With just five races remaining in the 2025 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series campaign, including this weekend at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, Layne Riggs remains in the thick of a tough championship fight: primarily with Corey Heim and TRICON Garage.
But, even with his full focus on hoisting a championship trophy in November at Phoenix Raceway, the native of Bahama, North Carolina, is looking ahead to what his future holds, for next season, and even beyond that.
In an interview with Racing America on SI ahead of Saturday’s Team EJP 175 at New Hampshire, Riggs says that he’s planning on returning to Front Row Motorsports for a third season as part of the organization’s NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series program in 2026.
“I do feel like I need, at least another year in Trucks or Xfinity, whatever the path is,” Riggs said. “You know, I’m planning on running the No. 34 Truck again next year, as of now. So yeah, I feel like I just need a little bit more time.”
While Riggs remains of the opinion that a third season competing in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series would be a benefit to his overall development, the 23-year-old driver says that the goal for next season is to branch out beyond just the Truck Series – whether that be into the NASCAR Xfinity Series, or even the NASCAR Cup Series.
“I’d like to make some Cup starts, you know, do some part-time stuff with the team,” Riggs added. “Kind of working on stuff right now for next year, hopefully. I mean, nothing’s done yet, or really even in talks. That’s the goal is to try to branch out, make some starts next year, either Xfinity or in Cup. That’d be the goal just to try and get my feet wet and get a feel for it and see.”
After nearly two seasons with Front Row Motorsports, Riggs is a five-time winner in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series (much like his father, Scott). Since earning his first victory last Fall, the success of Riggs has only grown exponentially, making him a title contender this season.
Staying in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series for another season would certainly have him in line to compete for a championship, but Riggs is wary about the prospect of getting stuck in the lower levels of NASCAR’s National Series.
“I would say year four, you know, next year would be year three. I think year four would be great for me to go full-time Cup racing, but if not, I’m okay with running Trucks,” Riggs added. “I just don’t want to get stuck, you see, a lot of people will get stuck. Ben Rhodes, I feel like Ty Majeski, he’s kind of gotten stuck now, and even Corey [Heim] has gotten stuck just at the Truck level. So, if an opportunity did arise and I was given an opportunity to move up, I think it’d be hard to pass down knowing how tough it is for one of those seats to open.”
Though for Riggs, the goal is to be just like his father, Scott, who made 208 starts in the NASCAR Cup Series between 2004 and 2013. “The dream is still to be a full-time cup driver, one day,” Riggs added. “When I’m ready. I don’t want to rush that for sure.”
Riggs will make his 50th NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series start this weekend at New Hampshire.
