Layne Riggs and the No. 34 Front Row Motorsports team still have a shot at winning the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Owner’s Championship this weekend at Phoenix Raceway, but the path to get there has already gotten much more difficult.
On Friday, less than three hours before the start of qualifying at Phoenix Raceway, NASCAR discovered an issue with the No. 34 Love’s RV Stops Ford F-150 in pre-qualifying inspection, which will lead to a substantial in-race and pre-race penalty for the Front Row Motorsports brigade.
The penalty was handed out as a result of an extra panel that the Front Row Motorsports team apparently added to the oil pan, which would close off the area between it and the floorboard, which, under NASCAR rules, is not permitted.
Riggs, who was eliminated from the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Driver’s Playoffs courtesy of a tiebreaker last weekend at Martinsville Speedway, will have to start Friday’s event from the rear of the field, while also having to serve a pass-through penalty as soon as the field takes the green flag.
Dylan Cappello, the shot-caller for the No. 34 Ford F-150, has also been ejected from Phoenix Raceway, and will not have any involvement with the organization for Friday afternoon’s qualifying session or the event, which will determine which truck takes home the Owner’s Championship.
In this particular instance, Riggs will still be required to post a qualifying lap, as not to provide an advantage to the team by starting on sticker Goodyear tires.
The team’s engineer, Jonathan Coates, will serve as the interim crew chief for Layne Riggs in Friday’s NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Championship Race at Phoenix Raceway, which is set to take place on Friday, October 31, at 7:30 PM ET on FOX Sports 1, MRN, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.
