UPDATE: Layne Riggs, who finished in second place in Saturday’s Heart of Health Care 200 at Kansas Speedway, was disqualified after post-race inspection for an issue with the bed cover of his No. 34 Love’s RV Stops Ford F-150.
William Byron will be credited with a second-place finish, with Corey Heim, Gio Ruggiero, and Stewart Friesen rounding out the top five.
Even though Carson Hocevar was informing Layne Riggs that he was No. 1 as they crossed under the checkered flag in Saturday’s Heart of Health Care 200 at Kansas Speedway, it was indeed the NASCAR Cup Series regular that won the event.
Hocevar, making one of four scheduled starts in the No. 7 Chevrolet for Spire Motorsports, was able to hold back a hard-charging Layne Riggs in the final laps of Saturday’s 134-lap contest, despite some last-lap contact that kicked both drivers sideways and completely out of control.
The 22-year-old driver led a race-high 75 laps on the evening, after taking over the lead from rival Corey Heim after the TRICON Garage driver had a horrific pit stop, which dropped him from the race-lead to outside the top-15.
With Heim, a dominant force in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series in 2025, out of the picture, that paved the way for Hocevar and crew chief Brian Pattie to hold station at the front, fending off challenges from Grant Enfinger, William Byron, and eventually Layne Riggs.
“I just thought I’d make it entertaining,” Hocevar told Amanda Busick post-race. “[Layne Riggs] was super, super good. This truck was really, really good on the short runs, and I didn’t think he would get to us for how far back he was, but he was super good.”
WHAT A BATTLE. 10/10
Carson Hocevar holds off a hard-charging Layne Riggs to win the @NASCAR_Trucks race at Kansas! #NASCARonFS1 pic.twitter.com/YajijQms64
— FOX: NASCAR (@NASCARONFOX) May 11, 2025
“It’s been a while since I’ve been in a finish like that where it’s just all out there, so credit to him, I know he’s going for everything there, and I’m shocked – I thought it was thrown away, and it doesn’t look that bad, but I figured I’d kill right here.”
Riggs, a second-year driver in the Truck Series, has improved his craft on the intermediate tracks significantly, and after watching Kyle Larson fly by him with two laps to go on the outside at Homestead-Miami Speedway earlier this season, used the extreme outside lane to run down the No. 7.
RACE RESULTS: 2025 NCTS Heart of Health Care 200 at Kansas
The pass could not be made, allowing Hocevar, who will start 22nd in Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series event, to secure his fifth win in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series.
“Man, I gave it my all,” Riggs told Josh Sims post-race. “We were really down bad with the track position there, and we went through the third stage, and we were about to take the lead, and we did the green-flag pit stop, which really hurt us. Had to come from 16th in that green flag run to get all the way back to him.”
Riggs finished second, his second runner-up result of the 2025 season. William Byron, sitting in during Saturday’s event for the injured Connor Zilisch, finished in third place. TRICON Garage teammates Corey Heim and Gio Ruggiero rounded out the top five.
Heim, despite scoring a top-five, had tons of adversity to overcome, first with a slow pit stop that knocked him outside of the top-15, and eventually on a later restart, a violation that required him to make a pass-through under green. However, the driver made an incredible recovery to score a fourth-place result.
Stewart Friesen finished in sixth, putting together a solid finish after back-to-back races of misery for the Halmar Friesen Racing team. Brandon Jones secured his first top-10 of the season in the Truck Series for TRICON Garage, while Jake Garcia, Kaden Honeycutt, and Grant Enfinger rounded out the top-10.
The event featured seven cautions for 33 laps, and eight lead changes among five drivers.
Tanner Gray, who will be shown as finishing 28th, was in contention for another top-five finish when something went wrong on the No. 15 Toyota Tundra TRD Pro, causing him to slow and coast to the garage area.
Leaving Kansas, Corey Heim holds a 64-point advantage in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series point standings over Chandler Smith. Daniel Hemric, Tyler Ankrum, and Grant Enfinger rounded out the top five in series standings.
Up next for the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series is North Wilkesboro Speedway, where the series will accompany the NASCAR Cup Series for All-Star Weekend. The event will take place on Saturday, May 17, at 1:30 PM ET on FS1, NASCAR Radio Network, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.
