NASCAR arrived at a new destination on Friday, but the winning face in the Truck race wasn't a new one. Layne Riggs, the championship leader, once again emerged victorious, winning the Navy 250 in Coronado, San Diego.

After he won the race, Riggs gave himself the title of “Layne van Riggsbergen," an ode to Cup Series driver Shane van Gisbergen, who is known to dominate on road courses.

Having started his race in second place, the Ford driver dominated the race as he finished Stage 1 on top. However, he fell behind on Stage 2 (12th), but in the final stage, he recovered brilliantly to take home the victory with 1.332 seconds to spare.

"Layne van Riggsbergen came to play today, man," Riggs told FOX's Kaitlyn Vincie after the race. "We're undefeated in street course races -- much respect, Shane. I hope I can be as good as you one day, man. I'm going to take all my glory here in the Truck Series."

Riggs has won two of two road course races this season. The first victory came on the streets of St. Petersburg, Florida, where he led 41 of 80 laps, won Stage 2, and went from 23rd to fifth in the standings.

"I don't even know what happened at the end," Riggs added after the caution-laden San Diego race. "Sparks flying, people wrecking, staying in the throttle. I was running out of fuel the entire last lap. It was like St. Pete all over again."

Riggs kept his competitors at bay, especially 19-year-old Tyler Reif, and grabbed his fourth win of the season. With this, the Front Row Motorsports driver pulled away in the regular season championship and now has a 65-point lead over Kaden Honeycutt after 13 races.

Tyler Reif left in tears after San Diego heartbreak

While Layne Riggs enjoyed the outcome in San Diego, Tyler Reif left the race disheartened. The 19-year-old driver from Niece Motorsports was just two chicanes away from grabbing his first-ever Truck Series win, but disaster struck.

He fumbled the left-right-right-left before the final corner, overshot his entry, and cut through it. As a result, he had to come to a stop and got a 30-second time penalty for short-cutting the course.

"Just kind of just drove over my head, right?” Reif said after the race. “I’ve never been in that position. I’ve never been so excited in my life. And for the past month, I’ve been manifesting this, and I threw it away there at the end."

"I hit that corner 50 times perfect. I was one of the best cars through there all night, and then I missed it on the last lap because I let my head get too big. Gonna work on the mental side of stuff when I get home and go win the next couple," Reif added.

The 19-year-old eventually finished 19th and was in tears after the race.

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Written by

Sabyasachi Biswas

Edited by

Yash Kotak