TRUCKS: Hocevar Outduels Riggs for Kansas Win in Wild Finish

Carson Hocevar took home the hardware after winning Saturday night's NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Heart of Health Care 200 at Kansas Speedway. | NKP

Layne Riggs had a truck capable of winning Saturday night's NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Heart of Health Care 200 at Kansas Speedway, but after he clawed his way to the rear bumper of Carson Hocevar, Riggs was unable to find a clean way by for the race win.

RESULTS: Heart of Health Care 200 at Kansas

On the final lap of the race, Riggs knifed his No. 34 Ford F-150 to the inside of Hocevar's No. 7 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet, but would slide up into the left rear quarterpanel of Hocevar, which sent Hocevar sideways into the outside wall. However, Riggs would also skid sideways in Turns 1 and 2, which allowed Hocevar to maintain his lead.

"I was shocked, I thought I threw it away," Hocevar said of the final-lap contact with Riggs.

As Hocevar approached the finish line, he would have his middle finger waving out the driver's side window net at Riggs, who crossed the finish line behind him.

WHAT A BATTLE. 10/10

Carson Hocevar holds off a hard-charging Layne Riggs to win the @NASCAR_Trucks race at Kansas! #NASCARonFS1 pic.twitter.com/YajijQms64

— FOX: NASCAR (@NASCARONFOX) May 11, 2025

"I just thought I'd make it entertaining. Were y'all entertained?" Hocevar questioned the electric crowd. "No, that 34 truck was super, super good. This truck was really, really good on the short runs, and I didn't think he would get to us for how far back he was. But he was super good. Yeah, it's been a while since I've been in a finish like that where it's just like all out there."

This win marks the fifth of the 22-year-old Hocevar's NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series career. Now, Hocevar will look to pick up his first career NASCAR Cup Series win in Sunday's AdventHealth 400, where he is set to roll from the 22nd starting position.

Riggs, who won two races during his rookie season last year, says he was trying to do whatever he could to get back to victory lane for the first time in 2025.

“Man, I gave it my all,” Riggs said in an interview with FS1 after the race. “We were really down bad with the track position there, and we went through the third stage, and we were about to take the lead, and we did the green-flag pit stop, which really hurt us. Had to come from 16th in that green flag run to get all the way back to him.”

While Riggs' miraculous charge didn't result in his first win of the season, the driver was also stripped of the runner-up finish after his No. 34 Front Row Motorsports Ford F-150 failed post-race inspection due to an issue with the bed cover on his truck.

As a result of the Riggs disqualification, William Byron, who drives the No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet in the NASCAR Cup Series, was officially credited with a runner-up finish after finishing just behind the frantic last-lap duel involving Hocevar and Riggs.

Corey Heim, who won Stage 1 only to suffer from a broken air gun on pit road, which he would battle back from before ultimately being served a late-race restart violation, would rally to finish third in the No. 11 TRICON Garage Toyota Tundra TRD Pro.

Heim, who holds a 64-point advantage over Chandler Smith (finished 17th) in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series standings, led 52 laps on the night, second only to Hocevar, who led a race-high 75 laps.

Rookie of the Year contender Gio Ruggiero would secure a fourth-place finish a week after a violent excursion through the Texas Motor Speedway infield grass ended his race early.

Stewart Friesen, Brandon Jones, polesitter Jake Garcia, Kaden Honeycutt, Grant Enfinger, and Daniel Hemric rounded out the top-10 finishers in the race.

Another Rookie of the Year contender Dawson Sutton was assessed a two-lap penalty early in the event after NASCAR concluded he intentionally brought the caution out by spinning onto pit road with a flat tire on Lap 4.

Sutton would drop to three laps down total, but would receive three consecutive free passes from Lap 32 to 62, which would put him back on the lead lap. Sutton would work his way into the top five of the race with under 20 laps to go, but would fade in the closing laps. Still, the rookie would salvage a respectable 15th-place result on what could've been a disastrous night.

Next up for the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series is a date with the legendary North Wilkesboro Speedway on Saturday, May 17. The Window World 250 will be televised on FS1 with coverage beginning at 1:30 PM ET.