Layne Riggs has been awarded the pole position for the UNOH 250 at Bristol Motor Speedway on Thursday, September 17, to commence the 2026 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series’ Chase.
The event’s starting lineup was initially going to be determined through an on-track qualifying session that consisted of a single-truck, two-lap qualifying format. During the session, each of the 37 competitors vying for 36 starting spots would cycle around Bristol twice to post the fastest lap amongst one another. The competitor who posted the single fastest lap was awarded the pole position.
Thursday’s qualifying session, however, was canceled in its final stages due to inclement weather. As a result, the lineup was determined using a qualifying metric formula from the NASCAR rulebook. This resulted in Riggs being awarded the first-place starting spot as he is coming off a victory in the series’ recent event at New Hampshire Motor Speedway on August 22 and is leading the updated Chase standings.
With the pole, Riggs, who was fastest in practice earlier on Thursday, will lead the field to the start of a Truck event from first place for a fifth time this season. Riggs enters the 2026 Chase with six victories, 10 top-five results, 11 top-10 results, 598 laps led and 217 stage points accumulated throughout the series’ 18-race regular-season stretch. With the top seed and 2,100 points, the 24-year-old native of Bahama, North Carolina, will commence his seven-race postseason stretch to his first championship by contending for his third consecutive victory in the UNOH 250 in Bristol, Tennessee.
Riggs will share the front row with Chandler Smith, teammate of Riggs at Front Row Motorsports and a 2026 Chase contender. Smith, who is a two-time Truck winner at Bristol and has won twice this season, is ranked in third place in the Chase standings with 2,065 points as he too commences his pursuit for his first championship. Kaden Honeycutt, who has also won twice and is ranked in the runner-up spot in the Chase standings with 2,075 points, will start in third place as he pursues his first championship and second in a row for TRICON Garage’s No. 11 team.
Tristan McKee and Stewart Friesen, the two-highest non-Chase competitors to start on the grid, will line up in fourth and fifth, respectively. William Sawalich, Daniel Hemric, Ty Majeski, Justin Haley and Grant Enfinger complete the top-10 starting grid, respectively.
Overall, six of 10 Chase contenders (Riggs, Smith, Honeycutt, Hemric, Majeski and Enfinger) will start in the top 10 for Thursday’s Chase opener at Bristol. The remaining Chasers that include Tyler Ankrum, Ben Rhodes, Giovanni Ruggerio and Christian Eckes will start 13th, 14th, 19th and 21st, respectively.
With 37 competitors vying for 36 starting spots, Justin Carroll was the lone competitor who did not make the main event.
Starting lineup:
- Layne Riggs
- Chandler Smith
- Kaden Honeycutt
- Tristan McKee
- Stewart Friesen
- William Sawalich
- Daniel Hemric
- Ty Majeski
- Justin Haley
- Grant Enfinger
- Parker Etamon
- Jake Garcia
- Tyler Ankrum
- Ben Rhodes
- Corey LaJoie
- Bayley Currey
- Brenden Queen
- Cole Butcher
- Giovanni Ruggiero
- Tanner Gray
- Christian Eckes
- Connor Mosack
- Regan Smith
- Mini Tyrrell
- Nick Leitz
- Connor Hall
- Andres Perez De Lara
- Landen Lewis
- Dawson Sutton
- Frankie Muniz
- Timmy Hill
- Kris Wright
- Jackson Macenko
- Caden Kvapil
- Luke Baldwin
- Nick Sanchez
*Bold indicates Chase Drivers
The 2026 UNOH 250 at Bristol Motor Speedway is scheduled to occur on Thursday, September 17, at 8 p.m. ET on FS1, NASCAR Racing Network and SiriusXM.
