I couldn’t have imagined.

They were foundational — without them, I wouldn’t be here today.

Later, JCR, the demo world, and events like the Run to the Sun car show introduced me to incredible people and experiences from all over the globe.

It expanded my perspective, my craft, and my understanding of what this could become.

Along the way, I learned that every person you meet connects you to someone else in ways you can’t imagine.

I’ve met people who became friends, teachers, collaborators — from someone grabbing my phone at a racetrack just to take over content for the day, to racers, teams, and builders showing me worlds I’d never known.

It all reinforced why respect matters, why openness matters, and why your actions speak louder than your words.

There was a moment where everything could have gone one of two ways: fade out, or grow into something more.

I stepped back.

Took a pause.

Re-evaluated everything.

And when I came back — I came back different.

Better equipment.

Better understanding.

Better direction.

But more importantly — I knew who I wanted to be.

I wanted to represent the sport the right way.

Drivers. Teams. Tracks.

From a fan’s perspective — but with respect for what it takes to be out there.

And somewhere along the way… that changed.

One day, I wasn’t just a fan sitting on the sidelines anymore —

I was part of it.

I was in the mix.

I can’t even point to the exact moment that happened.

But once it did, it became important to evolve.

That’s where the shift in image came from.

That’s why the professional look of KF Media needed to happen.

Because this wasn’t just showing up anymore.

It became something real.

When it became a business — that’s when KF Media had to be formed.

The friendships were already there.

The trust was already there.

I refined what I did.

Found my lane in photography.

Started capturing not just the action — but the feeling around it.

And then it expanded.

Short tracks to bigger tracks.

Racing to demo derbies.

Car shows. Events. Moments.

It kept growing.

KF Media became the natural evolution — the place to bring all of it together.

A place for me to bring better content.

More access.

More perspective.

A place for fans, drivers, teams, and sponsors to all connect with what I’m doing.

It’s where the photos live.

Where the work actually exists — not just in a feed, but in one place.

There will be more video.

More photos — a lot more.

Photos that can  be purchased in different formats.

Content that won’t be posted anywhere else.

Because this isn’t just victory lane photos.

It’s cars.

It’s details.

It’s landscapes.

It’s moments you didn’t even realize mattered until you saw them.

KF Media started on Facebook as General Admission.

It expanded to TikTok, YouTube, Instagram.

But this — this website — was always the next step.

This is where it all connects.

This is where it all lives.

— Ethan Boyles

Owner, KF Media

Co-Founder, General Admission