Layne Riggs capped off the 2026 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series’ regular-season stretch on a dominant note by winning the Team EJP 175 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway on Saturday, August 22, amid two overtime attempts.
The 24-year-old Riggs from Bahama, North Carolina, led twice for a race-high 106 of 189 over-scheduled laps in an event where he led the field from pole position and led the first 35 laps before he was overtaken by Connor Zilisch and settled in the runner-up spot when the first stage period concluded. After navigating his way to finish third when the second stage period concluded, Riggs outdueled Stewart Friesen in the opening laps of the third and final stage period.
Despite the final stage period being mired with four caution periods, with the last two extending the event into two overtime shootouts, Riggs was not to be denied more additional momentum towards his championship hopes as he fended off teammate Chandler Smith and Kaden Honeycutt during the final overtime shootout to notch his sixth Truck victory of the 2026 campaign prior to his seven-race Chase entrance.
With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Friday, August 21, Layne Riggs secured the pole position with a pole-winning lap at 129.789 mph in 29.346 seconds. Kaden Honeycutt qualified in second place with a lap at 128.811 mph in 29.569 seconds.
Prior to the event, Dawson Sutton and Luke Baldwin dropped to the rear of the field due to driver changes as they replaced Toni Breidinger and Frankie Muniz, respectively. Spencer Boyd and Kris Wright also dropped to the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments that were made to their respective entries.
When the green flag waved and the event commenced, Layne Riggs, who started on the outside lane, fended off Kaden Honeycutt, Connor Zilisch and the field through the first two turns before the event’s first caution flew. The caution was due to the front-runners checking up at the event’s launch, which caused the rest of the oncoming field to stack up, and Jake Garcia running into the rear of Gavan Boscehele. In addition, Luke Baldwin also spun through the frontstretch when he ran into the rear of Dawson Sutton and sustained front nose damage.
The event’s next restart on the fifth lap featured Riggs fending off Zilisch from the outside lane through the first two turns. As the field fanned out and jostled for early spots through the backstretch, Riggs cycled back to the frontstretch and led the next lap under green flag conditions. As Riggs proceeded to lead to the Lap 10 mark, Zilisch retained the runner-up spot over Honeycutt, Daniel Hemric and Giovanni Ruggiero while Tristan McKee, Grant Enfinger, Gavan Boschele, Chandler Smith and Jake Garcia were scored in the top 10, respectively.
On Lap 13, the event’s second caution flew when John Hunter Nemechek, who was battling Christian Eckes and Landen Lewis inside the top-20 mark, bumped and sent Lewis sliding through the first two turns before the latter made contact with the outside wall on the rear end and backed up his damaged truck against the wall, thus sustaining more contact.
The event’s next restart on Lap 18 featured Riggs receiving a push from Honeycutt and using the outside lane to his advantage as he fended off Zilisch through the first two turns. As Honeycutt battled Zilisch for the runner-up spot, Riggs led the next lap, and he stabilized his advantage to within four-tenths of a second by Lap 25 while Zilisch, Honeycutt, Hemric and Ruggiero pursued in the top five, respectively.
On Lap 35, Zilisch reeled in, dueled and overtook Riggs for the lead through the fronstretch and entering the first two turns. Zilisch proceeded to extend his advantage by more than a second on Lap 40 before his lead grew to one-and-a-half seconds by Lap 45. Behind, Riggs maintained the runner-up spot over Hemric, Chandler Smith and Ruggiero while McKee, Christopher Bell, Grant Enfinger, Jake Garcia and Boschele were in the top 10, respectively.
When the first stage period concluded on Lap 55, Zilisch, who was leading by two-and-a-half seconds, captured the stage victory over Riggs, Hemric, Chandler Smith and Bell while Ruggiero, McKee, Enfinger, Garcia and Boschele were scored in the top 10, respectively. By then, Stewart Friesen, who was trailing the top-10 cutline to make the Chase by 20 points, was mired in 14th place while Tyler Ankrum, who occupies the 10th and final vacant spot to the Chase, was in 16th place behind Justin Haley.
Under the event’s first stage break period, the field led by Zilisch pitted. Following the pit stops, Jake Garcia, who is trailing the top-10 cutline within reach, exited pit road first following a two-tire pit stop. Riggs, Chandler Smith, Zilisch and Ruggiero followed suit, respectively.
The second stage period started on Lap 63 as Garcia and Riggs occupied the front row. At the start, Garcia barely fended off Riggs with his two fresh tires and from the outside lane while Bell briefly got loose while trying to go beneath Zilisch within the top-five mark. Garcia maintained the lead by three-tenths of a second both just past the Lap 65 mark and on Lap 70 before Chandler Smith, who outdueled teammate Riggs for the runner-up spot, reeled in and rocketed past Garcia through the frontstretch on Lap 73.
Following a Lap 76 caution that flew when Spencer Boyd wrecked backward against the Turn 4 outside wall, the next restart on Lap 82 featured Smith motoring ahead from the outside lane when Garcia stumbled from the inside lane. Zilisch then wasted no time dueling Smith for a full lap before he motored ahead and led, beginning on Lap 84. Despite having Smith reel in from behind, Zilisch maintained the top spot by a tenth of a second on Lap 90 before the latter slightly grew his advantage by three-tenths of a second at the Lap 100 mark.
When the second stage period concluded on Lap 110, Zilisch captured his second consecutive Truck stage victory of the event. Smith, who trailed by a second, settled in second place ahead of Riggs, Bell and Garcia while Ruggiero, Hemric, Boschele, Mosack and Friesen were scored in the top 10, respectively. By then, Ankrum, who was battling braking issues, was mired in 28th place.
During the event’s second stage break period, the field led by Zilisch returned to pit road for service. After the pit stops and mixed strategies in the field, Friesen, who opted for a two-tire stop, exited pit road first, followed by Michael Christopher Jr., Riggs, McKee, and Tanner Gray. During the pit stops, Garcia, who endured a slow pit service, was also penalized for pitting outside his pit box, with his right front area being outside of the pit boundaries within his pit box.
With 57 laps remaining, the final stage period commenced as Friesen and Christopher Jr. occupied the front row. At the start, the field fanned out as Friesen led through the first two turns and the backstretch. Riggs then battled against Friesen during the following lap and just overtook him for the top spot before the caution returned due to Timmy Hill, John Hunter Nemechek and Kris Wright wrecking in Turn 3.
As the event restarted with 47 laps remaining, Riggs motored ahead of Friesen, Gray, Ruggiero and a stacked field through the first two turns and the backstretch. Riggs proceeded to lead the next two laps under green before the caution returned due to Smith tapping and sending Christopher Bell for a spin through the first two turns while battling for ninth place.
During the next restart with 40 laps remaining, Riggs fended off Ruggiero, Friesen and the field from the outside lane to retain the lead for a full cycle. Amid the battles within the field, Riggs continued to lead by half a second with 35 laps remaining, seven-tenths of a second with 30 laps remaining and by a second with 25 laps remaining. Behind, Ruggiero retained the runner-up spot over Friesen, McKee and Chandler Smith while Honeycutt, Zilisch, Connor Mosack, Christopher Jr. and Ty Majeski trailed in the top 10, respectively. Meanwhile, Ankrum was mired in 28th place while Garcia was racing in 15th place behind Corey LaJoie.
Down to the final 10 laps, Riggs stabilized his late lead by more than a second over Ruggiero as Smith, Friesen and Honeycutt trailed in the top five, followed by McKee, Zilisch, Majeski, Mosack and Boschele. Four laps later, the caution flew when Boschele spun and wrecked hard while going backward against the Turn 1 wall. Boschele’s incident sent the event into overtime.
The event’s first overtime attempt did not last long when Ruggiero, who tried to duke it out with Riggs for the lead, slipped up, made contact with Riggs and spun through the second turn in front of oncoming traffic. As the field scattered, Mosack, Andres Perez De Lara, Dawson Sutton and Christian Eckes wrecked while Ankrum barely dodged the carnage.
During the event’s second overtime start, the field fanned out as Riggs motored away through the first two turns. Chandler Smith and Honeycutt followed suit in second and third through the backstretch while Frisen, who was currently scored below the cutline by a mere margin, was fending off Zilisch for fourth place.
When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Riggs remained in the lead by two-tenths of a second over Smith. As a variety of on-track battles and shuffling ensued within the field, Riggs had enough momentum to fend off Smith and Honeycutt for a final cycle before he returned to the frontstretch and claimed the checkered flag by two-tenths of a second.
With the victory, Riggs, who locked up the 2026 regular-season championship, notched his 11th NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series career win in his 72nd start, his first at New Hampshire and his sixth of the 2026 campaign. Riggs, who enters the Chase with the top seed, will now embark on a seven-race Chase stretch with his No. 34 Front Row Motorsports Ford F-150 team as they pursue the 2026 championship.
“Statement win,” Riggs said on the frontstretch on FS1. “This is awesome. I’m ready for some lobster! I thought I was off a little bit. I thought I was in some trouble. [Connor] Zilisch got by me, Chandler [Smith] got by me. I was just really, really tight. I couldn’t get it right where I needed it, but my crew chief Dylan Cappello, engineer Jonathan Coates, they made some excellent, excellent adjustments there at the end. Thank you to my teammate, Chandler, for racing me clean there at the end. One, two [for] Front Row Motorsports. It’s in the name. Super excited. I love this place. I love this type of racetrack. Let’s bring on the Chase. We only got seven [races] left. Just no mercy.”
Amid Riggs’ victory, Tyler Ankrum emerged victorious in his own fashion. By finishing in 16th place, Ankrum sealed the 10th and final berth to the 2026 Chase by seven points over Stewart Friesen, who finished fourth, and by 11 points over Jake Garcia, who finished 14th.
Ankrum joins Layne Riggs, Kaden Honeycutt, Chandler Smith, Christian Eckes, Giovanni Ruggiero, Ty Majeski, Grant Enfinger, Daniel Hemric and Ben Rhodes as the 10 competitors who have qualified for the 2026 Truck Series’ Chase. Meanwhile, Stewart Friesen and Jake Garcia join Brenden Queen, Andres Perez De Lara, Justin Haley, Tanner Gray, Dawson Sutton, Cole Butcher and Mini Tyrrell as additional full-time notables who did not make the Chase.
Chandler Smith, Honeycutt, Friesen, Connor Zilisch, Tristan McKee, Christopher Bell, Hemric, Haley and Parker Eatmon finished in the top 10 behind Riggs on the track at New Hampshire.
This event featured six lead changes for five different leaders, and nine cautions for 56 laps. In addition, 28 of 36 starters finished on the lead lap.
Results:
- Layne Riggs, 106 laps led
- Chandler Smith, 10 laps led
- Kaden Honeycutt
- Stewart Friesen, four laps led
- Connor Zilisch, 55 laps led, Stages 1 & 2 winner
- Tristan McKee
- Christopher Bell
- Daniel Hemric
- Justin Haley
- Parker Eatmon
- Ty Majeski
- Michael Christopher Jr.
- Grant Enfinger
- Jake Garcia, 14 laps led
- Corey LaJoie
- Tyler Ankrum
- Cole Butcher
- Ben Rhodes
- John Hunter Nemechek
- Brenden Queen
- Tanner Gray
- Connor Hall
- Mini Tyrrell
- Colin Braun
- Dawson Sutton
- Giovanni Ruggiero
- Andres Perez De Lara
- Christian Eckes
- Timmy Hill, two laps down
- Connor Mosack – OUT, Accident
- Luke Baldwin, 12 laps down
- Landen Lewis, 12 laps down
- Gavan Boschele – OUT, Accident
- Kris Wright – OUT, Vibration
- Patrick Emerling – OUT, Suspension
- Spencer Boyd – OUT, Accident
The 2026 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Chase commences on September 17 at Bristol Motor Speedway in Bristol, Tennessee, for the UNOH 250. The Chase opener’s broadcast time commences at 8 p.m. ET on FS1, the NASCAR Racing Network and SiriusXM.
