DAYTONA BEACH, Fla.: Layne Riggs came to Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway with hopes of a strong Front Row Motorsports debut in the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN® Truck Series.
Unfortunately, Riggs’s night ended just 13 laps into the race.
Qualifying 21st Friday afternoon for the Fresh from Florida 250, the driver of the No. 38 Love’s RV Stops Ford F-150 quickly drafted forward to 12th by the end of Lap 4.
On Lap 6, a multi-truck accident erupted collecting Riggs in the process. The No. 88 Ford F-150 of Matt Crafton spun from the pack and collided with the Bahama, N.C. native causing significant damage to the right front fender.
Riggs, the son of former NASCAR competitor Scott Riggs, brought his battered truck to the pit road for repairs and a new right front tire.
Returning to competition, Riggs quickly informed his team while driving around the track, “It’s (tire) gonna blow again. It’s smoking.”
The Truck Series rookie returned to pit road for additional service and another right front tire.
While on pit road, Riggs would run out of time on the damaged vehicle policy (DVP) clock and end his night in the 33rd position.
“It was pretty bad fender damage, and we just didn’t cut enough off and blew another right front when I went back out there,” offered Riggs after being evaluated from the infield care center.
Unhappy with the DVP clock procedure, Riggs was clearly frustrated that his Daytona debut had come to an end. “Not good,” a frustrated driver continued. “Not happy at all. This is not what our season is gonna be. This doesn’t represent us at all.”
While visibly irate about being knocked out of the race just 32.5 miles into the 2024 season, Riggs vowed redemption for his team in the remaining 22 Truck Series races of the season.
“I was looking at the replay, and I couldn’t do anything differently,” Riggs explained. “I’m not going to hang my head down. We are going to keep our chin up high and be back at Atlanta, we’re going to run a bunch of laps and learn a lot.”
Next up for Riggs is the FR8 208 at Atlanta (Ga.) Motor Speedway on February 24, 2024, at 2:00 p.m. ET.
Follow Grace Krenrich on Twitter at @grace3140 or email [email protected].
