Ford Performance Notes and Quotes
NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series
Lime Rock Park Media Availability
Wednesday, June 25, 2025
Layne Riggs, driver of the No. 34 Love’s Travel Stops Ford F-150 for Front Row Motorsports in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, is coming off his first victory of the season last weekend at Pocono Raceway to clinch a spot in the playoffs. He spoke about that win and this weekend’s upcoming inaugural series race at Lime Rock Park as part of a NASCAR media call.
LAYNE RIGGS, No. 34 Love’s Travel Stops Ford Mustang Dark Horse – WHAT HAS THIS WEEK BEEN LIKE AFTER YOUR WIN AND HEADING TO A NEW TRACK THIS WEEKEND? “For me, it’s a lot of relief being locked in the playoffs and not really having to worry about points anymore until the playoffs start. Right now, our main focus is just trying to rack up as many points as possible to put as far above that cut line for the upcoming rounds. I feel like we’ve got a couple road courses coming up, some short tracks and some unknowns, so I feel like we got our win at a perfect time, right before the stressful time and the crunch time happens with the cutoff race being Richmond. We can save our equipment a little bit better. We can save our best trucks for when they really matter. We’re just in a little bit better position now than we were heading into Pocono, so I’m just really happy and excited about the position we’re in.”
FORD HAD NOT WON AT POCONO IN THE TRUCK SERIES SINCE 2013. WHAT DOES THAT WIN MEAN FOR FORD AND WHAT WAS THE REACTION? IT’S A PRETTY BIG DEAL. “It is. I was talking with Matt Todd before the race and he’s like, ‘This is a track that’s always been tough for us. We just haven’t had a lot of success here.’ And then he came over in Victory Lane and the first thing I said was, ‘I guess that turned around for you. I guess that’s not true anymore.’ I don’t really know what we would have had there. Last year I didn’t have a really good judge. I know Zane has run well there in the past and won some stages and been strong, but just haven’t really been able to seal the deal. It is great for Ford to win there and really Ford to win at any track, especially the ones where the stats aren’t really there. That shows we can do it about everywhere, so I’m just happy to represent them well and put them in Victory Lane again.”
WHAT IS YOUR EXPERIENCE WITH LIME ROCK AND WHAT WOULD YOU TELL THE FANS ABOUT WHAT WE COULD SEE THIS WEEKEND? “I’m excited for it. I look at it more as a car club style racetrack, kind of like the country club kind of place. There’s not really any bleachers that I saw there when I went. It just seems like a lot of people are gonna be in lawn chairs on the hill and having picnics. I think it’s gonna be a little bit of a different experience than we’re used to but in a good way. It will be a good change. A lot of people say that Mid-Ohio is kind of the same way. I never went there, so I can’t really relate, but it looks like a beautiful place. It’s a great facility. We went up there and ran some street cars to try to feel the place out a little bit, but the place is very fast and narrow, a lot of very sketchy sections. Even in street cars there were places I didn’t want to be side-by-side with people, so I think there’s minimal passing zones. I think into turn one is gonna fan out big and it’s really wide right there, so I think the restarts are gonna be pretty crazy. I think there’s very little room for error, so I think there’s probably gonna be several people in the barriers, just with such short and narrow corners. And then also the hill, the right-hander uphill you literally catch air. In the simulator, we were all four tires off the ground if you went over it hard, so it’s something us as NASCAR drivers don’t usually have to deal with a lot. I’m excited about it. I’ve run it on iRacing a lot in the past. I think for anybody that runs iRacing it’s like the first track you go to on the game just to get used to it, and then also just about track characteristics is the asymmetry of it. It’s all right-hand corners, except one left-hander, so us as a team we’re trying to guestimate how much asymmetry should we build into our setup and how much can you sacrifice the left-hander. How much is it worth being better in the right-handers to sacrifice the left-hander? I think there’s a game there. I think there’s a possibility for a surprise winner again, especially with some road course ringers coming in, but, either way, I’m looking forward to it. It’s only gonna be my second-ever road course race with COTA being the first one last year. I went into that one pretty nervous, but I was excited and pleased with the way I performed at a road course and I’ve been ready to redeem myself since then.”
HOW ARE YOU GOING TO MANAGE THE DIFFERENT RULES WITH THE NON-COMPETITIVE PIT STOPS AND THINGS LIKE THAT? “We actually went to pit practice last night with the road crew and that was very entertaining to say the least. They need some work, but I’m pretty sure it’s gonna be like the minimum time down pit road, I think it’s 55 seconds you’re allowed, so we still have to do a stop within 30ish seconds, so that’s gonna make our road crew guys going as fast as they can. We’re just hoping we don’t have an issue under green where it’s a fully green flag live pit stop, go as fast as you can. I know there’s a possibility for rain this weekend, so we might even be on wet weather tires for my first-ever time. There are a lot of unknowns going into it. Considering our crew has really been on it, especially last week, we rebounded after some issues, so I was hoping they would be able to come and do some live pit stops, but at the same time it takes that pressure of like, ‘OK, we’re coming down pit road and there’s a chance we’re gonna lose x amount of stops if there’s a mistake.’ You know wherever you’re running, it’s not really gonna be dictated by something that could happen on pit road. It’s more what I’m used to with the short track racing. You had the break at halfway and would make adjustments, and all of the track position that you made you get to keep no matter what. It will be different for sure. I’m just curious how that’s gonna all feel behind the wheel just knowing that it’s really all on my shoulders.”
DID YOU WET DOWN THE PIT PRACTICE AREA IN CASE YOU HAVE TO GO FROM WETS TO SLICKS? “We didn’t do that. We were just trying to get everybody focused. We had the pit coach there and our regular pit crew guys. They were doing a little practice too with us, so they were all watching and laughing, but we didn’t fully do the wet pit road. I’m pretty sure even under green flag conditions it’s the minimum 55 seconds. I’ve got to look at the rule a little better, but I think it’s that way, which would be good and not force anybody to, ‘hey, say you brought a really trained, professional crew,’ you’re not gonna out-do somebody when you have those minimums.”
HOW WEIRD IS IT TO RACE ON SUCH A SHORT ROAD COURSE? “It is interesting. It’s like a short track/road course, especially all being right-hand dominant. It’s almost an oval track to a point, except for one corner. If you didn’t have one corner, it would be considered an oval, so I think it’s a good transition back into the road courses for me. It’s like a mid tier, single car, pretty easy track that is less technical to run, but I think it’s cool. It’s gonna be a lot of laps. I think having more laps means more rubber laid down, just because you’re seeing the same part of the track more often, and I think characteristics like that are gonna make more of a difference that what we’ve seen in the past.”
IS THERE ANY SORT OF GOOD NATURED COMPETITION TALKING BETWEEN YOU AND YOUR DAD AS FAR AS HOW MANY WINS HE HAD IN TRUCKS (5) VERSUS WHERE YOU ARE NOW (3)? “It’s really not and I’ve tried jabbing him. I’ll be like, ‘I’m getting close to you.’ And he’s like, ‘I’d hope so. I want you to do a lot better than me.’ I want to try to compete with him, but he doesn’t want to. He just brushes it off and is like, ‘No, I want you to do better than I ever did.’ He’s super supportive. I’m glad that he went to Pocono and was there for our win, but he’s fully passed the torch. We even talked about after the race how we didn’t take any Victory Lane pictures together. During Victory Lane he just disappeared. He’s like, ‘Yeah, I wasn’t part of that team. I didn’t help you win that race. That’s for those guys. I just like to be here to watch and support.’ He’s just dad now and he’s happy with that role. I think he’s gonna be at the track this weekend. I think he’s gonna catch a tire as it goes across the wall, so he’s gonna be there with a little behind the wall pit support, but it’s great to have him part of it so that we can cherish those memories together. At the same time, he’s not competitive at all. I hope you win every single race and beat my record as soon as you can, so he just wants the best for me and I’m super thankful for that.”
I BET YOU WOULD BE A GOOD TRASH TALKER. THAT WOULD BE FUN. “I asked him about why he doesn’t come back and run a late model race?’ I think his passion has kind of died over the years, especially when he had to do the start and park stuff. He’s like, ‘I just don’t care to race against any people anymore, but the only time I’ll race is if I can race against you because I just want to race the crap out of you.’ So, if he’s ever gonna come out of retirement, that would be the one time because he said, ‘I want to race against you and try to beat you. Besides that, it’s nothing but support.’”
