Layne Riggs stomped the competition and capped off a dominant run that involved sweeping all stages to win the TSport 200 at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park on Friday, July 25.
The 23-year-old Riggs from Bahama, North Carolina, led twice for a race-high 160 of 200-scheduled laps in an event where he started in 11th place, but assumed the lead for the first time from Corey Heim on Lap 21. After sweeping the event’s first two stage periods and leading up to the Lap 125 mark, Riggs was shuffled back to seventh place amid pit strategies that had select competitors, led by Stewart Friesen, cycling ahead of Riggs and most of the field.
Nevertheless, it took Riggs 16 laps into the third and final stage period to use his four fresh tires against Friesen’s older tires and reassume the lead. From there, Riggs never looked back as he spent the remainder of the event methodically navigating his way through lapped traffic before he claimed the checkered flag on Lap 200 for his second NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series victory of the 2025 season.
With on-track qualifying that was scheduled to occur on Friday canceled due to inclement weather, the event’s starting lineup was based on metric formula per the NASCAR rule book. As a result, Corey Heim was awarded the pole position, and he shared the front row with Ty Majeski.
Before the event, Stewart Friesen and Frankie Muniz dropped to the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments to their respective entries.
When the green flag waved and the race started, Corey Heim and Chandler Smith quickly jumped ahead of the field from the inside lane as Heim retained the lead from the first two turns to the backstretch. As the field fanned out through Turns 3 and 4, Heim led the first lap over Smith and Ty Majeski while Ben Rhodes, rookie Giovanni Ruggiero, and Tyler Ankrum led the rest of the field from the top-six spots.
Over the next four laps, Heim stretched his lead to eight-tenths of a second over Chandler Smith while third-place Majeski tried to reel in on Smith for the runner-up spot. Behind, Layne Riggs battled Ben Rhodes for fourth place while Tyler Ankrum, Grant Enfinger, Kaden Honeycutt, Ruggiero and Daniel Hemric battled amongst one another in the top-10 mark. Amid the early battles within the field, Heim led by a second at the Lap 10 mark.
Through the first 20 scheduled laps, Heim retained the lead by a tenth over a hard-charging Riggs as the latter had reeled in and shaved off Heim’s early advantage. Following numerous attempts to gain runs on Heim from the inside lane, Riggs then used the outside lane entering Turns 3 and 4 to draw even and lead Lap 21 by a hair over Heim. Riggs proceeded to use the outside lane through the first two turns to muscle his No. 34 Clew Ford F-150 entry ahead of Heim’s No. 11 Safelite Toyota Tundra TRD Pro entry. With the lead in his possession, Riggs led the following lap and he continued to lead by Lap 25.
Just past the Lap 30 mark, Riggs extended his lead to more than a second over Heim while third-place Majeski started to reel in Heim for the runner-up spot. Behind, Chandler Smith occupied fourth place and Ankrum was in fifth place, with both trailing the lead by within four seconds. Majeski proceeded to overtake Heim for the runner-up spot by Lap 35 while Riggs proceeded to lead by more than three seconds at the Lap 40 mark.
By Lap 50, Riggs stabilized his advantage to nearly three seconds over Majeski while third-place Chandler Smith trailed by more than six seconds. Meanwhile, Heim was mired back in fifth place behind Grant Enfinger while Ankrum, Rajah Caruth, Corey Day, Ben Rhodes, and Ross Chastain were racing in the top 10 ahead of Tanner Gray, Kaden Honeycutt, rookie Connor Mosack, Daniel Hemric, and Brenden “Butterbean” Queen, respectively.
When the first stage period concluded on Lap 60, Riggs, who was leading by more than three seconds, cruised to his fifth Truck stage victory of the 2025 season. Majeski followed suit in second ahead of Chandler Smith, Enfinger, and Heim, while Ankrum, Caruth, Corey Day, Ben Rhodes, and Tanner Gray were scored in the top 10, respectively. By then, 18 of 35 starters were scored on the lead lap while numerous competitors led by Matt Crafton were lapped by the field.
Under the first stage break period, the lead lap field led by Riggs pitted for a first round of pit service. Following the pit stops, Riggs retained the lead as he exited pit road first ahead of Majeski, Caruth, Ankrum, Chandler Smith, Corey Day, Tanner Gray, and Enfinger, respectively, while Heim, who endured a slow pit service, dropped to ninth place. Additionally, Ross Chastain had a left-front wheel that rolled out from his entry after the wheel was not properly tightened during his service.
The second stage period started on Lap 70 as Riggs and Majeski occupied the front row. At the start, Riggs used the outside lane to muscle ahead of Majeski through the first two turns and before entering the backstretch. As Riggs led the following lap, Majeski followed suit while Caruth and Chandler Smith battled dead even against one another for third place.
Behind, Ankrum dueled and fended off Tanner Gray for fifth place while Heim, Corey Day, and Enfinger followed suit. Amid numerous battles within the field, Riggs retained the lead by four-tenths of a second over a hard-charging Majeski by Lap 75.
Through the Lap 85 mark, Riggs stretched his advantage to more than a second over runner-up Majeski while third-place Chandler Smith trailed by more than two seconds. Behind, fourth-place Caruth trailed by four seconds while both fifth-place Ankrum and sixth-place Heim followed suit by five seconds.
Then on Lap 98, the caution flew when Alan Waller wrecked his No. 22 EPIC Ford F-150 entry in Turn 3. By then, Riggs was leading by two seconds over Majeski while Chandler Smith, Caruth and Ankrum were scored in the top five. During the caution period, some, including Caruth, Enfinger, Connor Mosack, Kaden Honeycutt, Rhodes, Friesen, Crafton, Queen, Jake Garcia, and Luke Fenhaus, pitted their respective entries while the rest, led by Riggs, remained on the track.
The start of the next restart on Lap 105 nearly featured a three-wide collision between teammates Riggs and Chandler Smith, along with Majeski, in a battle for the lead through the first two turns. Nonetheless, Riggs managed to come out on top through the backstretch and proceeded to lead the following lap. The field behind fanned out to nearly four lanes, from Turn 3 to the frontstretch.
As numerous competitors within the field continued to jostle and fan out for late spots, Riggs pulled away with the lead over teammate Chandler Smith, Majeski, and Heim while Friesen started to mount a late charge. By Lap 112, Friesen, who pitted during the previous caution period for fresh tires, made his way up to the runner-up spot as he trailed Riggs by more than a second.
When the second stage period concluded on Lap 120, Riggs captured his sixth Truck stage victory of the 2025 season and second of the event. Friesen, who trailed Riggs by one and a half seconds, followed suit in second ahead of Rhodes, Enfinger, and Chandler Smith, while Kaden Honeycutt, Majeski, Heim, Luke Fenhaus, and Connor Mosack were scored in the top 10, respectively.
During the latest stage break period, some led by Riggs, including those who did not during the previous caution period, pitted their respective entries, while the rest led by Friesen, including a host of others who pitted earlier, remained on the track.
The Final Stage
With 71 laps remaining, the final stage period commenced as Friesen and Enfinger occupied the front row. At the start, the field fanned out to nearly four lanes entering the first turn as Friesen maintained the lead over Enfinger. As the field continued to fan out through Turns 3 and 4, Friesen led the following lap and continued to lead through the next lap.
Enfinger battled Rhodes, Heim, Riggs, and Luke Fenhaus to maintain the runner-up spot. Over the following five laps, the trio of Rhodes, Heim and Riggs outdueled Enfinger to move from second to fourth on the track and they started to reel in on Friesen for the lead with 65 laps remaining.
Down to the final 60 laps of the event, Friesen maintained the lead by seven-tenths of a second over a hard-charging Rhodes, the latter of whom opted to pit during the second stage period despite pitting during the caution period before the second stage’s conclusion. Rhodes, however, was also engaged in another tight battle in fending off Heim and Riggs for the runner-up spot. Meanwhile, Corey Day navigated his way up to fifth place over Enfinger while Hemric, Fenhaus, Caruth, and Honeycutt occupied top-10 spots ahead of Majeski, Chandler Smith, Tanner Gray, and Ankrum, respectively.
Then, with 55 laps remaining, Riggs, who had fresher tires than Friesen, used a crossover move on Friesen through the first two turns to reassume the lead. Friesen then tried to execute a crossover move of his own beneath Riggs through the backstretch, but the latter used the outside lane to muscle ahead through the frontstretch, which enabled him to lead with 54 laps remaining. As Riggs proceeded to methodically stretch his advantage to eight-tenths of a second over Friesen with 50 laps remaining, Rhodes, Heim and Day continued to trail in the top five, respectively.
With 40 laps remaining, Riggs stabilized his advantage to eight-tenths of a second over Friesen while third-place Heim trailed by more than two seconds. Five laps later, Day overtook Heim for third place while Riggs stretched his advantage to nearly a second over Friesen. Riggs proceeded to lead by nine-tenths of a second with 30 laps remaining.
Down to the final 20 laps of the event, Riggs continued to lead by more than a second over runner-up Friesen and by two seconds over third-place Corey Day while top-five competitors Heim and Enfinger both trailed by five seconds. During the next five laps, Day started to reel in on Friesen for the runner-up spot while Riggs added another second to his advantage. Day then steered his No. 7 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Silverado RST entry from the outside lane to overtake Friesen’s No. 52 Halmar Toyota Tundra TRD Pro entry for the runner-up spot another three laps later.
With 10 laps remaining, Riggs retained the lead by more than two seconds over Day, while third-place Friesen, who was slowly losing ground to Day, trailed by three seconds in third place. As both Heim and Enfinger continued to race in the top five on the track, Riggs stabilized his lead to more than two seconds over Day with five laps remaining.
Victory
When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Riggs remained in the lead by a big margin over Day. With a large advantage working to his favor, Riggs was able to smoothly navigated his way around Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park for a final time before he cycled back to the frontstretch and claimed his second checkered flag of the 2025 season.
With the victory, Riggs, who made his Truck Series debut at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park three years ago, notched his fourth career win in the Craftsman Truck Series division, his first at Indy and his first since he won at Pocono Raceway in June.
Riggs’ victory also made him the third multi-race winner of the 2025 season and the 15th competitor overall to win a Truck race at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park. The victory also marked the fourth Truck win of the 2025 campaign for both the Ford nameplate and Front Row Motorsports.
“This truck was badass,” Riggs said on FS1. “It was so great. I was just out front and saving my tires at the end. I was just waiting for a late-race caution, trying to run the bottom [lane] and trying to run the least amount of distance off my tires. Thank you to everybody at home. All the guys at the fab shop, body shop. I did it for you guys. This [No. 34 truck] was really, really fast. [It] Made my job easy today.”
Corey Day, who made his seventh Truck Series start of the 2025 season, followed suit in second place for a career-best result as he ended up less than two seconds behind Riggs. Stewart Friesen, who was making his 200th Truck Series career start, settled in third place while Corey Heim came home in fourth place ahead of Grant Enfinger.
2025 Craftsman Truck Series Regular Season Champion
Heim’s fourth-place result, combined with the top-10 results he notched throughout the event’s first two stage periods, was enough for him to be officially named the 2025 Craftsman Truck Series Regular Season Champion. With his second regular-season title in three years, Heim has two regular-season events remaining on the 2025 schedule (Watkins Glen International on August 8 and Richmond Raceway on August 15) before he bids for his first series’ driver’s championship at the start of the Playoffs at Darlington Raceway on August 30.
“[The championship] feels really good,” Heim said. “[It’s] Just a testament to how good we’ve been this year. I feel like this is probably the first race where I haven’t had a legitimate shot to compete for the win. That really says something. [I’m] Just really proud of all the guys at TRICON Garage. They’ve been lights out this year. I feel like we’ve got some good races coming up as well, so huge thank you to them, Toyota, Safelite and everyone else who makes this happen.”
Ty Majeski, Chandler Smith, Daniel Hemric, Tyler Ankrum and Ross Chastain completed the top 10 in the final running order.
There were three lead changes for three different leaders. The race featured three cautions for 24 laps. In addition, 14 of 35 starters finished on the lead lap.
Following the 16th event of the 2025 Craftsman Truck Series season, Corey Heim, the 2025 Truck Series regular-season champion, leads the regular-season standings by 143 points over Chandler Smith and 148 over Layne Riggs.
Results:
1. Layne Riggs, 160 laps led, Stages 1 & 2 winner
2. Corey Day
*3. Stewart Friesen – Please note: Friesen was disqualified after post-race inspection. His No. 52 truck did not meet the height requirement (too low in the front). He drops from third place to last (35th).
4. Corey Heim, 20 laps led
5. Grant Enfinger
6. Ty Majeski
7. Chandler Smith
8. Daniel Hemric
9. Tyler Ankrum
10. Ross Chastain
11. Rajah Caruth
12. Ben Rhodes
13. Luke Fenhaus
14. Tanner Gray
15. Kaden Honeycutt, one lap down
16. Jake Garcia, one lap down
17. Brenden Queen, one lap down
18. Connor Mosack, one lap down
19. Matt Crafton, one lap down
20. Dawson Sutton, one lap down
21. Jack Wood, one lap down
22. Matt Mills, two laps down
23. Andres Perez de Lara, two laps down
24. Brent Crews, two laps down
25. Spencer Boyd, two laps down
26. Giovanni Ruggiero, two laps down
27. Toni Breidinger, two laps down
28. Frankie Muniz, three laps down
29. Greg Van Alst, six laps down
30. Jordan Anderson, six laps down
31. Jayson Alexander, seven laps down
32. Norm Benning – OUT, Handling
33. Alan Waller – OUT, Accident
34. Boston Oliver – OUT, Handling
35. Cody Dennison – OUT, Electrical
Next on the 2025 Craftsman Truck Series schedule is the series’ return to Watkins Glen International following a four-year absence. The event is scheduled to occur on August 8 and air at 5 p.m. ET on FS1.
