“You are racing like a fucking idiot. Calm down, or someone is going to take care of you.”
That was the very blunt message delivered (in-person) from Corey Heim to Layne Riggs following Saturday’s NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series event at North Wilkesboro Speedway, which saw a full-contact fight for the victory between the two drivers.
Corey Heim confronted Layne Riggs after the race and gave him some choice words. Heim stormed off before Riggs could muster a response. pic.twitter.com/qEtSWzQ6e8
— Toby Christie (@Toby_Christie) May 17, 2025
Neither one ended up riding the elevator to Victory Lane after the race, though. That honor instead went to Chandler Smith, a teammate of Riggs’ at Front Row Motorsports, who managed to sneak through the chaos on the final lap to secure his second win of the season.
The move came as Heim was sitting in a vulnerable position in NASCAR Overtime, trying to hold on to the victory on tires that were 60 laps older than that of the No. 38, who had speed throughout the entirety of the previous run, and nearly took the lead away.
While Smith didn’t get the best restart with just two laps remaining, Layne Riggs, who lined up second on the outside lane behind Heim, got an impeccable jump, allowing the No. 34 to be lined up at the rear bumper of Heim off Turn 2.
Then, on the final lap of the race, Riggs decided he was going to make a move for the win.
Diving to the inside lane in Turn 1, Riggs attempted to pull a slide-job on Corey Heim for the race lead, and just about had the move completed, but slid into the left side of the No. 11 Toyota Tundra TRD Pro, pushing him up the racetrack and into the marbles, causing him to spin.
Needless to say, after pacing the field for 162 of 250 laps, by far the most of any driver, the NASCAR Truck Series points leader wasn’t exactly happy with how things turned out.
“He tried to do it to [Carson Hocevar] last week for the win, and mission accomplished for him this week, and it cost him one too, so I don’t know,” Heim told Josh Sims post-race. “We’ve given up so many of them this year after pretty much dominating most of this race.”
Not the ending the No. 11 was hoping for. pic.twitter.com/nWTYW8LRse
— NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Trucks (@NASCAR_Trucks) May 17, 2025
“Obviously, [Chandler Smith] was the only other guy that was rightfully good, so it felt like he probably deserved to win if anybody, not [Layne Riggs], but I got really loose into Turn 3, we struggled with being loose on the short runs, and he had an opportunity and he wrecked me.”
In terms of opportunities to win races in 2025, Heim has been strong every single week — leading laps in all 10 starts this season, and leading more than 15 laps in the last eight races.
While Heim is easily the championship favorite, having already scored wins at Daytona, Las Vegas, and Texas, Saturday at North Wilkesboro offered the opportunity for Heim to further cushion his Playoff Points gap.
Riggs, on the other end of the last-lap battle that sent Heim back to 17th, doesn’t agree with the assessment put forward by Corey Heim.
“They’re going to be displeased with me, but I feel like he got really loose into [Turns 3 and 4] and kind of gave the bottom up, and we were side-by-side on the fronstretch, and I had a huge run and went bottom.”
Hear from P2 finisher Layne Riggs ?? pic.twitter.com/jnFnad3PMI
— NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Trucks (@NASCAR_Trucks) May 17, 2025
“I didn’t fence him and I slid him up the track and gave him one lane there and, we’re at North Wilkesboro on the last lap for a Truck Series win,” Riggs added. “I feel like I didn’t really do anything wrong there, I think that roles reversed, it was hard racing all day, and I feel like everyone came out of there alive and we had a good finish, and I only care about me and my team.”
Riggs was credited with a second-place finish, which continues a season that has featured several variations of highs and lows, and several close calls with Victory Lane, after securing two wins at the end of the 2024 NASCAR Truck Series campaign.
There are many who feel Riggs has been aggressive in his racing style as of late in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, including Corey Heim, but it’s just a matter of whether or not that will come back to bite him in future races.
