MARTINSVILLE, Va. – Layne Riggs proved a point after qualifying on the outside pole for Saturday’s ValleyStar Credit Union 300 at Martinsville Speedway: he’s very much “for real.”
After listening to detractors claim that his strong performance in his Martinsville debut last year was “a fluke” or “good fortune” before a late-race incident, Riggs came back determined to set the record straight.
He did just that during two-lap time trials, posting a best time of 19.959 seconds (94.874 mph) in the No. 99 Puryear Tank Lines/Romeo Guest Construction Ford that was second only to polesitter Josh Berry.
Now, Riggs hopes he can convert that grid spot into a $32,000 victory in his second Martinsville start.
“It was a pretty sporty lap,” said Riggs. “We were happy with it, even if it wasn’t quite enough for the pole. It doesn’t matter where you start here, though. You just need some luck here and to be within striking distance at the end. We haven’t had much luck all year … a lot of freak things that have made it really rough.
“It took a toll on my confidence, but we’re starting to run well again and I think we can make something happen here under the lights. I’ve never gone a year without a victory, so hopefully we can keep that streak alive.”
Riggs was one of seven drivers Friday night who broke the old track record of 20.100 seconds, set by Stacy Puryear during qualifying for the 2018 edition of the ValleyStar Credit Union 300.
It was a display of speed that had Riggs grinning after what he called a “pretty fun” qualifying session.
“I think we just had a really good piece,” said Riggs. “We worked hard in the shop all week. I knew the rules had changed a lot the past couple of years; that’s opened up a whole lot more horsepower ranges. The cool conditions really help everybody just stay up on top of their game and be pinpoint accurate.
“The times are really close, but we were happy with our lap and we’ll see what we can do.”
Though Riggs had solid speed in testing last week at the Virginia paper clip, he said his car this weekend still behaved much differently than how it did in that practice, largely because of an engine change.
“It’s been a change, for sure. Last week I feel like our car was a lot different,” Riggs noted. “We had a different engine in it. We didn’t bring our fastest and sharpest bullet to that one … but we got our fresh engine in it, so we couldn’t really base anything from the test speed-wise with our car. We could just base handling and things like that. So we put our best motor we could in there, and it ended up shooting off with pretty fast speed.
“At the test, we ran a 20.05 and backed it up in practice earlier today with a 20.02, so I was pretty happy with those times.”
With qualifying in his rear-view mirror, Riggs now turns his focus to Saturday night’s 200-lap feature and how he’ll survive to be in contention at the end.
The 17-year-old son of former NASCAR driver Scott Riggs doesn’t have a major race win on his young resume yet, but he fully recognizes what walking out of Martinsville with a grandfather clock Saturday night would do for his stock.
“(Winning) this race would mean everything for me,” Layne Riggs said. “I’m not really a veteran, but I’ve been around a couple of years. This is my second-ever race at Martinsville Speedway. We had a pretty good piece last year and I feel the same this year.
“You can’t say I’m the winningest driver there is, so something like this would make it all worth it.”
And as for those who doubted him despite last year’s performance, Riggs had a message for them, too.
“We’re for real here. The car’s been good, surprisingly good. We’re going to be able to contend.”