Layne Riggs Takes Charlotte Win After Going Toe-To-Toe With Honeycutt

What a battle! And if the finish to Friday night's NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Ecosave 200 at Charlotte Motor Speedway is any indication, the championship fight between Layne Riggs and Kaden Honeycutt is going to be must-see television down to the closing laps at Homestead-Miami Speedway in November.

On Friday night, Riggs got the better of Honeycutt, who entered the night with a 37-point advantage over Riggs in the championship battle. And it was kind of surprising, as it appeared, before a rash of late-race cautions, that Honeycutt had the truck to beat.

However, as the race went back to green on the final restart with 11 laps remaining following a nearly-13-minute red flag for a multi-truck melee on Lap 118, Riggs was able to hang with Honeycutt. And as the final laps drew to a close, Riggs discovered the deficiencies of Honeycutt's race-leading No. 11 Toyota.

Without pressure from behind, Honeycutt couldn't be beaten. However, as Riggs drafted up to the rear bumper of Honeycutt's truck with a few laps remaining, it was clear that packing the air on Honeycutt's rear spoiler destabilized his truck considerably.

Coming off of Turn 4 with seven laps remaining, Riggs was able to pack enough air on the rear of Honeycutt's truck, that Honeycutt broke loose. As Honeycutt skidded up the track, and slightly grazed the outside wall, Riggs scooted on by and marched to the victory.

"Man, that was a hell of a battle there at the end with me and [Honeycutt]. That was a lot of fun," Riggs said after climbing from his No. 34 Bare Knuckles Boxing Ford F-150.

Riggs, who started 13th in the 36-truck field, quickly rallied through the field in the opening laps of the race, and would go on to win the opening Stage of the event. However, trouble on pit road for Riggs would allow Honeycutt to be in position for the Stage 2 win. And all night long, Riggs was forced to rally from lost positions on pit road.

Still, Riggs is happy he was able to keep battling back.

"I think I had to pass the 11 three or four times. We gotta still work on pit road. That was our weakness, still, but kept driving it to the front," Riggs boasted.

As Honeycutt struggled to get his truck back under him in the closing laps, Christian Eckes, another championship contender, was able to get around him for the runner-up spot. Honeycutt would fade to a third-place result.

After the race, Honeycutt wasn't upset about the late-race battle with Riggs, in fact, he had the same conclusion about the racing that Riggs had. It was awesome.

"Oh, I thought it was awesome, too," Honeycutt stated.

However, the championship leader wishes he would have worried less about where Riggs was running on track, and instead done his own thing. In the end, he feels attempting to block Riggs' run is what did in his chance at a win on Friday night at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

"When we went down into [Turn] 1, I think he was trying to decide bottom or top, and I defended it. I don't know how the heck I saved it, that was pretty wild. Just seeing the replay, I really wish -- I shouldn't have been air-blocking him as much as I did," Honeycutt explained. "I think I just took away what I was trying to do, and just focused on him too much. I should have run my own race."

Fortunately, for Honeycutt, he was able to minimize the damage from popping the outside wall with seven laps to go, and held on to finish third. Now, his point lead has shrunk from 37 points to 17 heading into next weekend's event at Phoenix Raceway.

Bayley Currey, who was making just his second start of the season, continued to impress in part-time duty with TRICON Garage. The driver, turned Truck Chief, turned driver again, came out of Friday night's race with a fourth-place run, driving the No. 5 Toyota.

Chandler Smith, the third-place driver in the championship standings, was able to rally from a late-race pit road penalty, which mired him 32nd in the running order, to finish fifth. Smith now sits 77 points behind Honeycutt, the point leader.

Daniel Hemric, Landen Lewis, Andres Perez De Lara, Tyler Ankrum, and Justin Haley rounded out the top-10 finishers in the Ecosave 200 at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

*This story will be updated with race results, and additional details.

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