Riggs' title hopes dashed after early accident

HOMESTEAD, Fla. -- It appeared ppc Racing entered the Busch Series season finale Saturday afternoon with both of its drivers, Scott Riggs and Jason Keller, still very much in the hunt for the series championship.

Team owners Greg Pollex and Keith Barnwell also opted to field a third team car for young Jon Wood, a budding Craftsman Truck Series star making his Busch Series debut.

That decision quickly went array -- and in the absolute worst way possible.

As the field coursed through Turns 3 and 4 on the race's very first lap, Wood hit Riggs' in the rear end, sending the Nesquik Ford hard into the outside wall.

In one devastating blink-of-an-eye, both the car and Riggs' title hopes were totaled.

"It's disheartening, especially when we've got a teammate, gave him an opportunity to ride there," Riggs said. "Just need to be patient. (Wood) was pretty pumped up, just like all of us were. But it's a long race. It's 200 laps, not just two."

The past two weeks have been difficult for Riggs. Following the Bashas' Supermarkets 200 at Phoenix two weeks back, Riggs held the points lead by 17 points over Ron Hornaday.

But last week at Rockingham, Riggs was caught up in an accident with 35 laps remaining in the Target House 200, resulting in a 38th-place finish that dropped him from first to fifth in the standings heading into Saturday's season-ender.

Setback, yes, Disastrous? No.

Despite his ill fortune, Riggs was still just 85 points behind series leader Brian Vickers and still in the championship chase.

He never had the opportunity to make it up.

"Disappointing way to end my year," Riggs said. "Somebody hit me from the rear. Pretty bad. I hate it for all the guys. They worked too hard to end the last two races like this. That's not what we deserve as a team. Somebody was just a little too impatient, that's all."

Riggs, meanwhile, was remarkably composed as he walked to the infield care center following the accident that dashed his shot at a championship and brought his two-year tenure at ppc Racing to an end. He'll move to Nextel Cup in 2004, joining MBV Motorsports to pilot the No. 10 Valvoline Chevrolet.

"I didn't see how anybody showing their emotions yesterday (in the Truck Series race) on the interviews helped the matter at all," Riggs said.

"I'll go back and cuss and be mad and beat on a wall or something somewhere when it makes me feel better, but I don't want to give anybody racing for this points championship or racing my competitors the satisfaction of seeing me get upset."