Written by Sean McKean
Following a successful tenure with Zane Smith from 2022 to 2023 that featured multiple wins and a title, Front Row Motorsports took a gamble on Layne Riggs. Son of former Cup driver Scott, Layne already made a handful of starts from in 2022 and 2023 – taking two-top tens in each year’s races at IRP.
Given the promise Riggs showed in his handful of starts and the equipment he was now driving, many expected him to start the season off hot. However, this did not come to fruition, as the first half of the season saw him take only two top-fives.
Riggs explained the difficulties that came from transitioning to full-time Trucks racing.
“Last season, making that transition from grassroots racing and all the sudden going to these mile-and-a-halfs, aerodynamic racing, it was such a crazy change. It was definitely a learning curve,” he told DIVEBOMB.
As the season progressed, though, the 22-year-old found something within the FRM camp. Despite not making the playoffs, the latter half of the season saw him take six top-fives – of this including two victories in Milwaukee and Bristol.
“We stubbed our toe early in the season and really had a tough start last year, but I was so happy to see the progression we made every weekend and even able to take [two wins] in the playoffs.”
Starting off in 2025
Now it’s 2025, and – like last year – the Truck Series began with two superspeedway races in Daytona and Atlanta. Even with the unorthodox start to the year when it comes to track selection, he exudes more confidence this year than he did this time in 2024.
“I feel a lot more confident, I feel like I know what I’m getting into, really understanding the tracks,” Riggs said. “Like Daytona this year, I knew what I was going into, I knew what drafting was about, understood speedway racing a little better, which last year I was kind of getting thrown into the deep end, like ‘Hey, go figure it out.’ It’s really good to show up now, have that confidence, know your competitors, understanding my team, my crew chief. It just takes a little time.”
Riggs’ first two races were each top-20s, but both saw him get involved in late-race crashes whilst running towards the front. He attributes this to off-season rustiness.
“I think just no matter what, over the off-season, you get a little rusty. So when you come back, it’s so hard to come back from your rusty off-season, winter-self, and then snap back into it and be sharp,” he told DIVEBOMB.
“I wish we started out with maybe a mile-and-a-half, perhaps some short tracks, then have the big race in Daytona. It just shows the prep work that people put in over the off-season. It’s definitely difficult. You get thrown in the deep-end at the very beginning of the season in NASCAR.”
Mentorship from a new teammate
Even though the results sheet won’t show it, Riggs ran up front for the majority of both Daytona and Atlanta – already a better feat than his pace at drafting tracks last year. A large part was due to a new full-time Truck entering the Front Row Motorsports camp in Chandler Smith.
Smith previously competed in the Truck Series full-time from 2021 to 2022 – garnering five wins and a best finish of third in the standings. Given Smith’s CV in the Truck Series, Riggs speaks positively on his guidance thus far.
“It’s been good. He doesn’t live in Charlotte, so we don’t see each other in person a lot.
“We obviously had a very good game plan in Daytona, people saw how well we were working together. He does have a lot of experience, so he’s been good to learn from, it’s good to have a second idea. For R&D and our race team, it’s a lot better to have two trucks out there [...], so far it’s been good, and I feel like I’ve been able to learn a lot,” he concluded.
Hands-on experience
Outside of the cockpit, Riggs is still very active with automobiles. In December 2024, he graduated from University of North Carolina with a Bachelor’s degree in Engineering. Since he’s very knowledgeable in how race cars/trucks are prepared, this engineering expertise certainly comes into play in his racing career. He explains:
“I like being hands-on, you kind of create your own destiny, and I feel like being in the shop, working with my engineer, my crew chief,” he said. “We sit down, look at some sim models and I give my thoughts, inputs and ideas. My experience with working on my own late models for so long, it was just me and dad that had to come up with setups. My understanding with racing knowledge and car knowledge and my engineering vocabulary, it’s a lot easier to communicate with my engineer and car chief than it would be with someone who’s only just driven before.
“I want to make them go fast as much as I want to drive them to go fast, so I think I’m a lot more comfortable.”
Goals for 2025?
Considering how strong he ended 2024, Riggs makes his goals for 2025 very clear.
“I think that anything short of being in the Final 4 is going to be a disappointment. I know we got the speed and the talent to do it. The big goal at the end of the year is the championship, and I know we can do that. I think going to a lot of different types of race tracks [is great], I want to broaden my racing talents. I don’t want to be ‘the short track guy.’ I want to be broad and be able to do it in all types of tracks. I’m looking forward to the upcoming year and having a variety of race tracks. I have the confidence we can perform on all of them.”
Riggs will be racing again this weekend in Las Vegas.
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