Layne Riggs capped one of the best race weekends of his young career, claiming his first-ever pole position then leading the final 20 laps of Friday’s MillerTech Battery 200 to take his first NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series victory of the season in the opening race of a NASCAR tripleheader weekend at Pocono Raceway.
Riggs’ No. 34 Front Row Motorsports Ford beat Tricon Garage driver Tanner Gray to the checkered flag by a healthy 3.64 seconds, delivering the young star his third career series win.
RELATED: Race results | At-track photos: Pocono
Riggs had been fast all day and was running second to championship leader Corey Heim coming to a restart with 19 laps to go only to have Heim’s No. 11 Toyota suffer a flat tire just as the field was about to take the green flag.
Just after Heim pulled off the track for a quick tire change, NASCAR Cup Series regular Carson Hocevar moved his No. 7 Spire Motorsports Truck forward and into the lead on the restart – but was handed a penalty for the move.
Riggs, as the second-place car, was the “control” car when Heim pitted – not Hocevar – and Riggs assumed the lead for good when Hocevar pitted with 18 laps remaining to serve the stop-and-go penalty for his restart violation.
“That’s just a testament to this team, that thing was bad fast, especially that last run right there,” said Riggs, the 23-year-old son of former NASCAR Cup Series standout Scott Riggs.
“I really hate the 11 [Heim] fell out and not sure what the seven [Hocevar] was doing on the restart there, but made sure to take advantage of it.
“But, hey, I’m a happy man right now. This is not what I had circled. Last year, we wrecked in practice, didn’t qualify and ran dead last all day. And today we were the best. It’s amazing.”
For much of the early race – before the tire problem – it appeared the season’s four-race winner Heim would essentially turn in a repeat performance of his work a year ago at the 2.5-mile Pocono track when he swept both stages and won the race. Heim led a race-best 48 of the 90 laps and set an all-time series record, claiming his 12th stage win.
But to his credit, Riggs, who also took a stage win, kept Heim honest all day. And that’s what put him in position to capitalize.
Kaden Honeycutt, who started on the front row alongside Riggs, finished third in the No. 45 Niece Motorsports Chevrolet. Brandon Jones in the No. 1 Tricon Garage Toyota and Daniel Hemric in the No. 19 McAnally-Hilgemann Racing Chevrolet rounded out the top five.
Rookie Connor Mosack, Riggs’ teammate Chandler Smith, Stewart Friesen, reigning series champion Ty Majeski and Rajah Caruth completed the top 10.
Heim rallied to a 23rd-place finish and leads Riggs’ teammate, Chandler Smith by 124 points in the championship standings.
With the victory, Riggs claims the seventh playoff position based on race wins. Only four more regular-season races remain to decide which 10 drivers will compete for the Craftsman Truck Series championship.
Next Saturday, the series makes its first trek up to the historic Lime Rock Park road course in Lakeville, Connecticut, for the inaugural The LIUNA 150 (1 p.m. ET, FOX, NASCAR Racing Network Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
NOTE: Post-race inspection was completed without issue in the Craftsman Truck Series garage, confirming Riggs as the winner.