Layne Riggs has had a career year – winning six NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series races and earning the No. 1 seed in the seven-race Chase that will decide who hoists the big trophy at the end of the year.
He confirmed Tuesday during theChase Media Day interview session featuring the 10 championship-eligible drivers that he had re-signed with Front Row Motorsports for next season and is eager to continue that tenure with a “champion” in front of his first name.
The series opens its Chase run Thursday under the bright lights on the famous Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway high banks in the UNOH 250 Presented by Ohio Logistics. The defending race winner? None other than Riggs.
The 24-year-old second-generation NASCAR driver was his typically friendly-self during Tuesday’s interview session, but he was also quick to emphasize that he’s absolutely ready to raise his game in the championship run. And that says a lot, considering he’s already claimed a career-best six wins this season, including the most recent race – from pole position, no less – at New Hampshire three weeks ago.
Three of his six wins have come from pole (also Nashville and Indianapolis Raceway Park), and he’s finished first or second in three of the last four races entering the Chase. He takes a 25-point lead over TRICON Garage’s Kaden Honeycutt into Thursday’s Chase opener.
“We’ve just been getting stronger and keeping our minds sharper in situations that aren’t ideal for us, and we’ve just got to keep that same mindset rolling that we’ve been doing all year long,” said Riggs, who drives the No. 34 Front Row Motorsports Ford. “This is nothing new for us. We’ve been points racing the entire year.
“What we’ve been doing the last two months, keep doing it just have to focus on keep doing that. Don’t do anything any different if it’s working.”
He acknowledged there may be the proverbial “target” on his back to decide this title and said he’s absolutely prepared to meet that challenge.
“I do [have a target] because everybody wants to be me, who doesn’t want to be the number one guy with the target on the back. Someone asks, ‘how do you like being hunted?’ I’m not, I’m still the hunter, hunting for a bigger points lead. I’m not on defense, I’m on just as much offense as I have been all year long and that’s not going to change.”
