Scott Riggs earned the right to compete in his first All-Star Challenge. Credit: Autostock

Riggs wins Open to qualify for Challenge

CONCORD, N.C. -- Three months ago, Scott Riggs was feeling low after failing to make the Nextel Cup opener at Daytona International Speedway in his first appearance for Evernham Motorsports.

On Saturday night, he was posing with his son, Lane, at Lowe's Motor Speedway after capturing the Nextel Open that earned him a spot in the Nextel All-Star Challenge.

Scott Riggs led all but the first lap in the Open. Credit: Autostock

Nextel Open Unofficial Results Pos. Driver Make 1. Scott Riggs Dodge 2. Jeff Green Chevy 3. Brian Vickers Chevy 4. Denny Hamlin Chevy 5. J.J. Yeley Chevy 6. David Stremme Dodge 7. Jeff Burton Chevy 8. Sterling Marlin Chevy 9. Robby Gordon Chevy 10. Ken Schrader Ford • Complete results, click here Nextel Open winnerScott Riggs takes the checkers in the Nextel Open Nextel OpenView all the highlights from the Nextel Open Sign up for TrackPass now BUY THE NEXTEL i836

Riggs, who started on the pole, led all but the first lap of the 30-lap shootout that had little drama outside of a couple of spinouts coming off Turn 4.

"That's a good little race team,'' team owner Ray Evernham said. "They needed a little vote of confidence. It's a big day for them and a big day for Evernham Motorsports to have three cars in the all-star race.

"It says we're on track.''

Riggs' teammate, Kasey Kahne, won the pole for the main event. Jeremy Mayfield qualified 18th in the 20-car field.

"They tested really hard together,'' said Evernham, who seems to have found the right combination with the hard tires on the new surface at LMS. "Right now the track is allowing us to make the Charger fast, but we haven't really had a chance to test in traffic.

"That's what we're really worried about now.''

Riggs was optimistic that wouldn't be a problem, predicting he would move up in the field in the main event.

"We had a good car off the truck and didn't make a lot of changes,'' he said. "It feels good to be in the all-star show. Most of the time we've been sitting back and watching it.''

Evernham hopes this is the start of a turnaround for Riggs, who is 26th in the points race. He also hopes it's the start of the turnaround for his organization that put only one driver, Mayfield, in the Chase a year ago.

"I've got to be cautious about [thinking we've turned the corner], because I thought we had turned the corner in 2004 and we really sucked in 2005,'' said Evernham, who has only one driver, Kahne, in the top 10 heading into next week's Coca-Cola 600.

"But this year it seems like we're back on track again.''

Riggs would like to think his team is for sure.

"All the guys on this team have been making marks and getting better and better,'' he said. "Not a lot have noticed yet because we're still a new team and making mistakes here and there.

"This is good for us.''