BRISTOL, Tenn. — After he climbed out of his No. 34 Front Row Motorsports truck on Thursday night (Sept. 17), Layne Riggs slammed his helmet on the roof of it and kicked the side in frustration.
His chance to score a dominant win and stretch out his points lead in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Chase opener at Bristol Motor Speedway went up in smoke, almost literally. Despite leading 135 laps and winning the first two stages, Riggs finished 32nd, 16 laps down.
“We had the truck to beat,” Riggs said. “This one stinks really, really bad.”
Meanwhile, Riggs’ Front Row Motorsports teammate Chandler Smith sat on the pit wall for a long time after the race, thinking about what could’ve been for his day. Smith finished third behind Riggs and Kaden Honeycutt in those opening two stages, and while he didn’t lead a lap all night, it seemed he could take control of the race after Riggs lost five spots on pit road during the stage 2 caution due to issues changing the right-side tires. Instead, Smith sped on pit road and had to go to the tail of the lead-lap trucks.
“Most certainly [had a truck that could win] after I came down pit road,” Smith told Frontstretch. “My pit crew did a great job. My crew chief did a great job on adjusting on the truck. But unfortunately, [I] sped in the corner and had to go to the back.”
Riggs immediately climbed back up to third but had to pit under the green flag just 19 laps later due to a vibration. He lost two laps because of that stop and never saw the lead lap again.
“At that point, you’re just riding around and just staying in front of the people that were two [laps] down,” Riggs said. “At that point, there’s really nothing you can do. You just gotta beat the guys that are on your lap, so not doing much racing right there.”
That wasn’t the last of Riggs’ tire issues. He got into an incident with Nick Leitz on lap 226 that created a tire rub. He had to pit again, and that’s where he lost the rest of his 16 laps.
“… Mired in the back and you’re two laps down and you’re just riding around with guys in the back,” Riggs said. “I guess the 1 [Leitz] just lost talent and wrecked. I don’t really know what happened there. Probably top three hardest hits in my life. I cannot believe the truck was still rolling after that.”
Smith, on the other hand, rallied from his speeding penalty to re-enter the top 10. But then he, too, picked up a vibration that caused him to start to lose spots. With just six laps to go, Smith finally pitted to change the right-front tire.
“I was making my way through the field, and the truck was extremely good,” Smith said. “I was very confident in it going back through the field and being able to get back to the front and contend for the win.
“But unfortunately, we had a mechanical issue that started developing about three-quarters of the way through that last run, and [I] started noticing my balance was getting a lot tighter, picked up a really bad vibration. The wheel literally split in half. The stud on the lug nut’s completely gone.”
Instead of competing for the win or even rallying to get a top 10, Smith left Bristol with a 24th-place result, three laps down.
“Unfortunately, these things happen in big auto racing,” Smith said. “Nevertheless, though, got decent solid stage points today and some other guys also had misfortune, unfortunately, for them as well.”
Friday night’s Truck race was a tough one for a lot of The Chase competitors, and none finished inside the top five to capitalize on the FRM drivers’ misfortune. The damage could’ve been a lot worse for Riggs and Smith in the point standings, but instead Riggs leads Bristol with a three-point lead over Kaden Honeycutt and Smith is third, 30 points behind his teammate.
Riggs’ mood lightened up slightly when he was informed that he was still the points leader.
“Could have been a lot worse of a day, but we gotta clean that up if we’re gonna win a championship,” Riggs said.
Smith, on the other hand, seemed to take the result much more in stride, even though he didn’t get to have a huge points day at one of his best racetracks. Two of Smith’s nine career Truck wins were at Bristol. When asked if it felt like an opportunity that got away, he replied with “yes” before elaborating why he wasn’t in a worse mood about it.
“I mean, yes, but at the end of the day I just pray for God’s will to be done and not mine,” Smith said. “Days like today, exactly what you just said, I would love it. This is, statistically speaking, one of my best racetracks. Days like today humble you though. Just because you plan on certain things and want certain things doesn’t mean they’re always gonna happen.”
Smith said that his team will race a new truck next week at Kansas Speedway and that he was really looking forward to that race.
Michael Massie joined Frontstretch in 2017 and has served as the Content Director since 2020.
Massie, a Richmond, Va., native, has covered NASCAR, IndyCar, SRX and the CARS Tour. Outside of motorsports, the Virginia Tech grad and Green Bay Packers minority owner can be seen cheering on his beloved Hokies and Packers.
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