Layne Riggs sped to his second consecutive NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series pole position of the 2026 season for the Faith Fest 250 at North Wilkesboro Speedway in North Wilkesboro, North Carolina, on Friday, July 17.
The event’s starting lineup was determined through an on-track qualifying session that consisted of a single-truck, two-lap qualifying format. During the session, each of the 38 competitors vying for 36 starting spots cycled around North Wilkesboro Speedway twice to post the fastest lap amongst one another. The competitor who posted the single fastest lap was awarded the pole position. During the session, Riggs, who was the 10th-fastest competitor during Friday’s practice session, utilized his two-lap qualifying trail to post his fastest lap at 121.503 mph in 18.502 seconds. The lap was enough for Riggs and his No. 34 Infinity Ford F-150 team to secure the top-starting spot for Saturday’s main event.
With the pole, Riggs, who currently leads this year’s regular-season standings by 44 points, achieved his sixth Craftsman Truck Series career pole for his 69th start and his second on a short track circuit. He has finished third and second in his two previous starts at North Wilkesboro over the last two seasons as he strives to finish an extra spot ahead while gaining more momentum towards his Chase run and contend for his first Truck title.
Riggs will share the front row with Carson Hocevar, the latter of whom was the fastest competitor in practice. Hocevar, who is making his 10th Truck start in the No. 77 Chevrolet Silverado RST entry for Spire Motorsports, posted the second-fastest qualifying lap at 121.503 mph in 18.518 seconds. Christopher Bell, who was the third-fastest competitor in practice and who is making his fifth Truck start of this season with Halmar Friesen Racing, qualified in third place with his fastest lap at 121.157 mph in 18.571 seconds. Corey Heim, winner of the 2024 Truck event at North Wilkesboro and who is making his sixth start of this season with TRICON Garage, will start in fourth place with a lap at 120.916 mph in 18.608 seconds. Giovanni Ruggerio rounded out the top-five starting spots.
Chase Elliott, Kaden Honeycutt, Grant Enfinger, Chandler Smith (2025 Truck winner at North Wilkesboro) and Stewart Friesen completed the top-10 starting grid, respectively. Notably, Ryan Newman, who is piloting the No. 25 ‘Free Agent’ RAM 1500 entry for Kaulig Racing, will start in 25th place, and Shane van Gisbergen, who is making his third Truck start of 2026 this weekend in the No. 71 Chevrolet Silverado RST entry for Spire Motorsports, will start in 19th place. In addition, newcomers Kasey Kleyn and Donovan Strauss will start 31st and 32nd, respectively, while Tyler Ankrum, who currently occupies the 10th and final transfer spot to the Chase cutline, will start on the 12th row alongside Brenden Queen in 24th place.
With 38 competitors vying for 36 starting spots, Landon Huffman and Timmy Hill were the two competitors who failed to qualify for the main event.
North Wilkesboro – Qualifying Position, Best Speed, Best Time:
- Layne Riggs, 121.608 mph, 18.502 seconds
- Carson Hocevar, 121.503 mph, 18.518 seconds
- Christopher Bell, 121.157 mph, 18.571 seconds
- Corey Heim, 120.916 mph, 18.608 seconds
- Giovanni Ruggiero, 120.870 mph, 18.615 seconds
- Chase Elliott, 120.792 mph, 18.627 seconds
- Kaden Honeycutt, 120.592 mph, 18.658 seconds
- Grant Enfinger, 120.527 mph, 18.668 seconds
- Chandler Smith, 120.340 mph, 18.697 seconds
- Stewart Friesen, 120.308 mph, 18.702 seconds
- Cole Butcher, 120.186 mph, 18.721 seconds
- Nick Leitz, 120.102 mph, 18.734 seconds
- Justin Haley, 119.981 mph, 18.753 seconds
- Tanner Gray, 119.738 mph, 18.791 seconds
- Jake Garcia, 119.636 mph, 18.807 seconds
- Landen Lewis, 119.433 mph, 18.839 seconds
- Dawson Sutton, 119.319 mph, 18.857 seconds
- Christian Eckes, 119.313 mph, 18.858 seconds
- Shane van Gisbergen, 119.306 mph, 18.859 seconds
- Andres Perez De Lara, 119.250 mph, 18.868 seconds
- Daniel Hemric, 119.231 mph, 18.871 seconds
- Ben Rhodes, 119.085 mph, 18.894 seconds
- Brenden Queen, 119.085 mph, 18.894 seconds
- Tyler Ankrum, 119.073 mph, 18.896 seconds
- Ryan Newman, 118.985 mph, 18.910 seconds
- Kris Wright, 118.558 mph, 18.978 seconds
- Ty Majeski, 118.434 mph, 18.998 seconds
- Mini Tyrrell, 118.303 mph, 19.019 seconds
- Luke Baldwin, 117.795 mph, 19.101 seconds
- Tyler Reif, 117.684 mph, 19.119 seconds
- Kasey Kleyn, 117.659 mph, 19.123 seconds
- Donovan Strauss, 117.059 mph, 19.221 seconds
- Nathan Nicholson, 116.822 mph, 19.260 seconds
- Corey LaJoie, 115.973 mph, 19.401 seconds
- Clayton Green, 115.090 mph, 19.550 seconds
- Frankie Muniz, 114.685 mph, 19.619 seconds
The 2026 Faith Fest 250 at North Wilkesboro Speedway is scheduled to occur on Saturday, July 18, at 12:30 p.m. ET on FS1, NASCAR Racing Network and SiriusXM.
