Layne Riggs Earns Phoenix Pole; Honeycutt The Top Playoff Driver

Layne Riggs didn't care that he was going to be required to drop to the rear of the field and make a pass-thru penalty after the green flag is displayed in Friday night's NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Championship Race at Phoenix Raceway due to an illegal part discovered in pre-race inspection.

The driver of the No. 34 Front Row Motorsports Ford F-150, who is chasing a NASCAR Truck Series Owner's Championship for his team, wanted to send a message in qualifying. Riggs put his foot to the floorboard and captured the pole position for the race.

"I actually wasn't expecting that. I feel like I kind of messed up that lap a little bit," Riggs said. "I gave it my all there. I knew we were going to start in the back, but still just wanted to see the potential we had. Make sure that the adjustments we made from our mock qualifying run was better, and it was."

He won't get to start there, but the record books will always show him as the polesitter for this event.

As added insult to injury, Riggs' truck also failed inspection after the qualifying session, which resulted in NASCAR ejecting his truck chief for the remainder of the race weekend as well.

Chandler Smith, Riggs' Front Row Motorsports teammate, was the second-fastest driver in the qualifying session, while TRICON Garage teammates Brent Crews and Tanner Gray secured starting spots three and four, and will comprise the second row of the starting grid.

As far as the drivers, who are battling it out for the 2025 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series driver's championship, it was Kaden Honeycutt, the biggest underdog of the group, who secured the highest starting spot in Friday's qualifying session.

Corey Heim, the overwhelming favorite for the championship, will start from sixth, Ty Majeski, the defending series champion, will start from eighth in his quest to go back-to-back, and Tyler Ankrum, the final Championship contender in the starting grid, will start from the 21st position.

Official Starting Lineup for the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Championship Race:

Pos	Truck	Driver
1	34	Layne Riggs
2	38	Chandler Smith
3	1	Brent Crews
4	15	Tanner Gray
5	52	Kaden Honeycutt (P)
6	11	Corey Heim (P)
7	71	Rajah Caruth
8	98	Ty Majeski (P)
9	17	Gio Ruggiero #
10	99	Ben Rhodes
11	7	Stefan Parsons
12	77	Corey LaJoie
13	41	Tyler Reif
14	13	Jake Garcia
15	91	Jack Wood
16	44	Andres Perez de Lara #
17	45	Bayley Currey
18	62	Cole Butcher
19	19	Daniel Hemric
20	81	Connor Mosack #
21	18	Tyler Ankrum (P)
22	26	Dawson Sutton #
23	9	Grant Enfinger
24	66	Luke Baldwin
25	88	Matt Crafton
26	5	Toni Breidinger #
27	76	Spencer Boyd
28	33	Frankie Muniz #
29	02	Nathan Byrd
30	2	Clayton Green
31	35	Greg Van Alst
32	22	Mason Maggio
33	74	Caleb Costner
34	42	Matt Mills

(P) indicates NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Playoff contender
# indicates Rookie of the Year contender

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