CORONADO, Calif. — With the San Diego skyline in the background, Tyler Reif was one chicane away from his first NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series win.
Instead, the 19-year-old went wide-right entering the left-right-right-left before the final corner, handing Layne Riggs the room needed to win in overtime at Naval Base Coronado. After a 30-second time penalty for short-cutting the course, Reif plummeted down the leaderboard to a 19th-place finish.
Advertisement
RELATED: Unofficial results | At-track photos: Naval Base Coronado
The devastation was apparent on Reif’s face upon exiting the No. 42 Niece Motorsports Chevrolet despite impressing both his team and his competition in the final laps of NASCAR’s inaugural national series race on an active military base.
“Just kind of just drove over my head, right?” Reif said. “I’ve never been in that position. I’ve never been so excited in my life. And for the past month, I’ve been manifesting this, and I threw it away there at the end. I hit that corner 50 times perfect. I was one of the best cars through there all night, and then I missed it on the last lap because I let my head get to big. Gonna work on the mental side of stuff when I get home and go win the next couple.”
Before Reif could even unbuckle from his vehicle, team owner and United States Marine Corps. veteran Al Niece leaned into the passenger-side window to tell Reif: “You drove your ass off today.” That was followed closely by appearances from Niece Motorsports general manager Cody Efaw as well as members of Riggs’ Front Row Motorsports team, including competition director Drew Blickensderfer and No. 34 crew chief Dylan Cappello.
Advertisement
“All four said the same thing. Dylan, Drew, Al and Cody just said, ‘Keep your head down. That was badass. There’s many more to come,”” Reif said.
Although Friday marked Reif’s first time in striking distance for victory, Efaw was not surprised at the young driver’s execution. Reif frequently competes on road courses in Legends cars and has turned in solid performances in his ARCA Menards Series and prior Truck Series starts on such tracks. Reif was second in last year’s ARCA race at Watkins Glen and turned in top 20s at both St. Petersburg and Watkins Glen in earlier Truck starts this season.
“He’s a good kid, good family. He’s a pleasure to be around. I saw a couple other team guys walking up from other teams, like, ‘Hey, great drive.’ I’m like, ‘Stay away from him! He’s mine!”” Efaw told NASCAR.com with a laugh. “Sick of losing drivers to other teams all the time. But the kid drove his heart out. I feel for him, but I think what we don’t look at sometimes is like he’s never been in that spot in the Truck Series. You’ve got a guy that’s winning races left and right on your bumper. Mentally, I can only imagine.”
Reif is eager to regroup from his Friday loss while also balancing what was an impressive performance, placing himself in position when restart leaders Kaden Honeycutt and Chandler Smith collided in Turn 1 and striking when the opportunity presented itself.
Advertisement
“I think the positive, obviously, is it’s only my (seventh) ever truck race and third time on a road course, and I’ve been a top-five truck every road course,” Reif said. “Just take the positives — the speed, the execution and just keep bringing the momentum onto the next race. And I think the win’s very close.”
