DARLINGTON, S.C. — In a year dominated by Corey Heim, Saturday (Aug. 30) afternoon at Darlington Raceway seemed to be the day of Layne Riggs.
Riggs led a race-high 71 of 147 laps of the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Sober or Slammer 200, and seemed to have the better of Heim late in the going. Unfortunately for Riggs, one mistake on a near-perfect day was all it took for a third win on the season to slip away.
Riggs caught the wall in turns 3 and 4 on lap 127, just two laps before the right front tire gave way on the entrance to turn 1. Riggs smacked the outside wall as Heim went past for the lead.
Fortunately for the No. 34 team, an unrelated incident brought out the yellow at the exact moment, saving Riggs and company from losing multiple laps. Still, the damage late in the race was too much to overcome as Riggs wound up 17th at the checkered flag.
While Riggs still sits in a comfortable position playoff-wise, an opportunity slipping away will still sting for some time.
“Just drove in the corner too deep,” Riggs said. “I ran the bottom too much in 3 and 4, got used to the grip on the bottom. After five, six, seven laps down there it was time to move back up. I didn’t drive in any deeper than I had been on the top, just didn’t have the grip I anticipated.
“These right-rear tails stick out so far, once you do hit them, it just sucks the front end right around, and the tire went down. My team deserves a lot better, they brought a lot of speed today, we shoulda, woulda, coulda been in victory lane, … Driver made a mistake.”
On the bright side, Riggs proved once again that he’s the guy who can take it to Heim in the title fight. Riggs and Heim have had battle after battle in 2025, and Darlington proved to be an example of Riggs potential against the No. 11 team.
“I agree,” Riggs said regarding being Heim’s biggest threat. “We had great speed all day, we had a good battle up front for the lead. I really enjoy that, I love racing at this track, I had a lot of fun out there until the right front tire got cut down.
“I think we’re in a great spot right now. We’ve got a lot of good tracks coming up, we’ve got good trucks, and I think we’re going to be in a position to be right there and contend.”
Now, does racing the guy you’re chasing for the title week after week make it more frustrating in defeat, or easier to measure yourself against the best? Riggs thinks the latter, and enjoys the battles the two had had across the year.
“For sure,” Riggs said. “Having good speed is always a good confidence booster, right. I think we both have our strengths and weaknesses, … We definitely have more time around each other than anybody else on the racetrack, we definitely know each other pretty well.”
Riggs now turns his attention to Bristol Motor Speedway in two weeks’ time, the site of his second career Truck Series win a year ago.
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.