Right Place, Right Time: Riggs Capitalizes For Pocono Win

Layne Riggs celebrates with a burnout after winning Friday at Pocono Raceway. (Wyatt Tinsley/Race Face Digital photo)

LONG POND, Pa. – Fittingly, on a day he was carrying Bare Knuckle Boxing as his primary sponsor, Layne Riggs was the proverbial "last man standing" at Pocono Raceway.

After earning the pole only to lose the lead on the opening lap to Corey Heim, Riggs found himself in the right place at the right time late to take charge of – and ultimately win – Friday’s MillerTech Battery 200 for the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series.

A well-timed caution gave Riggs the stage one victory, but it wasn’t until the field came toward the final restart that he was truly in the catbird’s seat for the overall race win.

The race was turned on its head when then-leader Heim, who had the truck to beat up to that point after leading a race-high 48 laps and topping stage two, cut a right-rear tire under caution after the choose and had to come down pit road.

The timing of Heim’s issue led to confusion on the restart, because both Riggs and Hocevar didn’t know who the control vehicle was supposed to be.

By rule, Riggs was supposed to fire first, but ultimately Hocevar went and was then penalized by NASCAR for the infraction – handing Riggs the win on a silver platter.

Officially, because Hocevar stayed out for two circuits before finally serving his pass-through penalty with 18 to go, Riggs led the final 20 laps and 25 total on the day en route to his first Truck Series win of the season and the third of his career.

The Bahama, N.C., native extended his advantage all the way out to 3.64 seconds over runner-up Tanner Gray, who also picked up his best finish of the year with four races remaining in the regular season.

After officially punching his ticket into the Truck Series playoffs, Riggs expressed pride in his Front Row Motorsports squad as he celebrated in victory lane.

Layne Riggs en route to victory Friday at Pocono Raceway. (Wyatt Tinsley/Race Face Digital photo)

“That [win] is just a testament to this team. That thing was bad fast, especially that last run right there,” said Riggs, whose win was a rebound from finishing 30th at Pocono a year ago in the Truck Series. “I really hate the [No.] 11 [of Heim] fell out. I’m not sure what [Hocevar] was doing on the restart there, but I made sure to take advantage of it. I’m not really sure why we slowed down 30 miles an hour coming to the restart zone, but I’m a happy man right now. I’m on cloud nine, truly.

“This is not one I had circled [to win]. Last year, we wrecked in practice and didn’t qualify and rode around dead last all day. Today, we were the best. It’s amazing.”

Gray, who had an average running position of sixth Friday, put himself in a solid position to benefit from the situations with Heim and Hocevar as well and jumped up to second, but just didn’t have enough speed late to close up to Riggs.

Still, Pocono matches Gray’s best finish in the Truck Series, a second-place finish at Daytona (Fla.) Int’l Speedway back in 2023 in the debut of the TRICON Garage team branding.

Gray was equal parts pleased and frustrated with his run at Pocono, knowing he’s in a must-win situation to make the postseason field.

“Really happy with the day that we had. Really proud of everyone with TRICON Garage; everyone works really hard on this No. 15 Place of Hope Toyota Tundra TRD Pro,” said Gray. “We executed really well. We hadn’t been able to put together any solid races as of lately, so to have a solid day like that is refreshing.

“At the same time, it’s tough because we have to win to get into the playoffs, and we were one spot away from it there. All in all, I’m proud of everybody, but really wanted to be one spot better.”

Kaden Honeycutt ended up third after starting from the outside of the front row, with Brandon Jones and Daniel Hemric rounding out the top five.

Practice leader Connor Mosack finished a season-best sixth, Chandler Smith came home seventh, and recent Michigan Int’l Speedway winner Stewart Friesen was eighth.

Ty Majeski and Rajah Caruth – who had to come back from being pinned a lap down early – capped off the top 10.

A late caution in stage one for the No. 2 of Cody Dennison threw a monkey wrench in Caruth’s plans, as that caution forced him to utilize the free pass to regain his lap.

The caution wouldn’t fly again for incident until 29 laps later, after a huge crash in turn two collected seven drivers and ended the day for Dawson Sutton and Conner Jones, among others.

The final caution waved eight laps later after Jake Garcia spun off turn one and hit the inside wall, leading to the chaotic restart sequence that put Riggs in control out front.

Next up, the Truck Series heads to Lime Rock Park, the first ever visit for the tour to the 1.53-mile, seven-turn road course in Lakeville, Conn.

Broadcast coverage of the LiUNA 150 from Lime Rock Park will begin Saturday, June 28 at 1 p.m. ET on FS1, the Motor Racing Network, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, channel 90.