Layne Riggs is back like he never left, my friends. He was up on the stick at Charlotte Motor Speedway, as they like to say, and the move he made on Kaden Honeycutt to win the Ecosave 200 was pretty impressive.
He was on the top, packed air on the top and got Honeycutt loose. Then he just yanked that thing left and cut under him and put up the deuces. That was it. Riggs got by on Lap 128 of 134, when Honeycutt's No. 11 Toyota broke loose in the top lane and tagged the outside wall, and he won by 0.596 seconds over Christian Eckes in the No. 34 Front Row Motorsports Ford. Honeycutt lost second to Eckes a lap later and finished third.
Not rolling over
Riggs needed a run like that. They needed to show they're not just going to roll over because they lost a points lead, and that they can execute at a high level.
He led Honeycutt by three points going into Kansas on Sept. 26, went into the wall late, finished 19th and left 37 behind in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Chase, the series playoff. It is 17 now. They went back to their strengths, running up front and winning races. That's all he's done all year: seven wins to Honeycutt's three. And I'll say it: if Riggs doesn't run into the fence at Kansas, he's got the points lead right now.
Hold serve
Honeycutt kept beating him off pit road Friday. "I think I had to pass the 11 three or four times," Riggs said. "We've got to still work on pit road. That was our weakness still, but I kept driving to the front."
They've had issues, and they need to clean it up. I think Riggs is doing the right thing, because he believes in those guys. He doesn't want to win it without them, but winning it is better than losing it with your boys. Sometimes this is big boy stuff, and you have to make big boy decisions. I think this group will get it together. They've been good throughout the year until the Chase.
I've talked to Honeycutt about this same thing. He told me he loves his guys, but he doesn't need record-breaking pit stops. As long as they're not losing four spots, they're fine. Hold serve: come in first, get him out first. Come in second, get him out second. What they can't do is come in first and go out fifth.
The slugfest I can see coming
Watching these two, you see how bad they both want it. They're both short trackers, and I wonder how much of a slugfest Martinsville might turn into. There's a lot of rivalry building, and they're both emotional guys. I can see them running into each other and it being a real slugfest for the next few weeks.
The other horse
Christian Eckes finished second for the second straight race and is fourth in the Chase, 88 points back. If something happens at Talladega and he's able to capitalize and get within 40 by the time it's over, he might be able to sniff around. Those two at the front, their worlds are going to revolve around each other, and you could forget there's another horse sniffing around.
Nothing wrong with being the next Ron Hornaday
Sometimes we get so caught up in seeing guys move up to the Cup Series. There's nothing wrong with being the next Ron Hornaday. He's a NASCAR Hall of Famer, respected in every garage you could ever go to, and he made a living racing in trucks.
I hope Honeycutt and Riggs both keep moving up, but only in quality, race-winning equipment. If these two get another year in trucks, it's really good for us and good for their brands, because they're going to be synonymous with winning. Iron sharpens iron. These two are the standard, and everyone who races with them gets better too. It's good for everybody, it's good for TV, and it's good for the fans.
Kyle Busch
Friday's race came before a celebration of the life of Kyle Busch, the late NASCAR Cup Series champion. Five trucks carried tributes to him. Two, pole winner Connor Mosack's No. 7 and Rajah Caruth's No. 77, were taken out in a late crash in Turn 3. Riggs called Busch "my hero." "I hope that he'd be proud of me," he said.
Give me Kaden
I will say my truck picks have been better than my O'Reilly picks. I took Riggs for Charlotte on Truck Series Episode 3 of The Grand National Show. He needed wins to close 37 points on Honeycutt. Eric Brennan took Eckes, who ran second. Chris Wilner took Giovanni Ruggiero, who started from the rear after a pre-race penalty, got caught in the late crash, finished 26th and fell from fourth to sixth in the Chase standings.
For Phoenix, give me Kaden Honeycutt. I don't know. Just give me Honeycutt. Davey Segal, hosting this week, took Riggs, and Chris went with Ty Majeski.
Next is Phoenix Raceway on Friday, Oct. 16, and I'm watching the two at the front, and the horse sniffing around behind them.