Racing America Logo

TRUCKS: Layne Riggs Plays Playoff Spoiler -- Again, This Time at Bristol

Toby Christie

Layne Riggs scored his second consecutive win in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series as the Front Row Motorsports driver won Thursday night's UNOH 200 at Bristol Motor Speedway.
Layne Riggs scored his second consecutive win in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series as the Front Row Motorsports driver won Thursday night's UNOH 200 at Bristol Motor Speedway. / Tyson Gifford, Racing America

Layne Riggs didn't make the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Playoffs this season, and the competition had better thank their lucky stars that the Rookie of the Year contender didn't. The 22-year-old driver of the No. 38 Front Row Motorsports Ford F-150 polished off his second consecutive win in Thursday night's UNOH 200 at Bristol Motor Speedway. And this time, he didn't dislocate his shoulder celebrating the win.

Riggs, who suffered from a rough start to his rookie campaign, has come to life over the last four races, as he's racked up a pair of fifth-place finishes and two wins. The young driver credited his team, and specifically his crew chief Dylan Cappello for the turnaround.

"Oh my gosh, we've just learned so much with the trucks. My team, Dylan, my crew chief, he's badass. He works so hard at night," Riggs stated. "We, as a team, we're a young team. I think the oldest guy on the team -- the average age is in the 20s. It's so amazing. To be running fifth, 10th, and all of a sudden go back-to-back in the Playoffs, I wish I was in the Playoffs so badly. I think we'd be a real threat to win the championship."

After starting the race from the ninth position, Riggs hovered near the front of the field all race long, and on a restart with 80 laps to go, Riggs, who lined up second alongside Corey Heim, the driver of the No. 11 TRICON Garage Toyota Tundra TRD Pro, felt it was the time to pounce.

Riggs quickly disposed of Heim, and never looked back as he led the entirety of the final 80 laps of the race, which was enough to secure him the most laps led in the event as well.

Thursday's win comes on the heels of Riggs' first-career NASCAR Truck Series win at The Milwaukee Mile a few weeks ago, where he led the final 53 laps. The last two races are the culmination of what is possible when a young driver believes in his team, a team that believes in him equally.

"I'm a bad mug, that's what they said about me on the radio," Riggs quipped when asked about his team's belief in him. "I wasn't scared to throw it against the fence tonight," Riggs said. "Man, the track was so fun. I'm so glad they didn't throw the PJ1 on the track. So much fun. And even at the very end, you could run the bottom and the top and make equal lap times."

Prior to his back-to-back race wins, Riggs had led just one lap in the opening 16 races of the season. He's now crossed the finish line as the leader 133 times over his last two races, and he's recorded more race wins in that two-race stretch than he had laps led over the opening 16 races of the year.

Heim would narrowly hang on to finish runner-up as Rajah Caruth nearly nipped him at the finish line.

With the second-place finish, Heim, who was a Championship 4 contender, officially locked his place into the Round of 8 of the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Playoffs. While he wanted to pick up another win, Heim was happy to come home second after the handle on his No. 11 truck faded down the stretch.

"Everyone in our TRICON Garage camp did such a great job giving me a great truck. Great pit stops, did their job keeping me out front. Just didn't quite have it when the groove started moving around there," Heim explained. "Every time we got a heat cycle on the tires, it seemed like we got tighter and tighter."

Rajah Caruth finished the race in third in the No. 71 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet Silverado, Christian Eckes came home in fourth, and Nick Sanchez finished in fifth.

Eckes, like Heim, locked his place in the Round of 8 of the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Playoffs by way of points, as did Ty Majeski, who finished eighth in the No. 98 ThorSport Racing Ford F-150.

Daniel Dye was the worst finishing Playoff driver in the race, as he came home in 32nd after suffering a cut tire late in the race. Dye would finish the race six laps down, and would fall from seventh on the grid, seven points above the cutline to ninth, seven points outside of the cutline.

Defending Series champion Ben Rhodes was the other NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Playoff contender to finish outside of the top-20 as he finished the night in 27th. Rhodes will enter the final race of the Round of 10 of the Playoffs as the last driver on the Playoff Grid, 12 points behind the cutline.

Here are the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Playoff Standings with one race remaining in the Round of 10, which will be the event at Kansas Speedway on Friday, September 27.

Rank

No.

Driver

+/- Cutline

1

19

Christian Eckes

LOCKED IN

2

11

Corey Heim

LOCKED IN

3

2

Nick Sanchez

LOCKED IN

4

98

Ty Majeski

+58 Points

5

71

Rajah Caruth

+35

6

18

Tyler Ankrum

+25

7

17

Taylor Gray

+23

8

9

Grant Enfinger

+7

---

CUTLINE

---

9

43

Daniel Dye

-7

10

99

Ben Rhodes

-12

Published
Toby Christie

TOBY CHRISTIE

Home/News