HNASCAR
Layne Riggs Wins Inaugural San Diego Truck Race at Naval Base Coronado
CORONADO, Calif. – Marking NASCAR’s first venture onto the twists and turns of Naval Base Coronado, the Craftsman Truck Series put on a show to remember. Layne Riggs was the dominant driver Friday afternoon, but lined up fourth in overtime. After leaders tangled and a young rookie made a last-corner mistake, Riggs muscled his way back to victory lane.
The championship duo that can’t shake each other stayed locked together in the early laps. Layne Riggs took the lead on lap three from pole winner Kaden Honeycutt, and won Stage 1. Riggs would cycle back to the point late in Stage 2, only to short pit and hand this win to Parker Kligerman. This middle segment also saw NASCAR Hall of Famer, seven-time Cup Series champion, and hometown hero Jimmie Johnson briefly lead in the TRICON Garage No. 1.
NEW LEADER: JIMMIE JOHNSON! đź‘€ #NASCARonFS1 pic.twitter.com/52njbSwbc4
— FOX: NASCAR (@NASCARONFOX) June 20, 2026
Riggs would be set back to start the final stage after a slow pit stop, giving the top spot back to Honeycutt. The No. 11 would soon tank slap the turn two tire barriers, however. This exchange gave the lead to Chandler Smith, then back to Riggs.
Another problem in turn 2 for @KadenWHoneycutt! @CSmith_Racing takes the lead. pic.twitter.com/oSugUYiabE
— NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Trucks (@NASCAR_Trucks) June 20, 2026
Riggs’ No. 34 Ford would briefly lose the lead again to Smith while saving fuel, only to line up fourth in overtime. Thanks to Honeycutt and Smith taking each other out, Riggs soon found himself in a lead battle with Daniel Hemric and then Tyler Reif. The 19-year-old in Niece Motorsports’ No. 42 held the lead until the final turns, when he cut the last chicane. This error gave Riggs just enough time to sneak on by and take another win.
Layne Riggs wins at Naval Base Coronado! pic.twitter.com/YbpeBekuXg
— FOX: NASCAR (@NASCARONFOX) June 20, 2026
“Layne van Riggsbergen came to play today,” Riggs joked. “Man, I got the second street course win, we’re undefeated at street courses. Much respect Shane [van Gisbergen], I wish I could be as good as you one day man. But I’m going to take all my glory here in the Truck Series. Thank you to everybody at the end. I don’t even know what happened there, it was sparks flying, people wrecking, staying in the throttle. I was running out of fuel the entire last lap, just like St. Pete all over again. Great job with Reif there. I went left to scare him and he missed the corner. I wasn’t really going to dive it in there, and it worked for me. Hate that Chandler got taken out there with the 11, they definitely had it won. They beat us on strategy. We just didn’t have the tires. When we stayed out because we could make it to the end on fuel, the tires prevailed. Just what a crazy race today with strategy and everything else. Amazing historic win.”
“Thank you to everybody at Ford Racing. Joey Hand, you the man, we’re two-for-two on street courses man, this is awesome. What a historic event, thanks to everyone involved. Hopefully we put on a great great race for all the fans who have never seen NASTrucks before.”
“We work so hard, we were close last year and this year we’re just really hitting our stride. Until the last lap and the 38 and 11 wrecked, I was going to finish fourth or fifth. It just all fell in our lap, which I feel like that rarely happens in a good way. It’s usually on a bad note. We’re just using our luck up now, we just gotta keep it paced through the season to make sure we have just enough for those last few races.”
Thanks to a fourth win of 2026, Riggs extends his championship lead over Honeycutt to 65 points. Now with three victories over the last four races, Riggs and team 34 look to be in peak form and almost unstoppable.
Daniel Hemric, Kaz Grala, Landen Lewis, and Ty Majeski were the top-five behind Riggs. San Diego’s top-10 were rounded out by: Justin Haley, Brendan ‘Butterbean’ Queen, Ben Rhodes, Christian Eckes, and Gio Ruggiero.
Trucks return to action at another road course in three weeks. July 11th will see the Truckers take on Connecticut’s famed Lime Rock Park for a second straight season. The LiUNA 150 green flag will fly at 1 p.m. ET on FS1, NRN, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio. Layne Riggs will try to keep his hot streak alive on another tricky winding track.
Written by Peter Stratta
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Photo credits to Sean Gardner/Getty Images
