LEBANON, Tenn. — Layne Riggs set the pace early in Friday night‘s rain-delayed NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race at Nashville Superspeedway, then rallied to a dramatic final-lap pass when it mattered most to claim the track‘s iconic “Victory Guitar” trophy in the Allegiance 200.
Riggs, who started sixth on the race‘s eighth and final restart with 16 laps to go, passed the defending race winner Rajah Caruth coming off Turn 2 on the last lap after getting a strong push forward from his Front Row Motorsports teammate Chandler Smith to hold the front position and take his second consecutive — and third — win of the 2026 season in the No. 34 Front Row Motorsports Ford.
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RELATED: Race results | At-track photos: Nashville
After leading all of the opening 90 laps and claiming victories in both Stage 1 and Stage 2 of the race, Riggs restarted the final stage from the fifth row, losing positions after the competition‘s varying pit strategies. His move forward afterward, however, was an exhilarating ending to a long night.
Ultimately, the 23-year-old North Carolina native and second-generation NASCAR driver took the checkered flag by a slight 0.468 seconds over Caruth, who drove the No. 7 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet originally intended to be raced by Kyle Busch, who passed away at the age of 41 from sepsis last Thursday.
It was an emotional win for Riggs, who dedicated the victory to Busch and an equally emotional outing for Caruth, who honored Busch with his own outstanding run toward the trophy, too.
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“Not till I passed him and cleared him,” Riggs said of feeling confident in his dramatic comeback and energized by his triumph at a track where his father Scott Riggs won the series‘ inaugural Truck race back in 2001 and two other O‘Reilly Auto Parts Series races (2002-03).
“That‘s how you win a NAS Truck race there, boys and girls. I hope I put on a show for you. I didn‘t want to fall back, but I don‘t know what happened with that set of tires. It was literally undrivable.
“[Crew chief] Dylan [Capello] made the right adjustments there, got me the tires, got me the motivation and drove to the front,” he said of a late race pit stop gamble for an adjustment and new tires with 32 laps remaining.
“So proud of the awesome finish there with the 38 truck (Smith), he gave me the push for the win and good racing there with Chandler tonight,‘‘ he added of his teammate, who finished third.
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Caruth, who led 44 laps, was second only to Riggs‘ effort, looked to become only the second driver in history to earn back-to-back wins on the 1.33-mile Nashville concrete oval, and certainly the talented and well-liked young driver had the emotional support of millions of NASCAR fans who would have loved to see Busch‘s truck return to Victory Lane.
“I was trying to make this thing as wide as possible,‘‘ Caruth said of trying to hold off Riggs, whose car was on fresher tires. “But that was a great call by Brian. We were strong, but starting at the back because of qualifying [being rained out] kind of impacted our night. We got the car really strong there and probably some things I could have done better.
“Glad to give these guys a good result. … really wanted to get that one obviously for everybody that was at KBM [Kyle Busch Motorsports], especially KB‘s family. Close. I just didn‘t close it out.‘‘
“Wanted to get a trophy tonight. So close. But proud of the effort and the team.‘‘
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MORE: Caruth reacts to runner-up finishCup Series regular Ross Chastain finished fourth in the Niece Motorsports Chevrolet, followed by Tyler Ankrum in the No. 18 McAnally-Hilgemann Chevy.
Stewart Friesen, Grant Enfinger, 2024 Nashville winner Christian Eckes, Gio Ruggiero and Daniel Dye rounded out the top 10.
With his victory and a rare laps-down finish for Tricon Garage‘s Kaden Honeycutt, Riggs took over the championship lead by 37 points over Honeycutt.
The Craftsman Truck Series returns to action next Saturday at the Michigan International Speedway 2-mile oval with the DQS Solutions & Staffing 250 at 1:30 p.m. ET (FS1, NRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). Stewart Friesen is the defending race winner.
NOTE: Post-race inspection in the Craftsman Truck Series garage was completed without issue, confirming Riggs as the race winner.
