Layne Riggs wins NASCAR Truck Collection race at Bristol Motor Speedway to advance to Spherical of 8 on Thursday night within the UNOH 250.
BRISTOL, Tenn. — Layne Riggs recovered from a first-lap spin at Bristol Motor Speedway and rallied to win Thursday evening’s UNOH 250 Introduced by Ohio Logistics, the second race within the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Collection Playoffs.
Layne Riggs Advances to Spherical of 8
Grabbing the lead after a restart on lap 142 of 250, Riggs held off a decided cost by two-time sequence champion Ben Rhodes to win his third race of the season, second at Bristol, and fifth of his profession.
“You don’t get two mulligans within the Playoffs, and I received two,” stated Riggs, who salvaged a Seventeenth-place end after slamming the surface wall within the first Playoff race Aug. 30 at Darlington. “The primary lap of the race to spin out, it’s a blow to your confidence, for positive, however I’ve received religion on this group, and I’ve received religion in all people right here…”
With the victory, Riggs earned a berth within the Spherical of 8 of the Playoffs and gained’t have to fret concerning the Sept. 20 Spherical of 10 elimination race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.
“I feel this exhibits that we’re proper there, we’re in rivalry, we will do it,” stated Riggs, who ran the ultimate 109 green-flag laps with scuffed qualifying tires on his No. 34 Ford, having used a set of stickers after the spin on lap 1. “That’s three in a row at Bristol for Entrance Row Motorsports. It’s a giant testomony to all these guys. We’ve received a very good package deal right here.
“Man, I’m excited for New Hampshire. I’ve by no means even been there, and I already love that race monitor.”
Riggs’ Victory Ends Heim Time Streak
Riggs’ victory ended a three-race profitable streak for sequence chief Corey Heim and saved the driving force of the No. 11 TRICON Storage Toyota from equaling Greg Biffle’s sequence file of 9 wins in a single season.
Heim gained Stage 2 however misplaced three spots on pit highway beneath warning throughout the break. He lined up third for the lap 142 restart behind Cole Butcher, who stayed out on outdated tires. Butcher backed up the underside lane on the restart, and Heim fell to seventh within the operating order.
All of the winner of the primary Playoff race may do was claw his approach again to a distant third on the end.
“It was a debatable select on that final restart, lining up behind the truck that stayed out—I feel it was the 62 (Butcher),” stated Heim, who led a race-high 122 laps to Riggs’ 110. “He spun the tires actually dangerous, and we fell again to seventh or eighth, and it was only a tremendous track-position-dependent race.
“I assumed our truck was good. I feel the perfect group gained for positive. These guys had been lights-out.”
Playoff drivers Ty Majeski and Daniel Hemric ran fourth and fifth, respectively. They take comfy factors positions into the elimination race at New Hampshire.
Riggs teammate Chandler Smith, winner of the spring race at Bristol, wasn’t as lucky. Smith fell off the tempo with what he described as an influence steering situation on lap 32. He misplaced 12 laps on pit highway throughout repairs.
Smith completed the evening tenth within the standings, 24 factors under the present elimination line for the following spherical.
Non-Playoff drivers Tanner Grey, Connor Mosack, Andres Perez de Lara, Corey LaJoie, and Matt Crafton accomplished the highest ten.
Subsequent Up
The elimination race for the Spherical of 10 is at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. The EJP 175 begins at midday on Saturday, September twentieth, on FS 1, NRN, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio. The monitor is a 1.058-mile intermediate paved oval.
