Just over a month ago, Layne Riggs could not believe his progress. He took his third trophy of 2025 in Bristol, cracking the Round of 8, and laying out a path towards the Championship 4 for Front Row Motorsports. Riggs emerged as the toughest rival for season legend Corey Heim, with news outlets predicting that he might upset Heim’s title run. And Riggs fought tooth and nail till the very end.

The Slim Jim 200 Craftsman Truck Series race was flagged off at Martinsville Speedway recently, and drivers bit their nails. It was the last chance for all playoff drivers except for Corey Heim to get in. And initially, Layne Riggs seemed to have the best chance. Sadly, he could not make it through.

A technical mishap took out Layne Riggs

Well, the No. 34 FRM Ford was fiery hot in practice and qualifying. Layne Riggs clinched the pole, being the only driver to run a lap in the 19.4-second range. He also had the fastest 10-lap average of any driver by 0.2 mph. And staying true to this initially fast pace, Riggs started the race smoothly. He led the first 27 laps around the half-mile ‘Paperclip.’ However, disaster struck on lap 28 – he encountered an issue trying to shift from third gear into fourth, which cost him the lead. “It all kind of started with that miss shift on the restart,” Riggs lamented post-race.

Layne Riggs could never regain the lead and lost crucial points for a potential Championship 4 advance. He finished 6th in Stage 1, losing out on five potential points had he won the stage. He expanded on the mishap: “I’m not really sure what happened. I never missed a shift in a truck in my whole career. And we do have some new transmissions. I guess I’m just not quite used to them yet. So pretty upset about that.” He continued, “So, definitely dejected. I would have been dejected if we were even in fourth. I just don’t like it, man.”

Well, Layne Riggs put up a solid fight till the end – he was able to knock past upstart Brent Crews to take a third position on an overtime restart. Kaden Honeycutt‘s No. 52 Toyota was right in front, but Riggs chose not to be aggressive. “Yeah, I was dejected even when I thought we were in it first. Just don’t like racing that way, man. Like, you know, I’m here and got to get one, gotta get one. And everybody knows how it is. I mean, if I got the opportunity to get in for my team, I’m gonna do it. Even if I don’t want to do it the way I do. So I mean, I got there at the end, man.” Riggs lost the tiebreaker to Honeycutt.

While Layne Riggs nurses his wounds, let us hear from his rivals who cracked the title race.

Varied emotions in the garage

Corey Heim picked up his record 11th trophy of the season at Martinsville Speedway. While Heim had already locked himself into the Championship 4, his competitors were in a solid battle. Among them was Ty Majeski, the defending Craftsman Truck Series champion. Majeski entered the race 5 points below the cutline and encountered brake fade issues. He lost a lot of positions as a result, but was able to speed to a 7th-place finish and advance. He was thankful for a clean race: “For the most part, everyone raced pretty clean. There was some bumping and banging to try to advance to Phoenix, which is to be expected.”

The other two drivers who advanced to the Championship 4 are first-timers. One of them is Kaden Honeycutt, who was heavily embroiled with Layne Riggs. The No. 52 Halmar Friesen Racing driver finished in runner-up position. He said post-race, “I didn’t do the best job of executing the restart, and Corey did an excellent job of executing. Just had to hold on and hoped that everything worked out. Thankfully, it did, and now we get the chance to go have fun next week and try to mix it up.”

The final driver to crack the title race was Tyler Ankrum, driver of the No. 18 Chevy for McAnally-Hilgemann Racing. After finishing 9th, Ankrum admitted that he had a stressful day: “This doesn’t freaking cover stress, man. Next time I do it, I want to have a win or 30 or 40 points in the bank. … I’m definitely going to try to find a way to chill out tonight.”

Clearly, the ones who got into Phoenix are experiencing varied emotions. As for the ones who were left out, including Layne Riggs, they are grieving while also preparing for next season.