Wednesday night was an emotional night at Caraway Speedway for Layne Riggs. The 21-year-old driver passed Carson Kvapil for the lead with 57 laps remaining in the CARS Tour Late Model Stock event, and he held off Jared Fryar down the stretch to score the win.
After climbing from the No. 62 Kevin Harvick, Inc. car, an elated Riggs ranked the triumph as the top of his young racing career.
“I think with the ass-whooping we put on tonight, that’s going to be pretty hard to beat,” said Riggs when asked how this victory ranks among his many others. “Rodney built a rocketship, that thing is so fast, I’m so glad I got to drive this car, it’s amazing.”
Unfortunately, in post-race inspection, it was found that the No. 62 car was, in fact, a little too good. The car was found to have an over-tolerance diameter of the sway bar in post-race tech. While the issue was discovered in Wednesday night’s post-race tech session, the CARS Tour officials took Thursday to deliberate about what would be the course of action.
At 5:46 PM ET on Thursday, the sanctioning body made the official announcement that Riggs and the No. 62 team would be disqualified from Wednesday night’s race at Caraway Speedway, which wiped out the stirring win.
CARS Tour issued an official statement, which read, “Following the CARS Tour LMSC event at Caraway Speedway on Wednesday night, officials found a part that was over tolerance on Layne Riggs’ winning car in post-race inspection.
“Riggs’ team, Kevin Harvick, Inc., admitted to an unintentional oversight involving the part, and CARS Tour management accepted that explanation.
“As a result, Riggs has been disqualified and the finishing order will be amended to show second-place runner Jared Fryar receiving the first-place payout. The purse distribution for the rest of the finishing order will be adjusted accordingly.”
— CARS Tour (@CARSTour) June 29, 2023
As a result, Fryar will be credited with his third-career win in CARS Tour Late Model Stock competition. The 29-year-old racer was the 2020 CARS Tour Late Model Stock champion.
Following the ruling, Childers the legendary NASCAR Cup Series crew chief and crew chief for the KHI entry, apologized for putting a car on track that was not within the standards of the rulebook.
“I know everyone will say it’s cheating and pushing the limits. But hand on my heart, I had no idea that you couldn’t run big end sway bar ends in the CARS Tour,” Childers said in a statement posted to Twitter on Thursday. “This was something that has zero competitive advantage and would have never done if I knew. Sway bars are like springs. They only have a rate and they twist.”
Childers continued by explaining that the sway bar on the No. 62 car did not provide an advantage, and he apologized to Riggs, who was an innocent bystander to the ruling.
“Even though the bar had big ends, it was not a high-rate bar. The car would have handled exactly the same with smaller ends and a bigger center. I apologize to everyone involved,” Childers stated. “It puts everyone in a bad spot and looks bad. I take full responsibility and will find a rulebook and read it more carefully. I feel horrible for Layne, he didn’t deserve this. He did an incredible job. Congrats to Jared, he had a great car also.”
— Rodney Childers (@RodneyChilders4) June 29, 2023
