CLERMONT, Ind. — With a performance just a hair short of perfection, Layne Riggs dominated Friday night‘s TSport 200 presented by Warn Industries and moved tantalizingly close to the No. 1 seed in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series.
The driver of the No. 34 Front Row Motorsports Ford led 198 of 200 laps, swept both stages and took the checkered flag 1.148 seconds ahead of persistent runner-up Connor Mosack to claim his second straight victory at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park.
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“I think it‘s just a statement win,” Riggs said of his fifth triumph of the season and the 10th of his career. “What a truck! I was just on cruise control…”
As far as the series championship goes, Riggs pulled no punches.
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“I think we‘re the ones to beat, for sure.”
Riggs‘ only bobble of the race came the Lap 72 restart after the first stage break. Choosing the preferred top lane for the restart, he spun the tires and allowed Front Row teammate Chandler Smith to take the lead for two laps.
On Lap 74, however, Riggs made an emphatic pass of Smith, diving underneath Smith‘s No. 38 truck entering Turn 1 and sliding up in front of his teammate in Turn 2. From that point on, Riggs maintained control, though Mosack was able to stay close in the closing laps.
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Ty Majeski, a two-time winner at the 0.686-mile short track, finished third and remained solidly in sixth place in the Truck Series standings with two races left in the regular season. Smith came home third, having clinched a berth in the postseason Chase — joining Riggs and Kaden Honeycutt — with a third-place run in Stage 1. Christian Eckes and Gio Ruggiero also added their names to the list of those who have clinched berths in the Chase.
Driving the same Ford F-150 he raced in last year‘s IRP event, Riggs expanded his lead in the standings to 99 points over second-place Honeycutt, who pitted late for fresh tires and worked his way up to seventh by the end of Friday‘s race.
With a solid sixth-place run, Stewart Friesen broke a tie with Tyler Ankrum (ninth Friday) for 10th in the standings, the last Chase-eligible position. With two races left to decide the issue, Friesen holds an eight-point advantage over the driver of the No. 18 McAnally-Hilgemann Racing Chevrolet.
Daniel Hemric‘s hold on a Chase spot suddenly became more tenuous when he spun in Turn 3 to cause the only caution of the night for an on-track incident. With no way to escape the wreck, Landen Lewis plowed into Hemric‘s Chevy, eliminating both drivers from the race.
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Hemric finished 34th, fell to ninth in the standings and leads Ankrum, the first driver below the current Chase cutline by only 14 points.
Nick Sanchez finished fifth in the No. 77 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet. Driving the No. 1 Tricon Garage Toyota, 18-year-old Gavan Boschele ran eighth in his Truck Series debut.
“I had a goal,” said Boschele, who will make his second start in the series Aug. 22 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. “I told myself I wanted to run top-10, and we did that. I can‘t do without these guys — the No. 1 American Land Partners Toyota group helped me be really, really fast tonight.
“They a really good job to get me everything I needed and make me comfortable. Everyone on this team was really solid, so I‘m excited for the three more that I have left this year. We were really fast tonight.”
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Friesen‘s teammate and fellow modified driver Michael Christopher Jr. came home 10th in his third Truck Series outing.
The Truck Series races next on Aug. 14 at Richmond Raceway (FS1, NASCAR Racing Network, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
NOTE: Post-race inspection was completed without issue in the Craftsman Truck Series garage, confirming Layne Riggs as the winner.
