It's sort of hard to believe, but before the 2026 NASCAR season started, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., who is now in his 18th season of NASCAR national series competition, had never before competed in a Craftsman Truck Series race.
He changed that by running the No. 45 Chevrolet for Niece Motorsports in the season opener at Daytona International Speedway and finishing sixth before going on to finish second in the Cup Series season-opening Daytona 500 in his usual No. 47 Hyak Motorsports Chevrolet.
And he didn't stop there. He made his second career Truck Series start, also with Niece Motorsports in the No. 45 truck, in this past weekend's race at EchoPark Speedway (formerly Atlanta Motor Speedway), and he posted another respectable ninth place finish.
Stenhouse doesn't currently have any other Truck Series starts lined up for the remainder of the 2026 season, but even if he did, this weekend's race wouldn't be one of them, as for the first time this year, the Truck Series and Cup Series are set to be at different venues.
While the Cup Series is set to be at Circuit of the Americas (COTA) for its first road course race of the year, the Truck Series is set to be in St. Petersburg, Florida for the first street course race in series history, so there will be no full-time Cup drivers in Saturday's inaugural event.
Ricky Stenhouse Jr. replacement confirmed for St. Petersburg
Landen Lewis, the 2025 CARS Late Model Stock Car Tour championship, is set to make his first Truck Series start of the year behind the wheel of the No. 45 Chevrolet this weekend.
The 19-year-old Ocean Isle Beach, North Carolina native has made three career Truck Series starts, but none since 2024. His debut came at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course with Roper Racing in 2023, but both of his starts since then have come on ovals. His 24th place finish at Mid-Ohio is his best finish in three career starts.
Beyond this weekend, Lewis is expected to drive the No. 45 truck on several other occasions this year, but his schedule has not yet been confirmed.
Full-time Trackhouse Racing Cup Series driver Ross Chastain is the truck's only other confirmed driver for 2026, and he is set to run eight races, though his schedule has also not yet been made official.
The OnlyBulls Green Flag 150 is set to be shown live on Fox beginning at 12:00 p.m. ET this Saturday, February 28, so start a free trial of FuboTV now and catch all of the action from the streets of St. Petersburg in a historic first for the Truck Series!