Friday’s NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race at Naval Base Coronado ended in complete chaos, but a familiar name in Victory Lane as Layne Riggs claimed a dramatic win for Front Row Motorsports.
On the final overtime restart, Kaden Honeycutt ran wide and slammed the wall at the exit of Turn 2, collecting Chandler Smith and eliminated both drivers from the battle for the win.
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Suddenly, Daniel Hemric was leading the race, but Tyler Reif muscled his way by, igniting a full-contact battle for the top spot. Hemric and Reif made major contact entering the final chicane, and smoke began to billow from Reif’s Niece Motorsports No. 42 Chevrolet.
Reif held the lead, dragging the wounded truck around the track as he now had to defend from Riggs. The championship leader was all over Reif, who blew the final chicane on the final lap. Riggs moved by, and they slammed doors at the exit of the corner before Reif stopped to serve a penalty for missing the corner.
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For Riggs, it was his fourth win of the 2026 season and the ninth of his career. Daniel Hemric slammed the wall coming to the checkered flag, but still finished second with Kaz Grala third, Landen Lewis fourth, and Ty Majeski fifth.
Unofficially, Justin Haley, Brenden Queen, Ben Rhodes, Christian Eckes, and Gio Ruggiero filled out the remainder of the top ten.
Stage 1
A dozen trucks had to start from the rear after an incident-filled practice and qualifying session. Honeycutt led the field to the green flag, and was briefly challenged by Riggs before holding onto the lead in a clean opening lap.
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Riggs ultimately wrestled the lead away from Honeycutt, three laps into the race.
Nicholson and Sutton collided for the first incident of the race, sending both trucks spinning and triggering a full-course yellow.
On the restart, Majeski pulled off a wild save after locking up at corner entry, straightening his truck out and narrowly avoiding contact.
Riggs went on to win Stage 1, while several trucks opted to pit early and flip the stage.
Stage 2
Riggs pitted from the lead, but about 15 trucks stayed out, with Honeycutt and former NASCAR Cup champion Jimmie Johnson now in control, in a one-off appearance just 19 miles from where he grew up in California.
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Connor Mosack spun in the final chicane, and both Rhodes and LaJoie sustained damage trying to avoid. It actually ended LaJoie’s race.
Johnson took the lead after Honeycutt blew Turn 2, leading laps for the first time in any NASCAR race since he was racing Cup full-time in 2020.
Trackhouse Racing founder Justin Marks, who crashed heavily in practice, slammed the wall again during the race in his backup truck. Corey Lajoie also fell out of the race at this point due to contact in the middle of the field.
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Johnson pitted from the lead with five laps left in Stage 2. Several leading trucks followed soon after, flipping the stage.
Riggs pitted from the lead with just two laps to go in the stage, but it was a slow stop for the No. 34 team.
Parker Kligerman then held off a hard-charging Majeski for the Stage 2 win, crossing the finish line bumper-to-bumper.
On the final lap of the stage, Jamie McMurray slammed the wall at the exit of the final corner, ending the day for him and the No. 25 Kaulig RAM team.
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Stage 3
Honeycutt cycled into the race lead, but while being pressured by C. Smith, he ran wide and hit the wall at the exit of Turn 2. Honeycutt pitted at the end of the lap, as Riggs passed Johnson to make it a FRM 1-2 at the front.
Elsewhere in the field, Friesen reported broken steering and pitted, while Frankie Muniz spun out and crashed. The caution flew for debris with 18 laps to go in the race.
During the caution, Smith pitted from the lead, with Johnson and several others following suit. Brendan Gaughan suffered damage at some point around the track under yellow, while Dawson Sutton stalled on track, and Grant Enfinger lost power after a strong run.
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Riggs was back in control for the restart, followed by Majeski and Ruggiero. There was a lot of contact throughout the field as Honeycutt, Smith, and Johnson tried to slice their way through the field. Johnson went for a spin while battling for eighth, but only lost a few positions.
Jake Garcia stalled on track, triggering the fifth caution of the race with ten laps to go. Johnson pitted during the caution to make repairs to his wounded truck and get a fresher set of tires.
Tanner Gray went for a spin following a hectic restart, as the FRM teammates battled it out for the race win. Smith passed Riggs to the outside through Turn 1 with just seven laps remaining. Johnson went for another spin back in the back, and later stalled.
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The caution flew with four laps to go when Tyler Ankrum slammed the wall while running fifth, completely sheering the right-side off his truck. They needed to fix the concrete wall, red-flagging the race.
On the restart, there was a pileup in the back of the pack, collecting several trucks. Rhodes ran wide and hit the tire barrier at Turn 2, and the field ran out of room as trucks arrived on scene already three-wide. Both Perez and Kligerman were involved, as was Nicholson, who was unable to roll away on his own, and another caution was needed, pushing the race into overtime.
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As you read at the top of the story, chaos ensued, with Honeycutt and Smith wrecking from the lead, allowing Hemric, Reif, and Laynes to engage in all-out slugfest for the win.
Reif was hoping to earn his first NCTS win in just his seventh career start, but blew the final chicane, opening the door for Riggs to door-slam his way by and take a truly spectacular win.
Watch: Riggs dubs himself ‘Layne van Riggsbergen’ after Coronado victory
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