CORONADO, Calif. — Short on fuel and long on perseverance and good fortune, Layne Riggs won Friday’s inaugural NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series at Naval Base Coronado on the Qualcomm Circuit.
It wasn’t until the final two corners of NASCAR Overtime that Riggs was able to claim his fourth Truck victory of the season and the ninth of his career. The No. 34 Front Row Racing Ford pilot was running second behind Tyler Reif entering the chicane that precedes the final corner at the 3.4-mile, 16-turn street circuit.
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Under pressure from Riggs, Reif blew the chicane, steered to the inside of the tire barriers defining the racing line and came to a stop after exiting. Riggs grabbed the lead and reached the finish line 1.332 seconds ahead of runner-up Daniel Hemric, who ran the final circuit with a tire losing air.
RELATED: Unofficial results | At-track photos: Naval Base Coronado
“Layne van Riggsbergen came to play today, man,” Riggs chortled after climbing from his car — a facetious reference to road-course superstar Shane van Gisbergen in the NASCAR Cup Series. “We’re undefeated in street course races — much respect, Shane. I hope I can be as good as you one day, man. I’m going to take all my glory here in the Truck Series.
“I don’t even know what happened at the end — sparks flying, people wrecking, staying in the throttle. I was running out of fuel the entire last lap. It was like St. Pete all over again (an earlier Riggs victory this season, also a street race).”
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Entering the chicane on the final lap, Riggs was trying to force Reif into a mistake — and succeeded.
“I faked left to scare him, and he missed the corner,” Riggs said. “I really wasn’t going to dive it in there, and it worked for me … An amazing, historic win.”
Reif was trying to win in only his seventh start in the series. He finished 19th after being assessed a 30-second penalty for short-cutting the course on the final lap.
“I hear (Riggs was) one (car-length) back from me, and I didn’t want to give him a chance to get to me,” Reif said. “It was my mistake. It’s very unfortunate that I did that. I don’t know how many more chances I’ll have like this, but I’m sure there’ll be more, and I’m going to make sure not to make that mistake again.”
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MORE: Reif details Naval Base Coronado result
The final two laps featured a surfeit of twists and turns. Superior strategy put Chandler Smith at the front of the field for the overtime restart on Lap 52, with fresher tires and more fuel than Riggs, his teammate.
Smith led the field to green with Kaden Honeycutt beside him, but Honeycutt brushed the wall on the downhill run toward Turn 2, and Smith crashed trying to avoid him. As cars bounced off each other behind them, Hemric briefly took the lead, only to be challenged and passed by Reif, who blocked Hemric’s Chevrolet into the wall approaching the chicane on the white-flag lap.
Reif held the lead from that point on until his mistake in the tight, freshly-paved chicane. In the overtime melee, Kaz Grala finished third, followed by Landen Lewis (a career best) and Ty Majeski.
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Smith and Honeycutt ran 22nd and 23rd, respectively. Seven-time Cup Series champion and NASCAR Hall of Famer Jimmie Johnson led two laps but finished 30th after spinning twice and losing power in the final stage. Johnson was making his second start in the series, 18 years removed from his first.
MORE: Craftsman Truck Series standings | Craftsman Truck Series schedule
The race featured 16 lead changes among six drivers, with Riggs leading a race-high 21 circuits and Smith 13. There were seven cautions for 13 laps.
Riggs, who won Stage 1, increased his series lead to 65 points over Honeycutt, with Smith trailing by 128 points in third place with five events remaining in the Truck Series regular season. Parker Kligerman won Stage 2 before finishing 18th.
The Truck Series returns to action on July 11 at Lime Rock Park (1 p.m. ET, FS1, NASCAR Racing Network Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
