TALLADEGA, Ala. – Entering Talladega Superspeedway, a blanket could cover the seven Craftsman Truck Series playoff drivers that hadn’t already clinched a spot in the Championship 4 at Phoenix Raceway. After 90 laps, there’s a bit more clarity.
Rajah Caruth entered the Love’s RV Stop 225 on the proverbial cutline, knowing he needed a “big-picture race.” Veteran crew chief Kevin “Bono” Manion and spotter Eddie D’Hondt reiterated that phrase multiple times throughout the event on the No. 71 team’s radio.
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With half of the playoff contingent receiving damage in the opening stage, Caruth powered on to his first stage victory of the season. It was the second stage victory of his career.
Among the playoff drivers with heavy damage during the first stage was Layne Riggs. Contact from his Front Row Motorsports teammate Chandler Smith at Lap 10 sent the No. 34 truck around with considerable damage. He rebounded in the waning laps of the stage to finish 12th.
“[Smith] gave me a big shove into the corner and just the wrong spot to do that,” Riggs stated. “I’m very thankful it wasn’t a day-ender because it very well could have been easily.”
Riggs powered on during the second stage while Caruth battled for the stage victory, ultimately finishing third and banked eight additional stage points. On Lap 31, the No. 34 Ford cut a left-front tire and needed to drop out of the draft to hit pit road. He was credited with a 31st-place result in Stage 2 and lost the left-front crush panel. The Dylan Capello-led team made significant repairs, requiring Riggs to switch which foot he was using to throttle the car due to a blistering in-car temperature.
Pushing Spire Motorsports teammate Corey Lajoie during an overtime restart, Caruth got squirrely through the tri-oval on the final lap and dropped to ninth position. Riggs, glued to the double-yellow line, moved up the running order, taking the checkered flag in fifth position. Caruth earned a ninth-place finish and has three consecutive top-10 finishes for the second time in 2025.
“I would say pretty frustrated with how it ended,” Caruth said, describing his emotions post-race. “I didn’t want to split [Lajoie], I just got popped at the wrong time. Still a great points day.”
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The No. 71 truck dropped a handful of spots in the sprint to the finish off the tri-oval, but was fortunate to be in one piece, Manion was relayed by some of his competitors. Ultimately, Caruth is 14 markers above the bubble entering the Round of 8 elimination race at Martinsville Speedway.
“You’re never safe going into Martinsville, but today was a great race for us,” Manion told NASCAR.com. “I feel like we gave up five points in the last 500 feet, which is painful, but after a little bit of replay and talking to a couple of people, we were lucky we weren’t last in the tri-oval when we got a shot from behind. Big picture for the day is it was a massive points day.”
Riggs lessened the blow by charging late in the race, but dropped from fifth to sixth on the playoff grid. He lost five points to the cutline and will enter Martinsville six points behind the cutoff.
“Thankfully, Martinsville is pretty cut and dry,” Riggs added. “If you’re fast, you’re going to run up front and get stage points if you qualify well and run up front. We’ve got to go with big speed.
“We’ve been working for six weeks on Martinsville. I’ve put over 20 hours into it, trying to get better at that race track. It’s a place I feel like I’ve always been pretty good, we’ve just never been a stellar truck.”
Tyler Ankrum is currently slotted in third on the playoff grid, eight points above the cutline. Kaden Honeycutt will enter Martinsville on the bubble, five points ahead of Ty Majeski. Daniel Hemric (-32) and Grant Enfinger (-40) will be in must-win mode, as both failed to finish at Talladega.