NORTH WILKESBORO, N.C- It was a dominant day at North Wilkesboro Speedway for Corey Heim, until it wasn’t. Layne Riggs saw a chance at a win, and ultimately cost them both.
😳🏁 COREY HEIM GOES AROUND. CHANDLER SMITH WINS AT NORTH WILKESBORO.#NASCARonFS1 | @NASCAR_Trucks pic.twitter.com/GZJRR7l3Ex
— FOX: NASCAR (@NASCARONFOX) May 17, 2025
Heim started on pole of the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series’ Window World 250 Saturday (May 17) afternoon and seemed to have the dominant truck of the day. Even late in the running when Front Row Motorsports teammates Riggs and Chandler Smith had newer tires, they couldn’t quite run down the No. 11 of Heim.
A late-race spin for Heim’s TRICON Garage teammate Brent Crews set up an overtime finish with Heim outside the front row and Smith to his left, while Riggs lined up outside row two behind Heim.
A stellar restart allowed Heim to clear Smith on the bottom, but a great run off turn 2 brought Riggs to second and to the inside of Heim’s No. 11 through turns 3 and 4.
As the two took the white flag, Riggs saw his chance. Similar to the move one week ago at Kansas Speedway, Riggs threw a slider at Heim on the entry to turn 1. Just like one week ago, Riggs wasn’t clear.
The two met in the middle as Riggs slid up into the door of the No. 11, making just enough contact to put Heim in the marbles. Heim never made contact with the wall, but worn tires in the marbles was enough to send the TRICON driver around.
Corey Heim confronted Layne Riggs after the race and gave him some choice words. Heim stormed off before Riggs could muster a response. pic.twitter.com/qEtSWzQ6e8
— Toby Christie (@Toby_Christie) May 17, 2025
All the while, Smith slipped by both of them and took the win. After yet another race got away from Heim, he marched to the end of pit road to greet Riggs, briefly voicing his displeasure.
“You’re racing like a fucking idiot,” Heim said to Riggs on pit road. “You need to calm down or I’m going to take care of you.”
Riggs, still looking for his first win of the season, defended the move, stating he’s out there for his team, not anyone else’s.
“Yeah, a lot of drama in short track racing,” Riggs said post-race. “I’m out for me and my team, I want what’s best for us. … I can only see this much when you’re in the race car. I felt like it was the right move from the seat, of course I might go back and look at it, regret it, talk I don’t know. It’s hard to speculate anything standing here on pit road.”
This is a move Riggs knows well, not just from attempting the move to win the past two races, but also from his time at Orange County Speedway. Does this give Riggs a reputation? If it does, he isn’t concerned about it.
“If I’m a reputation of going for wins, I’m not gonna regret that at all,” Riggs told the media. “I feel like I came from short track racing, last lap battles and I feel like that’s what this kind of racing is made for. … It was a strong move and I thought it was going to pay off, but sad that we didn’t get the win.”
Heim didn’t say much to the media, obviously frustrated by the results in the end. Nevertheless, the TRICON No. 11 team remains the team to beat in the Truck Series garage and the rivalry with Riggs will be one to watch in the future.
Chase began working with Frontstretch in the spring of 2023 as a news writer, while also helping fill in for other columns as needed. Chase is now the main writer and reporter for Frontstretch.com's CARS Tour coverage, a role which began late in 2023. Aside from racing, some of Chase's other hobbies include time in the outdoors hunting and fishing, and keeping up with all things Philadelphia sports related.