Layne Riggs had a late rally from a pit misfortune and strong run towards the front evaporate from his grasp when a late wall scrub and cut tire spoiled his chances of competing for the victory at the conclusion of the 2026 Race to Stop Suicide 200 at Kansas Speedway on Saturday, September 26.
The 24-year-old Riggs from Bahama, North Carolina, started Saturday’s event in 22nd place based on a performance metric formula that accounts competitors’ results from the previous-scheduled event and current position in the owner’s standings. This was due to on-track qualifying scheduled for Friday, September 25, being canceled due to inclement weather. Riggs was assigned the 22nd-starting spot due to finishing 32nd during this past week’s Chase opener at Bristol Motor Speedway despite leading the owner’s standings.
Despite starting within the mid-pack range, Riggs executed stellar speed in the opening laps as he navigated his No. 34 Love’s Ford F-150 entry up to third place and accumulated eight critical stage points towards his championship quest when the first stage period concluded on Lap 30.
After restarting in fifth place when the second stage period commenced on Lap 36, Riggs overtook Christian Eckes for the runner-up spot seven laps later. He then used a strong launch from the bottom lane and slid in front of Kaden Honeycutt through the first two turns of the following restart on Lap 48 to assume the lead. A lap later, however, Honeycutt bumped into the rear of Riggs’ entry through the frontstretch. The contact caused Riggs to brush off the outside wall and nearly get sideways, but he managed to keep his Ford straight despite Honeycutt reassuming the lead seconds later. Riggs then tried to reel Honeycutt back in for the lead before he ultimately settled in the runner-up spot when the second stage period concluded on Lap 53. By then, he accumulated an additional nine stage points.
During the second stage’s break period, however, Riggs experienced a setback when he had to reverse his entry back in his pit stall to have a lugnut on the left-front wheel area tightened. The incident was caused when Riggs’ jackman released the entry from the jack before the wheel could be tightened. The pit road issue caused Riggs to plummet to 25th place for the next restart on Lap 64, in which he managed to six places before he and the competition endured a rain delay period that paused the event for four minutes and 47 seconds.
When the delay concluded and the event restarted with 59 laps remaining near dusk time, it only took three laps for Riggs to motor his way back into the top-10 mark as he was scored in ninth place. Another two laps later, he moved back into the top-five mark and he proceeded to navigate himself back into the runner-up spot with 49 laps remaining. After spending most of the final stage period trailing Honeycutt in the runner-up spot, Riggs utilized a two-tire pit service during a late caution period with 16 laps remaining to exit pit road first. He then used his two fresh tires to overtake Daniel Dye and assume the race lead at the start of the next restart with 13 laps remaining. Riggs, however, would be overtaken by Honeycutt, who pitted for fresh tires from the previous caution, during the next lap.
Despite having an opportunity to outduel Honeycutt during the event’s final restart with seven laps remaining, Riggs was outdueled by the latter through the first two turns. Riggs then tried to push his entry beyond the limit to reel in Honeycutt as the laps dwindled, but the charge collapsed when the former scrubbed the outside wall through Turns 3 and 4 with three laps remaining. The wall contact cut Riggs’ right-front tire as he then scrubbed the outside wall again through the first two turns and lost his momentum. Despite opting to remain on the track and finish, Riggs plummeted to 19th place when he crossed the finish line and took the checkered flag.
With the result, Riggs managed to notch his 14th top-20 result of the 2026 campaign. Nevertheless, the result marks a bitter end to Riggs’ Chase hopes for a second consecutive week after he finished in 32nd place during last Thursday’s Chase opener at Bristol due to a pyramid of issues that involved a slow pit service, loose wheel and an on-track incident that left the North Carolinian with a damaged entry.
Prior to Kansas, Riggs held a narrow three-point advantage over Honeycutt in the Chase standings. Now, Riggs trails Honeycutt by 37 points. It marks the first time Riggs has not led the driver’s standings following a Truck event since Charlotte Motor Speedway in May. The disappointment was shown on Riggs’ face as he took a moment to process Saturday’s result at Kansas inside the cockpit before he climbed out.
“Behind the wheel, if you look at everything over those last couple of laps, I feel like I did everything flawless, made really good moves,” Riggs said. “Got my track position back after having bad pit stops. Just went for it. Went for it way too hard and went for it when I shouldn’t have gone for it. I should have just been content with finishing second right there and knew we had a better shot at it later on. Just really disappointing. Our Love’s Ford F-150 was really fast. I felt like we weren’t as good as [Honeycutt] all day. We were just too free. There at the end, Dylan got me a good adjustment, got me two tires. I had a really big run or I thought I was going to get a big run down the frontstretch and never made it there. Got in the wall instead.”
With Kansas in the rearview mirror, Riggs and his No. 34 Front Row Motorsports Ford F-150 team shift their focus to the Truck Series’ third Chase event of this season at Charlotte Motor Speedway in Concord, North Carolina, for the Ecosave 200 to rally from a 37-point deficit and contend for the title. Riggs won at Charlotte earlier in mid-May and remains confident that he and his team can rally and sweep their way to another Charlotte victory that would also enable them to remain within striking distance of the title.
“I’m excited about [racing at Charlotte],” Riggs said. “[I] Got to focus forward. [I] Can’t dwindle on anything in the past.”
The 2026 Ecosave 200 at Charlotte Motor Speedway is scheduled to occur on October 9 at 5 p.m. ET on FOX, NASCAR Racing Network and SiriusXM.
