Layne Riggs wins at Naval Base Coronado in wild NASCAR debut race
SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA – JUNE 19: Layne Riggs, driver of the #34 Mattermost Ford, celebrates in victory lane after winning the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Navy 250 at Naval Base Coronado on June 19, 2026 in San Diego, California. (Photo by Sean Gardner/Getty Images)
By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service
CORONADO, Calif.—Short on fuel and long on perseverance and good fortune, Layne Riggs won Friday’s inaugural Navy 250 NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series race at San Diego Street Course at Naval Base Coronado.
SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA – JUNE 19: Layne Riggs, driver of the #34 Mattermost Ford, takes the checkered flag to win the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Navy 250 at Naval Base Coronado on June 19, 2026 in San Diego, California. (Photo by David Jensen/Getty Images)
It wasn’t until the final two corners of overtime that Riggs was able to claim his fourth victory of the season and the ninth of his career. The driver of the No. 34 Front Row Racing Ford was running second behind Tyler Reif entering the chicane that precedes the final corner at the 3.4-mile, 16-turn street circuit.
Under pressure from Riggs, Reif blew the chicane, steered to the inside of the tire barriers defining the racing line and came to a stop after exiting. Riggs grabbed the lead and reached the finish line 1.332 seconds ahead of runner-up Daniel Hemric, who ran the final circuit with a tire losing air.
SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA – JUNE 19: Layne Riggs, driver of the #34 Mattermost Ford, celebrates with a burnout after winning the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Navy 250 at Naval Base Coronado on June 19, 2026 in San Diego, California. (Photo by David Jensen/Getty Images)
“Layne van Risberger came to play today, man,” Riggs chortled after climbing from his car—a facetious reference to road course superstar Shane van Gisbergen in the NASCAR Cup Series. “We’re undefeated in street course races—much respect, Shane. I hope I can be as good as you one day, man. I’m going to take all my glory here in the truck series.
“I don’t even know what happened at the end—sparks flying, people wrecking, staying in the throttle. I was running out of fuel the entire last lap. It was like St. Pete all over again (an earlier Riggs victory this season in an inaugural street race).”
SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA – JUNE 19: Layne Riggs, driver of the #34 Mattermost Ford, celebrates after winning the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Navy 250 at Naval Base Coronado on June 19, 2026 in San Diego, California. (Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images)
Entering the chicane on the final lap, Riggs was trying to force Reif into a mistake—and succeeded.
“I faked left to scare him, and he missed the corner,” Riggs said. “I really wasn’t going to dive it in there, and it worked for me … An amazing, historic win.”
Reif was trying to win in only his seventh start in the series. He finished 19th after being assessed a 30-second penalty for short-cutting the course on the final lap.
“I hear (Riggs was) one (car-length) back from me, and I didn’t want to give him a chance to get to me,” Reif said. “It was my mistake. It’s very unfortunate that I did that. I don’t know how many more chances I’ll have like this, but I’m sure there’ll be more, and I’m going to make sure not to make that mistake again.”
SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA – JUNE 19: Kaden Honeycutt, driver of the #11 Safelite Toyota, and Jimmie Johnson, driver of the #1 Carvana Toyota, race during the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Navy 250 at Naval Base Coronado on June 19, 2026 in San Diego, California. (Photo by Sean Gardner/Getty Images)
The final two laps featured a surfeit of twists and turns. Superior strategy put Chandler Smith at the front of the field for the overtime restart on Lap 52, with fresher tires and more fuel than Riggs, his teammate.
Smith led the field to green with Kaden Honeycutt beside him, but Honeycutt brushed the wall on the downhill run toward Turn 2, and Smith spun and crash trying to avoid him. As cars bounced off each other behind them, Henric took the lead briefly, only to be challenged and passed by Reif, who blocked Hemric’s Chevrolet into the wall approaching the chicane on the white-flag lap.
Reif held the lead from that point on until his mistake in the tight, freshly-paved chicane. In the overtime melee, Kaz Grala finished third, followed by Landen Lewis (a career best) and Ty Majeski.
SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA – JUNE 19: Parker Kligerman, driver of the #75 FMS Solutions Chevrolet, Tyler Reif, driver of the #42 Niece Equipment/Foundation for Pops Chevrolet, and Kris Wright, driver of the #81 NASCAR USA 250 Chevrolet, race during the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Navy 250 at Naval Base Coronado on June 19, 2026 in San Diego, California. (Photo by David Jensen/Getty Images)
Smith and Honeycutt ran 22nd and 23rd, respectively. Seven-time NASCAR Cup champion Jimmie Johnson led two laps but finished 30th after spinning twice and losing power in the final stage. Johnson was making his second start in the series 18 years removed from his first.
The race featured 16 lead changes among six drivers, with Riggs leading a race-high 21 circuits and Smith 13. There were seven cautions for 13 laps.
Riggs, who won the first stage, increased his series lead to 65 points over Honeycutt, with Smith trailing by 128 points in third place with five events left in the Truck Series regular season.
Parker Kligerman won Stage 2 before finishing 18th.
Layne Riggs (No. 34 Front Row Motorsports Ford), Navy 250 race winner –
NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series Race – Navy 250
San Diego Street Course
San Diego, California
Friday, June 19, 2026
1. (2) Layne Riggs, Ford, 53.
2. (32) Daniel Hemric, Chevrolet, 53.
3. (16) Kaz Grala, Toyota, 53.
4. (9) Landen Lewis, Chevrolet, 53.
5. (8) Ty Majeski, Ford, 53.
6. (17) Justin Haley, RAM, 53.
7. (34) Brenden Queen #, RAM, 53.
8. (13) Ben Rhodes, Ford, 53.
9. (30) Christian Eckes, Chevrolet, 53.
10. (6) Giovanni Ruggiero, Toyota, 53.
11. (23) Mini Tyrrell #, RAM, 53.
12. (35) Tanner Gray, Toyota, 53.
13. (24) Kris Wright, Chevrolet, 53.
14. (33) Adam Andretti, Toyota, 53.
15. (25) Cole Butcher #, Ford, 53.
16. (28) Brendan Gaughan, Chevrolet, 53.
17. (29) Austin Varco, Ford, 53.
18. (10) Parker Kligerman, Chevrolet, 53.
19. (14) Tyler Reif, Chevrolet, 53.
20. (27) Frankie Muniz, Ford, 53.
21. (7) Andres Perez De Lara, Chevrolet, 53.
22. (3) Chandler Smith, Ford, 53.
23. (1) Kaden Honeycutt, Toyota, Accident, 52.
24. (11) Connor Mosack, Chevrolet, 52.
25. (31) Justin Marks, Chevrolet, 51.
26. (18) Dawson Sutton, Chevrolet, 51.
27. (26) Jackson Lee, Ford, 50.
28. (20) Nathan Nicholson, Chevrolet, Accident, 48.
29. (5) Grant Enfinger, Chevrolet, 48.
30. (4) Jimmie Johnson(i), Toyota, Electrical, 47.
31. (12) Tyler Ankrum, Chevrolet, Accident, 46.
32. (19) Jake Garcia, Ford, Transmission, 40.
33. (22) Stewart Friesen, Toyota, Power Steering, 29.
34. (21) Jamie McMurray, RAM, Accident, 22.
35. (15) Corey LaJoie, RAM, Accident, 14.
Average Speed of Race Winner: 64.274 mph.
Time of Race: 2 Hrs, 48 Mins, 13 Secs. Margin of Victory: 1.332 Seconds.
Caution Flags: 7 for 13 laps.
Lead Changes: 16 among 6 drivers.
Lap Leaders: K. Honeycutt 1-2;L. Riggs 3-5;K. Honeycutt 6;L. Riggs 7-12;K. Honeycutt 13-16;J. Johnson(i) 17-18;C. Smith 19;P. Kligerman 20;L. Riggs 21;P. Kligerman 22-26;C. Smith 27;K. Honeycutt 28-30;C. Smith 31-33;L. Riggs 34-43;C. Smith 44-51;T. Reif 52;L. Riggs 53.
Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Lead, Laps Led): Layne Riggs 5 times for 21 laps; Chandler Smith 4 times for 13 laps; Kaden Honeycutt 4 times for 10 laps; Parker Kligerman 2 times for 6 laps; Jimmie Johnson(i) 1 time for 2 laps; Tyler Reif 1 time for 1 lap.
Stage #1 Top Ten: 34,11,1,38,9,18,99,44,45,42
Stage #2 Top Ten: 75,88,9,18,44,42,38,11,1,91
