Amid a lot of optimism, Layne Riggs found himself spinning sideways in front of the field on lap one in tonight’s UNOH 200 at Bristol Motor Speedway in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series.
By the end of the stage two, he was fighting fellow playoff driver Corey Heim for the lead.
And after a set of pit stops that shuffled the running order to open stage three, Riggs wouldn’t look back, leading every lap of the final segment en route to his third win of the season.
“You don’t get two mulligans in the playoffs and I have two,” Riggs told FOX Sports 1 after the race. “I think this shows we are in contention, that we can do it. These guys don’t give up.”
As the dust settled behind Riggs, Ben Rhodes claimed the runner-up position.
Heim outlasted Ty Majeski to take third, with Daniel Hemric rounding out the top five.
After pit strategy, Tanner Gray rallied to finish sixth with Connor Mosack and Andres Perez, Corey LaJoie and Matt Crafton completing the top 10.
It was another chaotic night for playoff drivers at Bristol. Chandler Smith once again ran into trouble, fighting fuel pump issues in the early parts of stage one. Jake Garcia, who fended off Heim to win the first stage, faced power steering gremlins that put him out of contention for the win during the second stage.
As if that wasn’t enough, not many laps later Kaden Honeycutt and Tyler Ankrum made contact, ruining both of their nights.
Pole sitter Garcia lost the lead initially to Heim to begin the race, but as the No. 11 truck ran up on the back of Greg Van Alst, Garcia took advantage of the opportunity to win stage one.
With Garcia out of the picture later, it became a show between championship favorites Heim and Riggs. Riggs had miraculously recovered to score points in the first stage and kept motoring forward in his pursuit of Heim. Heim showed strength himself, fending off Riggs for 40-plus laps as he earned another stage win on his season.
Among the playoff drivers, Honeycutt finished 12th, Rajah Caruth fell off late to finish 15th, Grant Enfinger never figured it out as he came across the line 21st, and the aforementioned problems for Smith and Garcia put them in 30th and 33rd, respectively.
Smith and Garcia head to New Hampshire below the cut line with double-digit point deficits.
Bristol Truck Results
The Truck playoffs continue at New Hampshire Motor Speedway on Saturday, Sept. 20, at 2 p.m. ET and can be viewed on FS1.
Thomas is in his first year covering NASCAR at Frontstretch. A Bay Area NASCAR fan for over 15+ years, he found his love for the sport through Jeff Gordon.
Thomas has enjoyed several trips to Sonoma Raceway in his time and currently covers college football in the Bay Area, also writing about the California Golden Bears.