That old saying about a 25-point lead being nothing? Layne Riggs found out the hard way just how true it is.
Heading into The Chase presented by Mobil 1 as the top seed, the Front Row Motorsports Ford driver saw 22 points of his advantage completely vanish in a disastrous 32nd-place finish at Bristol Motor Speedway. It marked his worst result in more than two seasons. After leading the opening 135 laps in his No. 34 machine, a slow stop during the Stage 2 break dropped him back. Then came a loose wheel that forced an unexpected pit stop and put him two laps down. Worse still was a later run-in with Nick Leitz that inflicted extensive damage on the No. 34 machine and forced another trip to pit road.
Yet Riggs wasn't alone in his misery. Out of the 10 championship-eligible drivers, eight hit trouble over the 250 laps in East Tennessee. In fact, for the first time in series history, not a single postseason driver managed to finish inside the top five. Gio Ruggiero salvaged a sixth-place finish as the highest-placed Chase driver.
Seven different drivers managed to claw back points on Riggs. Kaden Honeycutt reaped the biggest reward, slashing his deficit down to just three points. Driving the No. 11 Tricon Garage machine, Honeycutt could have actually taken the points lead had he won, but an unplanned pit stop for a vibration with under 40 laps to go left him finishing eighth and wondering what might have been. Meanwhile, Chandler Smith shaved off five points despite ending up 24th after suffering a practice flat tire, a late Stage 2 speeding penalty, and another flat tire with just seven laps remaining.
Others went through absolute hell. Christian Eckes tumbled four spots in the standings and lost 18 points after finishing 30th with zero stage points. His race unraveled on Lap 40 when contact with fellow Chaser Grant Enfinger sent him slamming into the wall for a lengthy repair job. Enfinger also picked up damage in that same scrap, though he managed to rescue a top-10 result. Ty Majeski and Ruggiero both spun in fluid on Lap 170, while Ben Rhodes copped a pit-road penalty on Lap 135.
Now the series rolls on to Kansas Speedway, where the top two are closer than they have been since the spring race at Bristol. History suggests Kansas will be just as wild, with each of the last three fall races featuring a pass for the win in the final two laps. Honeycutt and Rhodes bring strong intermediate form with top finishes earlier in the year at Texas and Charlotte Motor Speedway, while Riggs secured a victory at Charlotte and a sixth at Texas. Eckes now faces a steep mountain to climb at minus-58, and Smith looks to turn around a quiet intermediate run. As the paddock learned in Thunder Valley, a healthy points cushion can evaporate in a single afternoon.
