After lots of adversity through the first two thirds of the season, Layne Riggs and Front Row Motorsports have hit their stride, as Riggs took home his second straight Craftsman Truck Series victory in Thursday’s UNOH 200 at Bristol Motor Speedway. Riggs’ win also prevented any playoff drivers from locking into the Round of 8 via winning, but three drivers were able to clinch spots on points.
Riggs led 80 laps, the most of any driver, and won from the 18th starting spot, the furthest back a driver has won a race from in the Truck Series this season.
The victory is also the fourth in a row in the series for Ford after the manufacturer went the first 14 races of the season without a win.
“We have just learned so much with the cars and trucks and my team, Dylan, my crew chief, he’s badass”, Riggs exclaimed in his post-race interview. “To be running fifth, tenth, and all of a sudden go back to back in the playoffs, man I wish I was in the playoffs so bad, I think we’d be a real threat to win this championship”.
Young, scrappy and here to play #NASCARPlayoffs spoiler. ?@LayneRiggs99 | @Team_FRM pic.twitter.com/9X6Mswb0dA
— NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Trucks (@NASCAR_Trucks) September 20, 2024
Riggs’ win is his fourth straight top five finish and second straight top 10 at Bristol.
Corey Heim came home second in his No. 11 Toyota. Heim led 65 laps, second only to Riggs, and was the winner of stage two. Rajah Caruth finished third, earning his first top five finish since Nashville. Caruth led nine laps and won his first career stage, taking the victory in stage one.
Regular season champion Christian Eckes and Nick Sanchez completed the top five. Matt Crafton, Chase Purdy, Ty Majeski, Stewart Friesen, and Tyler Ankrum rounded out the top ten finishers. Majeski was able to claw his way up to eighth after having to drop to the rear prior to the race for unapproved adjustments. Three playoff drivers failed to finish in the top ten, with Grant Enfinger finishing 17th, Ben Rhodes coming home 27th, and Daniel Dye finishing 32nd after a mid-race incident.
RELATED: UNOH 200 at Bristol Results
Polesitter Connor Zilisch led the field to green and cleared Heim by the end of the first lap, but the No. 11 stayed with Zilisch for the duration of the first run. Zilisch led the first 42 laps of the race before Heim finally made a pass for the lead. Heim did not lead for long, however, as Rajah Caruth passed both Heim and Zilisch late in the stage, giving Caruth his first career stage victory.
Timmy Hill stayed out under the stage caution and led the field back to green alongside Heim, but Hill quickly faded back on older tires, handing the top spot back to Heim. Heim dominated the stage, but Caruth and Eckes started closing in on the No. 11. Before they could attempt to pass Heim, the first on-track caution occurred on lap 110 for an incident involving polesitter Connor Zilisch. Zilisch received contact from Nick Sanchez into turn three, sending the No. 7 Chevrolet spinning. The incident caused the stage to end under caution, giving Heim the stage win.
Bristol has been challenging for Connor Zilisch. https://t.co/FWMxoeFRV1 pic.twitter.com/lkrOlrWx5G
— FOX: NASCAR (@NASCARONFOX) September 20, 2024
Heim and Eckes led the field through the gears to begin stage three, but Milwaukee winner Layne Riggs took no time moving up the running order and stealing the lead away from Heim.
The first truck to retire from the race was the No. 66 of Conner Jones, who took his Ford F-150 behind the wall on lap 126 with mechanical issues.
The next caution did not occur until lap 158 for an accident involving Daniel Dye and Kaden Honeycutt. Dye had a left front tire go down on his No. 43 Chevrolet, causing him to spin out of turn four. Honeycutt was unable to avoid Dye and collided with him, leaving the No. 45 with substantial damage to the right front fender. The damage was too severe for Honeycutt to continue, leaving him with his first Truck Series DNF since his series debut at Martinsville in 2022.
Trouble for Daniel Dye and Kaden Honeycutt at Bristol! Here's what happened: https://t.co/W3Is2uP4H5 pic.twitter.com/DQyvt2Fwxi
— FOX: NASCAR (@NASCARONFOX) September 20, 2024
Riggs and Heim paced the field for the restart with 29 laps to go, with Riggs retaining the lead and opening up a gap of almost a second. Daniel Dye had to make an unscheduled pit stop a few laps later, costing him multiple laps.
Another caution followed shortly thereafter, with Jack Wood spinning on lap 183. The No. 91 was hit from behind by the No. 99 of Ben Rhodes, sending Wood spinning through the corner and down onto the apron. Wood was able to keep his truck out of the wall and continued despite losing a lap.
Riggs and Heim took the restart with 13 laps remaining. Rajah Caruth sent it three wide for the lead into turn one but was unable to pick up any spots, with Riggs and Heim retaining the top two spots. Riggs was able to pull away from Heim and cruised to his second consecutive Truck Series victory.
Leaving Bristol, Christian Eckes, Corey Heim, and Nick Sanchez all locked themselves into the Round of 8 on points. Grant Enfinger holds the eighth and final spot by seven points over Daniel Dye, with Ben Rhodes going into Kansas 12 points behind Enfinger as he attempts to defend his championship.
The next Craftsman Truck Series race is scheduled for Friday, September 27, at Kansas Speedway, and will be broadcast by FS1.
