Tight race car dooms Riggs at Homestead

HOMESTEAD, Fla. -- Fighting a tight race car throughout Sunday's final Nextel Cup race of the season, Scott Riggs was unable to make a charge and finished 38th Sunday at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

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"The race car was tight all day," said Riggs, who piloted the No. 10 Checkers Florida State Seminoles/ Valvoline Chevrolet in the 400-mile event. "We kept trying to make adjustments on it but could never get the push out of the center of the corner. We even got the rear a little too loose off and a little free in at one point."

As Riggs rounded the 1.5-mile oval on Lap 102 of 267, the back-end of the No. 10 Chevy snapped loose, spinning up the race track and into the outside wall.

"We were especially loose on new tires," said Riggs. "We went back out on the track after a trip down pit road and the car was loose and got away from me and backed into the wall. We made a lot of trips down pit road after that to try and fix it, but it was too late to make much difference."

"The Valvoline team never gave up though," Riggs continued. "I truly appreciate every person on the team -- here and back at the shop. They've given a valiant effort week after week, all year long and never gave up. I've developed friendships with everyone here and that will stay with me for the rest of my career."