Layne Riggs took the checkered flag in the inaugural street race of the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, winning in St. Petersburg as part of IndyCar’s opening weekend.
Riggs had to wait Ben Rhodes and then Ty Majeski in the final laps, while worrying about the amount of fuel he had in the tank of his No. 34 Front Row Motorsports Ford.
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“First thing I’m going to say, thanks to Joey hand” Riggs said in Victory Lane. “I know he’s watching at home. A road course guy – he’s the man. He helped me so much. We have been working on this circuit in the simulator at Ford Racing since December. I really, really wanted to get my first win on a road course. The short track guy from Bahama, North Carolina won in St. Pete, can you believe it? I really tried to perfect my craft. I feel like I was close on the road courses. Just a big thank you to everyone at Front Row Motorsports…I literally said, “I just want to win a road race, just to show that I’m not just a short track guy.”
Riggs appeared to have enough fuel for post-race burnouts, but he was shaking the truck throughout the final lap. He had this to say about the fuel situation: “There was some hiccups about eight hours from the finish. Those trucks’ vans are on the left side, so every time I turned left the fuel would flow out. So the whole time I was just trying to get it to go. I didn’t know, I was trying to manage your gap. Thanks to Ben (Rhodes) and Ty (Majeski). They ran me pretty clean. I know in the last turn, Ty probably could have cleaned me up if he wanted to. We were so close there. What a great feeling.
Majeski finished second, Rhodes third, Chandler Smith fourth, and Kaden Honeycutt fifth. Landen Lewis, Andrés PérezDaniel Hemric, Colin Braun and James Hinchcliffe filled out the rest of the top ten.
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Step 1
Track view
Track view
It was a clean first lap with Connor Mosack in the lead. The first warning came soon after, because Justin Haley ripped off his nose Stewart Friesen and I couldn’t start again.
Rhodes took the lead on the restart, but Mosack stayed close for most of the stage.
Behind them, Dario Franchitti the steering wheel popped in Turn 1 and the door slammed into Hinchcliffe, causing damage to the fenders of Hinch’s vehicle, but both drivers avoided a full-blown accident.
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Later, Tanner Gray spun into the tire pack, but got back on course without needing a yellow.
Rhodes won the stage ahead of Mosack, Lewis, C. Smith, Ruggiero, Franchitti, Riggs, Ankrum, Honeycutt and Perez.
Step 2
Rhodes held the lead on the restart, while Mosack struggled to keep pace after opting not to use fresh tires during non-competitive pit stops during the stage break. He was pushed back several positions, with C. Smith taking second place.
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Caution vanished as Adam Andretti crashed due to contact, involving Christian Eckes and another truck. The team got to work, placing a sledgehammer in the back of Andretti’s truck as Uncle Mario watched from the stand.
At the restart, the peloton spread out three widths to take the lead with the FRM trucks surging. Smith took the lead, but his teammate Riggs challenged him in the final laps of the stage. He made a bold move to the inside, fighting for several corners and Riggs ultimately prevailed.
Hinchcliffe fought his way up to seventh before falling through the pack after missing a corner. Frankie Muniz also pitted with an issue, costing him several laps.
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Riggs won the stage ahead of Smith, Lewis, Majeski, Rhodes, Ruggiero, Ankrum, Francitti, Enfinger and Perez.
Step 3
Riggs held the lead at the restart while Majeski moved into second, splitting FRM’s teammates.
Back on the field, there was a lot of contact throughout the race as the drivers muscled themselves to avoid getting in the way. Some notable moments include when Lewis threw a block at Ankrum, who suffered major fender damage from hitting the back of Lewis’ truck. Cole Butcher and Kris Wright performed single-truck spins in Turn 1, while a stalled Derek White was what ultimately triggered a caution flag.
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On the next restart, Ruggiero started from sixth place while Hinchcliffe spun in 20th place. Nathan Nicholson and Mini Tyrrell also hit the wall on the restart, causing significant damage to the right front of both trucks. However, the warning was only given to White who once again stalled on track.
Majeski took the lead on the restart, but it was short-lived as he ran wide on the final corner, hitting the tire pack and tearing up the grass. He returns to sixth place.
Franchitti, who had been running in the top ten all day, made an unscheduled pit stop due to a steering problem.
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Despite going off the track, Majeski quickly returned to the top five. Rhodes closed in as Riggs navigated slower traffic and nearly came alongside. Majeski then had his turn, passing Rhodes and coming straight to Riggs’ rear bumper on the final lap.
For Riggs, this is his sixth Truck Series victory, and his first on a road/street course.
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