Who would have thought that a kid from Bahama, North Carolina, who cut his teeth on short tracks across the Southeastern United States, would go on to become a fierce street course road racer? Well, after his second consecutive street course victory in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, it’s become apparent that Layne Riggs is comfortable turning left and right on city streets in a big, heavy NASCAR stock truck.
Race Results: Navy 250 at San Diego
“Layne van Riggsbergen came to play today, man,” Riggs said after the win. “I got my second street course. We’re undefeated at street courses. Hey, much respect, Shane [van Gisbergen], I wish I could be as good as you one day, man, but I’m going to take all my glory in the Truck Series.”
On Friday afternoon, in a wild and chaotic Navy 250 at Naval Base Coronado, Riggs found himself locked in a knock-out drag-out battle with Tyer Reif, who was looking to bring home the win for Al Niece, the namesake of the Niece Motorsports team, in the closing laps. Niece is a Navy veteran who trained at Naval Base Coronado.
As Riggs navigated a sputtering engine with dwindling fuel, he was able to force Reif into a mistake on the final lap of the race, which sent Reif off course and allowed Riggs to bull his way to the front for the lead and race win.
“I don’t even know what happened at the end. It’s sparks flying, people wrecking, staying on the throttle. I was running out of fuel the entire last lap; it was like St. Pete all over again,” Riggs said. “Great job with Reif there. I faked left to scare him, and he missed the corner. I wasn’t really going to dive it in there, and it worked for me.”
Riggs would cross the finish line ahead of Daniel Hemric, who would work his way to a solid runner-up finish. Prior to Riggs working his way to the front, it looked like Hemric had a potential shot at the victory.
Kaz Grala, driving the No. 62 Halmar Friesen Racing Toyota, would finish third in the event, and he was followed across the finish line by Landen Lewis and Ty Majeski.
Justin Haley, Brenden Queen, Ben Rhodes, Christian Eckes, and Gio Ruggiero rounded out the top-10 finishers in the race.
Reif would cross the finish line in the seventh position, but would be sent to a 19th-place finish after being penalized for cutting the course on the final lap. Understandably, the driver, who nearly secured his first career win in his seventh ever start, was disappointed.
“Pushing 101%, obviously. I was just way over the tire, there. And I heard one [truck length] back with Layne, and I just didn’t want him to have a chance to get to me. So, my mistake. It’s very unfortunate that I did that,” Reif explained. “I don’t know how many chances I’ll have like this. I’m sure there will be more, and I’m going to make sure to not make that mistake again.”
Brendan Gaughan, who made his first NASCAR Truck Series start since 2013, endured a lot of adversity throughout the day. The driver of the No. 20 McAnally-Hilgemann Racing Chevrolet crashed in qualifying earlier in the day, and had to start at the rear of the field due to the crash.
In the race, Gaughan went a lap down and then cut a tire late in the race. However, he was able to rally back to the lead lap and finished 16th, incredibly, to end his return weekend.
Seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson had a much more impressive weekend than Gaughan, as he was top-five in practice and qualifying, and led two laps, driving the No. 1 TRICON Garage Toyota.
However, a late-race mechanical issue foiled a would-be good run for the NASCAR Hall of Famer. Johnson would finish 30th.
Jamie McMurray, a former Daytona 500 and Brickyard 400 winner, made his return on Friday afternoon as well, however, his day ended with a hard crash after he completed 22 laps. McMurray would be scored with a 34th-place finish in the 25-truck field, driving the No. 25 Kaulig Racing RAM 1500.
Kaden Honeycutt, Riggs’ top rival for the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series championship, was in the thick of the battle for the race win, but on the final restart of the race, he was swept into the concrete barrier in a crash with Chandler Smith.
As a result, Honeycutt came home with a disappointing 23rd-place result, and he now trails Riggs by 65 points.
