Layne Riggs drives down the frontstretch at Kansas Speedway during Craftsman Truck series qualifying. (Photo: Sydney Redden | The Podium Finish)
KANSAS CITY, Kan. — In dramatic fashion, Layne Riggs, the driver of the No. 34 Love’s RV STOP Ford, battled back from a costly green flag pit stop, fighting with a dominant Carson Hocevar for the win in the waning laps of the Heart of Health 200, as the unfortunate disqualification he suffered ruined the entire day.
Riggs, from the beginning of the race, was already on pace to have a good run. The reigning CRAFTSMAN Truck Series Rookie Of The Year award recipient qualified in the middle of the field in 16th place, but he quickly worked his way up to a 6th-place finish by the end of Stage 1. At that point, Riggs’ truck looked like it had the long run pace to move up through the field and hold speed while the tires were fading and starting to get worn out, something that a large portion of the other teams in the field were struggling with throughout the race.
It became clear by the end of Stage 2 that Riggs would have a say on who won this race. He was able to work his way up even farther to a 2nd place finish, putting himself in a pretty good spot for the closing laps of the race. But that was when everything started to unravel for the No. 34 team.
On Lap 95, Riggs came down pit road for what was going to be his final planned stop of the event. Everything went well, except that the No. 33 of Frankie Muniz went sliding through the frontstretch grass to avoid Connor Mosack, who was still coming into the pits to service his No. 81 Chevrolet on Lap 97. After Riggs came down pit road, he was put one lap down by the other drivers who stayed out, resulting in the two-time Truck Series winner losing his track position.
Fortunately for Riggs, he received the free pass, putting his truck back on the lead lap at 16th place in the running order, giving himself a slim chance to regain his lost track position. But that was where the chaos began, and it worked to Riggs’ favor.
On Lap 110, Bayley Currey and Connor Mosack both spun down the backstretch, putting Riggs in a better position to gain more spots. On the following restart, he was able to move up to 4th place, as he passed the No. 15 of Tanner Gray on Lap 123 for 3rd place, with 11 laps remaining in the race.
Layne Riggs battles with the rest of the field heading into turn one in the Heart of Health Care 200. (Photo: Sydney Redden | The Podium Finish)
As the scoring pylon displayed seven laps to go around the 1.5-mile oval, Riggs moved his way past Cup regular William Byron. At this point, it seemed that Riggs had run out of time, with a 1.5-second distance between him and a dominant Carson Hocevar in the No. 7 Chevrolet for Spire Motorsports. But that wasn’t the case for the hard-charging No. 34 truck.
In turns three and four on Lap 131, the Bahama, North Carolina driver cut the lead to 0.473 seconds, quickly closing in on the bumper of Hocevar with only a few laps remaining. The two trucks ran single file for most of those closing laps, until Riggs, on the final lap, was able to get a large enough run off the frontstretch and into the entrance of turn one.
Riggs managed to pull alongside Hocevar’s left rear quarter panel, making contact and causing both trucks to hit the wall in turn two. Hocevar quickly regained control of his truck before Riggs could attempt to take the lead, ultimately resulting in a victory for Hocevar. Riggs achieved a season-best 2nd place with his Front Row Motorsports team, but unfortunately, the team failed post-race technical inspection, dashing the sophomore driver of a runner-up performance.
“Man, I gave it my all there. We were down bad with the track position there,” said Riggs in a post-race interview with FOX. “About midway through the first stage, we were about to take the lead, and we did a green flag pit stop that hurt us”. Riggs gave it all he had at the very end, but he came just short of that first win in the 2025 campaign, and he isn’t letting this heartbreak weigh him down.
“It’s great racing the (NASCAR) Cup (Series) guys, and that just proves I’m going to be there one day.”
Rigg’s DQ was regarding an issue with the bed cover on his No. 34 Ford F-150; the disqualification relegates Riggs to a 31st place result. This marks his third consecutive finish without a top 10 finish despite showing speed in all three events since his sixth-place effort at Bristol Motor Speedway on April 11.
Riggs will keep searching for that first win of the season, as well as a comeback finish in the upcoming race for the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck series next weekend at North Wilkesboro Speedway on May 17 at 1:30 p.m. ET on FS1, NASCAR Racing Network, and Sirius XM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.
