Now, that is how you make a statement. In the opening laps of the Ecosave 200 at Charlotte Motor Speedway, starting all the way back in 13th position, Layne Riggs keyed his team radio and delivered a blunt warning to the field: “They’re in trouble.” He was not wrong, even if securing his seventh victory of the season required some serious late-race grit.
Pilotting the No. 34 Front Row Motorsports Ford, Riggs had to hunt down Chase leader Kaden Honeycutt on Lap 128 of the 134-lap affair. Honeycutt’s No. 11 Toyota broke loose in the top lane and tagged the outside wall with the right rear under the pressure, opening the door for Riggs to claim his second NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series victory at the venue and the 12th win of his career.
“That was a hell of a battle there at the end with me and the 11,” Riggs said, reflecting on a wild duel that required him to fight past Honeycutt multiple times after losing ground on pit road. “I think I had to pass the 11 three or four times. We’ve got to still work on pit road. That was our weakness still, but I kept driving to the front.”
The triumph served as sweet redemption following the second Chase race on September 26 at Kansas, where a late wall-strike while running second dropped Riggs down to a 19th-place finish. This time around, racing without internal pressure, he simply went out and wheeled the machine to victory lane.
The late-race drama reshaped the championship picture significantly, narrowing Riggs’ Chase deficit down to 17 points behind Honeycutt. Honeycutt ultimately crossed the line in third place after also surrendering the runner-up spot to Christian Eckes one lap following the decisive pass. “I just focused on him too much. I should have run my own race,” Honeycutt admitted after a near-spin while attempting to defend the lead with seven laps left.
Christian Eckes brought his Chevrolet home second for the second consecutive week, putting himself fourth in the standings and 88 points behind Honeycutt with four Chase races remaining. Behind a non-Chase driver, Bayley Currey, Chandler Smith rounded out the top five and now sits 77 points back in the title hunt. The chaotic afternoon featured five cautions consuming 28 laps, alongside a 12-minute and 58-second red-flag period triggered by a massive eight-truck accident on Lap 118.
That unfortunate wreck claimed two special machines among the Kyle Busch tribute cars running in celebration of the late NASCAR Cup Series champion. Both the No. 7 pole sitter Connor Mosack—celebrating the 100th Truck Series victory of Kyle Busch Motorsports—and the No. 77 of Rajah Caruth, honoring KBM’s very first win, were forced out of the event. Daniel Hemric, Landen Lewis, Andrés Pérez, Tyler Ankrum, and Justin Haley rounded out the top 10 finishers as the Truck Series Chase looks ahead to its next battle at Phoenix Raceway.
