In A Nutshell
Layne Riggs is 2-0 in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series playoffs.
The problem is, he failed to qualify for the playoffs.
After spending the regular season searching for any kind of momentum, Riggs has now won back-to-back races. He followed his win up at the Milwaukee Mile with a dominating win at Bristol Motor Speedway on Thursday (Sept. 19). Riggs had to come from the 18th starting position to take his second career victory.
Riggs’ short track prowess has really shown over the last two races, and he continues to prove why he belongs in a full-time ride. Meanwhile, the playoff drivers are zero for two in playoff races so far.
The Top Truckers at Bristol Motor Speedway
Winner, Most Laps Led (80 of 200 laps), Rookie of the Race, Biggest Mover (started 18th, finished first): Layne Riggs
Polesitter: Connor Zilisch
Stage 1 Winner: Rajah Caruth
Stage 2 Winner: Corey Heim
Top Storylines of the Race
- Marco Andretti shockingly failed to qualify for the race, the first of his Truck Series career. His day didn’t get any better, as he crashed out of the ARCA Menards Series race just after qualifying.
- Ty Majeski was forced to start at the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments. The No. 98 team also lost its truck chief for the race and will lose pit stall selection at the next race. However it’s unclear why Majeski had to start at the rear. Despite this, he was able to rally to eighth.
- Kaden Honeycutt‘s night ended prematurely after getting caught up in an accident with Daniel Dye. Though the damage was purely cosmetic, NASCAR parked the No. 45, claiming it was spewing oil on the track. Despite Honeycutt and the team disputing such claims, his night ended early, putting the No. 45 team in a hole for the owners’ championship. Honeycutt and Dye talked after the race, where Dye apologized.
The Winning Move
Coming to the restart to begin the final stage, Riggs found himself restarting fourth. He chose the outside behind then race leader Corey Heim, fresh off of a stage two victory.
After the inside lane got a horrible restart, Heim and Riggs were able to clear the field off of turn 2. Heading into turn 3, Riggs decided that he wanted the lead for himself and powered around the outside of Heim to take the lead just barely off of turn 4.
However Riggs was able to clear Heim after the next set of corners, he then set sail with the lead. He had to hold off the field through two additional restarts following some incidents, but held steady and was able to hold on and go to victory lane in back-to-back weeks.
As an interesting note, the last four races have been won by two drivers: Majeski back-to-back at Richmond Raceway and Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park, and now Riggs at Milwaukee and Bristol.
Fortunately, Riggs was able to come away without a dislocated shoulder this time, as he was very restrained in his celebration to prevent such an occurrence from happening again.
Championship Rundown
The Round of 10 concludes in just eight days at Kansas Speedway, meaning two drivers will find themselves eliminated from championship contention.
Riggs’ victories have not allowed any playoff driver to clinch via points. However, Heim, Christian Eckes and Nick Sanchez have all managed to score enough points to clinch a spot in the next round one race early. They can now set their sights forward on the Round of 8.
After that, it’s anyone’s game.
Majeski can lock into the next round after stage one at Kansas, as he just missed out on scoring enough points to join Heim, Eckes and Sanchez as locks after Bristol. Rajah Caruth climbed up from below the cut line to comfortably in at the moment after scoring a stage win and a healthy amount of stage points at Bristol.
Caruth, Tyler Ankrum and Taylor Gray all just need to essentially finish on the lead lap at Kansas and they’ll advance. Meanwhile, Grant Enfinger, Dye and Ben Rhodes are all separated by just 12 points.
Dye found aforementioned trouble with Honeycutt after his No. 43 cut a tire and spun into Honeycutt. Rhodes, meanwhile, had an evil truck all night and couldn’t put anything together. A leaking tire also hindered his evening, and he only mustered a 27th-place finish, just five spots ahead of Dye.
Enfinger leads Dye by seven points, and Rhodes by 12. These three will likely be the ones to watch at Kansas, even if someone above them in points crashes. They will all need to bring their A-game if they want to continue their title fight.
For Rhodes in particular, it would be deflating for him and his team to be eliminated in the Round of 10 as the defending champion. Regardless of whether we get a new winner or not, it’ll be an interesting battle in the Heartland.
Rookie Report
Just like Milwaukee, this one is obvious. Riggs’ back-to-back wins earn him back-to-back honors of Rookie of the Race.
I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention Connor Zilisch. He won his second pole in as many Truck Series attempts and led early before a spin put him behind the rest of the night.
No. 02 – Justin Mondeik (28th)
No. 04 – Marco Andretti (DNQ)
No. 7 – Connor Zilisch (19th)
No. 38 – Layne Riggs (winner)
No. 41 – Connor Mosack (20th) (replaced Bayley Currey, who drove Niece’s No. 44)
No. 46 – Tyler Tomassi (34th)
No. 66 – Conner Jones (36th)
No. 81 – Corey Day (18th)
No. 90 – Justin Carroll (DNQ)
Thad Moffitt Update: Moffitt was replaced for the second time this season, this time by Tyler Tomassi. Unlike last time, when his former team Faction46 was on the verge of shutting down, funding is the issue, as Moffitt later said in a statement on X. Moffitt, a Rookie of the Year contender, said he hopes to be back in 2024, though nothing has been confirmed.
One Big Takeaway From This Race
It’s ridiculous that the Truck Series has the same race distance as the ARCA race at Bristol.
Both series featured races of 200 laps; in fact, the ARCA race was actually longer due to an overtime finish. The ARCA race distance is fine – it’s the Truck Series’ race distance I have an issue with.
The Truck Series is supposed to be a step up from ARCA. Why are we making its race distances the same length? The Truck Series should always have a race distance between ARCA’s race distance and the race distance of the Xfinity Series.
The Xfinity race on Friday (Sept. 20) is 300 laps. If ARCA was 200 laps, why couldn’t the Truck Series get a 250-lap feature? It would make sense – if you want to move up the ladder, you should be prepared to run more laps.
This is why some people skip over the Truck Series altogether. Between the similar number of races on the schedule (ARCA’s 20 vs. the Truck Series’ 23) and similar race distances at certain racetracks, it’s no wonder some drivers see themselves progressing better by just jumping straight to Xfinity.
What makes it more frustrating is that the Truck Series’ spring race at Bristol (the first time ever the series competed on the concrete in the spring) was 250 laps. So the race distance is doable. And quite frankly, it should become the permanent race distance if the ARCA race continues to be a 200-lap affair.
While it’s nice to see the Truck Series finish at its scheduled distance, I can’t help but be slightly embarrassed that the ARCA race was longer in lap count than the series that’s supposed to A) be a step up from ARCA and B) be the third tier of NASCAR’s top echelons of racing.
It can’t be that hard to bump the Truck Series’ race distances up by 50 miles whenever they’re the same as ARCA race distances. There’s no harm in doing that, so let’s start doing it.
Talkin’ Truckers
Riggs talks about his win, while playoff drivers Heim (second), Majeski (eighth) and Rhodes (27th) all break down their evenings:
Caruth (third) happy with the night, but wishes he could have executed better to have a shot to win:
Sanchez (fifth) and Zilisch (19th) talk about the contact between them that spun Zilisch while also breaking down their overall evenings:
Rookie Corey Day finished 18th in his Truck Series debut, driving a fifth McAnally-Hilgemann Racing truck:
Dye (32nd) says he apologized to Honeycutt about the incident and looks forward to Kansas:
Paint Scheme of the Race
Mason Maggio and Floridian Motorsports, an upstart team that debuted at this year’s season-opener at Daytona International Speedway, brought a good-looking throwback to the World’s Fastest Half-Mile.
Paying homage to Ricky Rudd in celebration of his upcoming induction into the NASCAR Hall of Fame, Maggio ran a throwback to Rudd’s 2005 paint scheme when Rudd was the driver of the famed Wood Brothers Racing No. 21 in the Cup Series.
For reference, Maggio was only six months old when the 2005 season began.
Despite the good-looking throwback, Maggio was only able to manage a 31st-place finish, only one spot better than his qualifying spot in 32nd.
Next Stop
Two playoff hearts will break in the Heartland.
The Craftsman Truck Series will conclude the Round of 10 at Kansas Speedway next Friday, Sept. 27. Two drivers will be eliminated from postseason contention as eight drivers continue their search for the 2024 title. The trucks are again the second half of a doubleheader with ARCA.
Heim won the spring race earlier this season, while Eckes is the defending winner of the playoff race.
Coverage for the Kubota Tractor 200 will begin at 8:30 p.m. ET, following the ARCA race at 5:30 p.m. ET, on Friday, Sept. 27. Television coverage will be provided by FOX Sports 1, while Motor Racing Network continues its season-long radio coverage of the Truck Series.
Anthony Damcott joined Frontstretch in March 2022. Currently, he is an editor and co-authors Fire on Fridays (Fridays); he is also the primary Truck Series reporter/writer and serves as an at-track reporter, among many other duties he takes on for the site. A proud West Virginia Wesleyan College alum from Akron, Ohio, Anthony is now a grad student. He is a theatre actor and fight-choreographer-in-training in his free time.
You can keep up with Anthony by following @AnthonyDamcott on X.