With UNC Charlotte on his No. 34 Ford F-150, and Kyle Busch in his heart, Layne Riggs collected the victory in Sunday’s North Carolina Education Lottery 200 at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
The event, which was originally scheduled to take place on Friday at 7:00 PM, was postponed three different times over the course of the weekend because of Mother Nature, which eventually pushed the start time all the way to Sunday at 10:00 AM ET, the morning of the Coca-Cola 600.
Finally, after 38 and a half hours of waiting, the event got underway… but with the caveat of an “Adverse Conditions Time”, which meant if the race was still ongoing at Noon ET, NASCAR would end it early, waving the white flag the next time the field crossed the start-finish line.
A record number of caution flags made that timeframe nearly impossible to avoid, and during the 11th yellow flag of the day (for Chandler Smith crashing on the backstretch), the clock finally ran out, and the race-leader, Layne Riggs, was declared the winner of the North Carolina Education Lottery 250.
Riggs led a race-high 52 laps, and as he crossed the start-finish line to collect his seventh victory in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, keyed the radio, clearly emotional, and said “Did it for Kyle, man, did it for Kyle.”
Kaden Honeycutt put together another solid result, finishing in second place on Sunday, but was frustrated with the way the race was officiated over the radio. Regardless, the TRICON Garage driver leaves Charlotte with the points lead over Layne Riggs.
Connor Zilisch made an impressive rebound in the final laps of Sunday’s event, finishing inside the top three, in third, after getting a restart violation on Lap 87 (with 23 laps to go). Ben Rhodes and Gio Ruggiero rounded out the top-five.
Christian Eckes, Brandon Jones, Tanner Gray, Ricky Stenhouse, Jr., and William Sawalich rounded out the top-10. Ross Chastain was running inside the top-10 when the final caution flew, but his truck lost power while pacing, kicking him out of the race and leaving him to finish 29th.
Corey Day, who started from the pole after the cancellation of Friday’s qualifying session, was involved in a scary accident at Lap 47 when a bad block sent the No. 7 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Silverado RST airborne. Luckily, Day’s truck landed back on the ground before slamming into the inside SAFER Barrier. The Hendrick Motorsports driver was selected to fill in for Kyle Busch, who passed away suddenly on Thursday.
Leaving Charlotte, Kaden Honeycutt holds an 11-point lead in the standings over Layne Riggs. Christian Eckes jumps to third in points, with Gio Ruggiero and Chandler Smith inside the top-five.
The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series heads to Nashville Superspeedway next weekend, with the Allegiance 200 taking place on Friday, May 29, at 8:00 PM ET.
