For 19-year-old Tyler Reif, Friday’s NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series event at Naval Base Coronado was the first major-league devastation of his young NASCAR career, missing out on his first career victory after a devastating mistake in the final corners of the race.
Reif spent a lot of time running inside the top 10 during the race’s final stage, and as the laps continued to wind down, the No. 42 Foundation for Pops / Niece Equipment Chevrolet Silverado worked its way closer and closer to the front of the pack. On the penultimate restart of the race, Reif managed to sneak around Layne Riggs for third moments before the race was sent into overtime by the final caution of the event.
Then, much to the surprise of the Las Vegas, Nevada-native, things got real very fast, as the two leaders Kaden Honeycutt and Chandler Smith, crashed at the exit of Turn 1, putting himself, Daniel Hemric, and Layne Riggs as the top-three drivers fighting tooth-and-nail for the victory of the Navy 250, a battle he’d eventually get the best of coming to the white flag.
All Reif needed to do, in order to park his No. 42 Chevrolet in Victory Lane, was get back around the 3.4-mile street course in one piece, while nursing the damage from contact with Daniel Hemric and holding off Layne Riggs, one of the strongest drivers in the Truck Series, driving one of the fastest trucks all afternoon.
It was all working perfectly for Reif, who managed to maintain a gap on Riggs (who was carrying major concerns of running his No. 34 Ford F-150 out of gas), until Riggs made a move into the final chicane after Turn 15 to peek to the left, which caused the rookie driver to make a devastating mistake and miss the final chicane.
Riggs snuck by Reif, who, in an attempt to get the best finish possible, came to a stop at the exit of the chicane. Although the No. 42 crossed the line in seventh place, a 30-second penalty for cutting the course dropped Reif to 19th.
“I just kind of drove over my head, right?” Reif told members of the media post-race. “I’ve never been in that position. I’ve never been so excited in my life, and for the past month, I’ve been manifesting this, and I threw it away there at the end. I hit that corner 50 times perfect. I was one of the best cars through there all night, and then I missed it on the last lap because I let my head get too big.”
“Going to work on the mental side of stuff when I get home and go win the next couple.”
Friday marked Reif’s seventh start in the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series, and while anything better than a ninth-place result would have beat a career-best from last November at Phoenix Raceway (on debut), the former ARCA Menards Series West winner was going for the victory.
Crossing under the white flag in the lead was the first time that Reif had ever led in the Truck Series, and it’s an experience that he’ll, no doubt, remember forever, and hopefully learn from, as he moves forward in his limited schedule with Niece Motorsports.
“[It’s] unfortunate that I did that,” Reif told Josh Sims of FOX Sports. “I don’t know how many more chances I’ll have like this, but I’m sure there will be more, going to make sure not to make that mistake again.”
While already devastating enough for himself to lose out on a victory in NASCAR’s National Series, the pain is multiplied by what this weekend meant to the team. Al Niece, founder of Niece Motorsports, was stationed on Naval Base Coronado in 1968 while enlisted with the Marine Corps during the Vietnam War. This weekend was the first time Niece had returned to the Navy base since 1968.
There are some positives, though: Friday marked just the seventh start in the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series for Reif, and the third time he’s been on a road course. To have the speed he did at the end of the race, driving up into the top five on a tough track in an extremely competitive field, reaffirms the decision that Cody Efaw and Niece Motorsports made to put him in the truck.
“I think the positive is that it’s only my [seventh] ever truck race and my third time on a road course, and I’ve been a top-five truck every road course,” Reif added. “I don’t know, just take the positives, the speed, the execution, just keep bringing the momentum to the next race, and I think the win is very close.”
Photo: Niece Motorsports
