CONCORD, N.C. — It has not been the greatest start to a NASCAR National Series race weekend so far at Charlotte Motor Speedway. After a weather-shortened NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series event on Saturday night, the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series North Carolina Education Lottery 200, which was postponed three times, was called early due to time constraints on Sunday afternoon.
In a phenomenal battle at the front of the field with Christian Eckes, Layne Riggs earned the lead seven laps before the race was called official, and ultimately, the win. While Eckes faded down the stretch, Riggs had to hold off Kaden Honeycutt, the driver of the No. 11 TRICON Garage Toyota in the closing laps.
Race Results: 2026 North Carolina Education Lottery 200 at Charlotte
As the adverse conditions clock, which had a Noon ET deadline, approached, a crash by Chandler Smith off of Turn 2 with three minutes left on the clock sealed the deal for Riggs, who was the leader at the time of caution.
Riggs says while nobody is a fan of races ending due to time constraints, he was happy that he was finally on the winning end of a finish that was decided by a clock.
“I feel like we were on the wrong end of the stick a lot of times, even back racing in the CARS Tour. I feel like it’s bitten me a lot. I feel like I never come out on the good end of it. Today, I feel like we did,” Riggs explained. “But at the same time, we’re running under caution there at the end, I hate that we didn’t finish under green, I know all fans want to watch a race finish under green flag. But I was confident that even if we went back racing, I was going to have a good enough truck to hold those guys off.”
Riggs, who admitted that he has struggled, personally, since Thursday, when it was announced that Kyle Busch, a two-time NASCAR Cup Series champion, had died at the age of 41.
“It’s been a dreary weekend. Our hearts are heavy, mine included,” Riggs said. “Really, I was really emotional all Thursday and Friday, just trying to process everything and how to go about myself.”
“Just wanted to dedicate the entire win to him, and that family,” Riggs explained of why he performed Busch’s patented bow celebration following his win. “They’re hurting deeply right now, like all of us.”
This victory marks the second of the 2026 season for Riggs, who now sits at seven career NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series wins in 64 career starts.
While it was elation for Riggs, Honeycutt, who finished runner-up was disappointed by the finish that was decided by a time constraint. What would have happened had the clock not forced the end of the race?
“I don’t know, maybe win the race, but we’ll never know,” Honeycutt, a frustrated second-place finisher, said in his post-race interview on FS1.
While the North Carolina Education Lottery 200 featured great on-track action, a series track record 11 cautions, and a great battle at the front of the field, the way that the race ended was an incredibly frustrating letdown. It continued an ongoing trend on a weekend when everyone just wants to find a way to smile again.
Connor Zilisch worked his way through the field from the 24th starting position to finish third, narrowly missing out on a race win for Spire Motorsports, the team that Kyle Busch was originally scheduled to compete for in this event.
Ben Rhodes came home in fourth, ahead of Gio Ruggiero in fifth.
Christian Eckes, Brandon Jones, Tanner Gray, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., and William Sawalich rounded out the top-10 finishers in Sunday’s Truck Series race.
Perhaps the Coca-Cola 600 will be able to run to its scheduled completion on Sunday evening? The forecast doesn’t look promising, but maybe the racing gods will smile down upon the fans who have braved it out all weekend long at Charlotte Motor Speedway and provide one full-distance event.
