Truckin’ Thursdays: Layne van Riggsbergen or 2026’s Corey Heim, Layne Riggs Just Wins

Layne Riggs christened himself as “Layne van Riggsbergen” after his win at Naval Base Coronado on June 19, but the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series points leader has looked more like newly minted Cup Series winner Corey Heim during the 2026 Truck Series campaign.

Heim won 12 of 25 Truck Series races en route to the series title in 2025 and was the favorite to win every single week. Rarely did anyone show up to a Truck Series race where the No. 11 TRICON Garage Toyota didn’t have a gigantic bullseye on the back of it.

Riggs, who won thrice in 2025, was just about the only driver who was in the same zip code as Heim throughout the season, though he didn’t make the Championship 4. Still, the third-year driver from Bahama, North Carolina, was viewed by many as the 2026 Truck Series championship favorite.

And boy, has he lived up to that distinction. Riggs has four victories this season and is the only full-time driver to win multiple Truck Series races. He’s even won more than Heim, who has three victories, albeit in only five starts.

Heim’s replacement in the No. 11, Kaden Honeycutt, has been the equivalent of Riggs in 2025, though a more competitive one, given that he does have nine top 10s to Riggs’ eight. Still, Honeycutt only has one victory this season and is 65 points back of Riggs with only five races left in the regular season. Barring a meltdown over the next five events, Riggs should have no problem locking up the regular season title and the No. 1 seed in the Chase.

It’s not a stretch to say that Riggs is the favorite to win the last five races of the regular season, either. On top of his speed in his truck and the momentum behind the No. 34 team, the rest of the regular season slate is about as perfect as it could be for the 24-year-old.

Another road course awaits at Lime Rock Park on July 11. Riggs has won two of three road course events this season and was dominant at Coronado.

Then there’s a string of short tracks, arguably Riggs’ strongest track type, where the series goes to North Wilkesboro, IRP, Richmond and New Hampshire. Riggs nearly won at Wilkesboro in 2025 after a tussle with Heim in the closing laps, he’s the defending winner at IRP and he finished third at Richmond and New Hampshire, the latter of which is the site of the regular season finale.

Bristol, another track Riggs has won at, opens The Chase, and while you could argue that TRICON and Honeycutt may have the edge at intermediates such as Homestead, Charlotte and Kansas, Riggs will be right in his tire tracks if he’s not in front of him.

The 2026 Truck Series championship battle is still a two-horse race between Riggs and Honeycutt and less of a coronation of Heim as it was in 2025 (at least, until the NASCAR playoffs nearly took the title). But Riggs’ horse is pulling away.

At most, Honeycutt will only be 25 points back of Riggs if he holds onto second in the regular season standings. But Riggs could very well have up to eight or nine wins on the season by that point, which would put him on pace to tie or surpass Heim’s 12-win total from a season ago.

Is Riggs as highly touted of a prospect as Heim? Not yet, and he hasn’t impressed quite enough to get to that tier yet, especially given that Heim just scored his first Cup win. But Riggs does have the opportunity to close out a Heim-esque 2026 with a championship and a slew of wins with a potential Cup seat at Front Row Motorsports waiting for him in the very near future.