Race Recap ATC Truck Series
Talladega Superspeedway
Sat, Aug 29, 2026Round 15
Photo Finish at Talladega Superspeedway: Blackwell Edges Ian Blanchard by +0.073s
Race at a Glance
Field Size
30
Laps
55
Avg Lap Time
1:18.137
Cautions
6
Caution Laps
18
Lead Changes
21
Clean Runners
1
Lead Lap Finishers
14
Margin
+0.073s
Winner Spotlight
Noah Blackwell
P1 Finish
Noah Blackwell brought the #80 truck home in victory lane at Talladega Superspeedway for the first time in his ATC Truck Series career, taking the win from the second starting position in a race that saw 21 lead changes across 55 laps and six cautions consume 18 of them. Blackwell led just 5 of those 55 laps but was positioned perfectly when it mattered most, holding off a hard-charging field to the stripe. It was a race defined by chaos, with pole sitter Christopher Childers in the #86 falling all the way to 22nd at the finish after starting the day out front, and former leader Jordan Traas in the #79 — who paced the field for 18 laps — ultimately fading to 14th.
Ian Blanchard delivered an equally impressive run in the #74, storming from 11th on the grid to a second-place finish and leading 7 laps along the way, which stands as the most laps led among the top three finishers. Alex Forrest brought the #77 home third after starting ninth, picking up 34 points in the process. Austin Coop in the #99 was steady throughout, moving up two spots from his sixth starting position to fourth, while Patrick Camburn's #48 rounded out the top five with another solid run from seventh on the grid.
The story of the race, however, belonged to Joe Mullett in the #06, who launched from 27th on the starting grid all the way to sixth at the checkered flag — a gain of 21 positions that earned him the hard charger honors on the day. Mullett accumulated 14 incident points along the way, a reminder of just how aggressive the racing was throughout the field. Larry Millard in the #65 also deserves recognition, moving up 17 spots from 28th to 11th, and Abbrom Ghoston in the #22 climbed 12 positions from 24th to 12th.
In the playoff standings, Jordan Traas's difficult afternoon at Talladega — despite leading 18 laps — left him holding the top spot at 169 points, but his margin over Trevor Brownlee narrowed with the #75 finishing ninth to bank 159 points. Ian Blanchard's runner-up result vaulted him to third in the standings at 154 points, just 15 behind Brownlee, making the #74 a legitimate threat going forward. Alex Forrest sits fourth at 135 points and Tyler DeWeese rounds out the top five at 127, meaning the gap from first to fifth is now 42 points with the pressure building on every truck in contention.
Top Movers
Joe Mullett06
▲ +21Larry Millard65
▲ +17Abbrom Ghoston22
▲ +12Finishing Order
| Finish | Start | +/- | Car # | Driver | Inc | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | +1 | 80 | Noah Blackwell | 5x | 40 |
| 2 | 11 | +9 | 74 | Ian Blanchard | 8x | 35 |
| 3 | 9 | +6 | 77 | Alex Forrest | 10x | 34 |
| 4 | 6 | +2 | 99 | Austin Coop | 4x | 33 |
| 5 | 7 | +2 | 48 | Patrick Camburn | 9x | 32 |
| 6 | 27 | +21 | 06 | Joe Mullett | 14x | 31 |
| 7 | 10 | +3 | 27 | Justin Frazier | 16x | 30 |
| 8 | 17 | +9 | 97 | Tyler DeWeese | 16x | 29 |
| 9 | 4 | -5 | 75 | Trevor Brownlee | 12x | 28 |
| 10 | 14 | +4 | 84 | Gio Turpin | 13x | 27 |
| 11 | 28 | +17 | 65 | Larry Millard | 12x | 26 |
| 12 | 24 | +12 | 22 | Abbrom Ghoston | 4x | 25 |
| 13 | 23 | +10 | 00 | Mark Syphers | 5x | 24 |
| 14 | 3 | -11 | 79 | Jordan Traas | 8x | 23 |
| 15 | 18 | +3 | 15 | Dayton Wheeler | 6x | 22 |
| 16 | 13 | -3 | 92 | David Burcicki | 8x | 21 |
| 17 | 15 | -2 | 03 | Kyre Mullaney | 10x | 20 |
| 18 | 26 | +8 | 49 | Zachary S Mullen | 6x | 19 |
| 19 | 20 | +1 | 26 | Joe Spinelli | 8x | 18 |
| 20 | 29 | +9 | 11 | Sean Timothy | 12x | 17 |
| 21 | 12 | -9 | 33 | Danna Rhyne | 12x | 16 |
| 22 | 1 | -21 | 86 | Christopher Childers | 12x | 15 |
| 23 | 16 | -7 | 45 | Andrew Childers | 12x | 14 |
| 24 | 25 | +1 | 5 | Garrett Stone | 10x | 13 |
| 25 | 21 | -4 | 53 | John Winkler | 6x | 12 |
| 26 | 19 | -7 | 95 | Jason Nieto | 8x | 11 |
| 27 | 8 | -19 | 9 | Christopher Cox | 4x | 10 |
| 28 | 22 | -6 | 69 | Todd Parent | 4x | 9 |
| 29 | 5 | -24 | 23 | Charles Van Schaick | 2x | 8 |
| 30 | 30 | 0 | 68 | Tom Ringer | 0x | — |
