Layne Riggs returns to Truck Series victory lane at Charlotte

CONCORD, N.C. — Layne Riggs returns to Charlotte Motor Speedway victory lane as he successfully defends his spring win tonight in the Ecosave 200.

This is his seventh NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series win this season and his 12th of his career.

It was the Chase frontrunners Kaden Honeycutt and Layne Riggs who battled for the win all race long.

Riggs charged from 13th to the lead to win the opening stage to deliver the first punch. Then Honeycutt returned the favor with the second stage win to even up their stage points gained.

They both led during the first part of the final stage but Honeycutt started to separate himself as the sun set for what looked like another intermediate victory.

The first part of the race was uneventful caution-wise. The first two stages went by without a hitch. The third stage flipped the race on its head.

Three further cautions, for a total of five, and a red flag with 15 laps remaining left the truckers with an 11-lap sprint to the finish.

From the restart Honeycutt set off with Riggs tailing nearby. Coming to seven laps to go, with the No. 34 dogging him, Honeycutt nearly tank-slapped himself into the wall off of turn four which costed him the lead and second-place to Christian Eckes.

From there, Layne Riggs set sail for a much needed win in the Chase to claw him closer to the Chase lead.

He entered 37 points behind and now leaves with the win and a 17-point disadvantage with four races remaining in the season.

The Top 10

Christian Eckes ran inside the top ten throughout the race and came home in second after taking advantage of the contact Kaden Honeycutt had with the outside wall.

Then Honeycutt avoided a tire blowout and finished third to mitigate further point-loss.

Bayley Currey returned to the series for another race in the Tricon Garage No. 5 all-star entry. In doing so, he captured yet another top five result from fourth.

Chandler Smith rebounded from falling a lap down after a poorly timed caution during their final pit stop trapped them down. He ran inside the top five for most of the race and finish fifth after taking the wave-around.

Daniel Hemric finished behind his fellow Chase driver in sixth. Then Landen Lewis continues to impress early in his NASCAR career with another top ten result from seventh.

Andres Perez de Lara finished directly behind his Niece Motorsports teammate Lewis in eighth for his first top ten since Lime Rock Park in June.

Tyler Ankrum also captured his first top ten of the Chase in ninth. Finally, Justin Haley and his Kaulig RAM program continue to improve with his third top ten in the previous four races tonight.

Notable Results

Only six Chase drivers finished inside the top ten in the Ecosave 200. Ty Majeksi was the closest driver who failed to crack the top ten. He finished just outside it from 11th.

Grant Enfinger followed close behind in 12th after he slipped outside the top ten positions late for a much improved results compared to his last intermediate event at Kansas.

Ben Rhodes fell off the primary strategy as their team felt as though they had to try something different in order to have a crack at the championship. The gamble failed as they finished 21st.

It was a tough day all around for Gio Ruggiero and his No. 17 Tricon Garage team. They were unable to qualify due to a mechanical issue with the rear axle and started from the rear. They barely made any ground all race long as they finished off the lead lap in 26th.

Finally what started as a great day for the Spire Motorsports duo ended with a bang. Polesitter Connor Mosack and teammate Rajah Caruth both donned Kyle Busch Motorsports tribute schemes that will end up in a junk yard after they wrecked out in 33rd and 31st.

Below is the full result and updated Chase standings for the Truck Series after the Ecosave 200 at Charlotte.

Full Results and Chase Standings