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“He’s…just a bit sh*tty”- SVG’s Supercars Rival Sounds off on Kansas Altercation as Fans Cite “No Sympathy” for the FRM Star

Published 05/05/2024, 3:10 AM EDT

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USA Today via Reuters

Australian Supercars fans tuning in to NASCAR this season woke up to startling news a few days prior. Shane van Gisbergen, despite his best efforts, would not be making it to the All-Star race. But as Trackhouse Racing and Spire Motorsports felt the brunt of fans’ disappointment, another Australian Supercars ace made his best effort to deliver a stellar evening at Kansas Speedway. In only his second Truck Series race, Cam Waters had finished inside the top 20!

However, the end of the race wasn’t filled with confetti and celebrations, as Waters had expected. Post-race, Cam Waters found himself locked in a heated conversation with rival Layne Riggs. But what led to the now-experienced Front Row Motorsports driver giving the newcomer a piece of his mind?

Cam Waters has a rude awakening to NASCAR’s pit lane drama

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Fans were delighted to witness Cam Waters bring home a P19 finish at Kansas, but what nobody expected was how quickly the rookie would be introduced to NASCAR’s cutthroat nature. Starting in the 22nd grid slot, Waters put the #66 ThorSport Ford F-150 in an excellent position to bring home the top-20 finish. Soon enough, Waters entered top-20 territory before Ty Majeski hit the wall at turn 1, triggering an early caution.

On the restart, Waters unfortunately dropped to 27th. But by applying his Supercars experience to the Next-Gen car, Waters slotted the #66 F-150 into 19th as the race entered stage 3. This is when Waters set out to hunt down Layne Riggs in his #38 Front Row Motorsports F-150. But with only a handful of laps to go, things got heated between the two, and Waters may have shoved Riggs toward the barriers a tad bit aggressively. This led to the two exchanging words post-race, and Riggs was certainly not happy.

Soon enough, the race ended with Riggs leading Waters in 18th and 19th, respectively. For Cam Waters, the outing at Kansas had been rather successful. As he reflected in a post-race interview with FrontStretch. He stated, “It was up and down, up and down, it was pretty wild out there! Just struggling on the restarts and when I was in a pack with dirty air. Towards, the end, I kind of got a bit more comfortable, and we got the truck a little bit closer to what I liked.”

For Waters, the last few laps made him feel he could have hunted down further positions if a caution bunched up the pack, and the race still had 100 laps to go. Although the race didn’t end that way, Waters was happy with the outcome. That being said, the driver right in front of him certainly didn’t have the same opinion. Although fans watching on only got to witness Waters and Riggs’ interaction on the screens, the Australian Supercars driver revealed what truly went down.

Cam Waters explained, “He (Layne Riggs) was just upset with the last corner, we got in there side-by-side and I got a bit free and then got into him but he’s probably just a bit sh**ty. He didn’t have the best night. He was slow all night and it is what it is. I had a lot of fun tonight, so I was going up to him to say good job, cool race.” 

With fans finding out that Cam Waters’ intentions were nothing but honorable, the NASCAR community couldn’t help but call out Layne Riggs for his actions, as well as his performance.

NASCAR fans side with the Supercars Champion over Layne Riggs

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Once understanding the entire story, fans felt that Layne Riggs was perhaps ‘shooting’ beyond his caliber. After all, Riggs hasn’t delivered stellar results in the Truck Series so far. In three seasons, the 21-year-old has brought in just three top-tens so far. Naturally, this made many believe that Riggs was unsuited to call out the newcomer so soon.

Fans began highlighting Layne Riggs’ shortcomings. One user shared, “Layne Riggs is racing the championship-winning truck of 2022 and he sucks. I feel no sympathy for him being back in the field

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Some tried to defend Riggs by pointing out the pit crew and crew chief changes in the #38 Front Row Motorsports garage. The user stated, “Layne has had a frustrating season whereas Cam is a part-time driver and he’s got a Supercars title to win.” 

Similarly, others also tried to point out the issues Riggs has had this season as the source of his frustrations. A fan tweeted, “Looks more like a temper tantrum”

Fans commended Waters for his impressive demeanor in such situations. They stated, “Love me some Cam Waters. The guy fights hard for every inch.”  

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But Layne Riggs’ dismal results weren’t the only thing fans were bothered by. Users felt Waters didn’t deserve any of it; “Bro is angry at someone who is in like their 3rd race.” But to top it all off, a veteran fan swiftly silenced Riggs’ aggression. They shared, “Take your helmet off if you want to talk shit! Fuckin kids these days” 

After taking a look at the NASCAR community jumping to defend Cam Waters, it’s safe to say that the Australian Supercars champion may have found a new home, if he doubles down on his full-time wishes.

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Written by:

Kabir Bajaj Ahmed

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Kabir Bajaj Ahmed is an F1 & NASCAR Writer at EssentiallySports. Known for his storytelling and extensive research skills, he has covered multiple stories on Dale Earnhardt Jr and his legendary dad, allowing readers to relive the thunderous days of 'The Intimidator'. Being a racer himself, Kabir can resonate with the motorsport world better than most.
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Edited by:

Shivali Nathta