Layne Riggs had it all under control. Until he didn’t.
Riggs led the most laps, swept both stages and looked every bit like a driver ready to make a serious dent in Kaden Honeycutt’s NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series championship lead Friday night at Martinsville Speedway. Meanwhile, Honeycutt was having a considerably less comfortable evening, struggling to find the speed to challenge the leaders but managing to stay within striking distance.
Then came the final restart. And apparently, nobody bothered to tell Chandler Smith that this was supposed to be a championship night.
Smith, Riggs’ teammate at Front Row Motorsports, made his presence known in a hurry, taking advantage of a push from Ben Rhodes to power past the No. 34 on the outside with 12 laps remaining. Riggs tried to hang on, but his truck simply didn’t have the grip to keep pace. Smith was gone, leaving his teammate to settle for third while he collected his third victory of the 2026 season.
It was Smith’s 10th career Truck Series victory, and one that came at the expense of what could have been a massive championship payday for Riggs.
For most of the evening, Riggs looked untouchable. He led a race-high 156 of 200 laps, collected both stage victories and banked 20 valuable stage points. At one point, he had trimmed Honeycutt’s championship advantage to just seven points.
But racing at Martinsville has a nasty habit of reminding drivers that nothing is guaranteed until the checkered flag falls.
Riggs explained afterward that he wanted the outside lane on those final restarts, particularly with a teammate alongside him, but ultimately decided the risk wasn’t worth it.
“We just kind of felt like that was too risky and was going to take that out of our hands,” Riggs said. “If I would have got wrecked on the outside by somebody, it would have looked pretty bad on me.”
Instead, he found himself fighting a truck that was too loose to get going when it mattered most.
“When the rubber got picked up, I was just really free up under Chandler, free up under the 99. Just could not get going on that last restart,” he explained. “I feel like I prepped my tires, did the best I could. I just didn’t have the clean air like those other runs.”
Smith, meanwhile, wasn’t about to turn down the opportunity.
Ben Rhodes finished second, followed by Riggs, Ty Majeski and 16-year-old Tristan McKee, who continued an impressive day after making NASCAR history earlier in the afternoon.
McKee became the youngest pole winner in Craftsman Truck Series history, then backed it up with a fifth-place finish. Not bad for a teenager who probably only recently got his leaners permit to driver on the street.
Unfortunately for Honeycutt, McKee also played a part in turning an already difficult evening into a considerably worse one.
Honeycutt had been running inside the top five when the final restart turned into a three-wide battle. McKee moved up the track while making room for Majeski, and Honeycutt was caught in the middle of the mess. The championship leader was shuffled backward, dropping all the way to 14th.
Afterward, Honeycutt sought out McKee to find out exactly what had happened.
“I had nothing against him. I just wanted to ask him if the 88 (Ty Majeski) hit him or not,” Honeycutt explained. “When I looked in my mirror and I saw he was sideways, I didn’t know if he got free in or if he got run over. I just wanted to see what he said.”
After reviewing the replay, Honeycutt understood what had happened. McKee was simply trying to give Majeski room, and the three-wide situation developed before Honeycutt realized he was in it.
“It’s a sucky deal,” Honeycutt admitted.
There was, however, one consolation. Smith’s victory meant Riggs didn’t collect the maximum points he desperately needed, and Honeycutt’s championship advantage actually grew to 20 points heading into next week’s season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
That’s a considerably better position than it could have been, although Honeycutt wasn’t about to start shopping for championship celebrations.
“Yeah, 20 points, but definitely not comfortable in Homestead next week,” he said. “Just focusing on winning, and that’s all we can do.”
Honeycutt said his truck struggled to get going on shorter runs but improved over longer stretches. An adjustment made during the race ultimately went too far, leaving him fighting to recover.
Still, he heads to Homestead with confidence in his team and its familiarity with the track.
“Scott (Zipadelli, crew chief) and this whole team loves Homestead, so not concerned for next week,” Honeycutt said. “We’ve got one more to go. If we can go out on top, it would be much nicer.”
The Martinsville result also put an end to the championship hopes of the remaining Chase contenders. Smith, Majeski and Christian Eckes were officially eliminated, leaving Honeycutt and Riggs as the only two drivers still eligible to claim the 2026 Truck Series championship.
Riggs, for his part, wasn’t exactly interested in feeling sorry for himself. He congratulated his teammate and acknowledged that while the victory slipped away, his championship opportunity remains very much alive.
“We’re still in the shot. I mean, we gained more than we were down, so I’m happy about that,” he said.
Riggs had hoped to deliver another victory to his supporters at Ford Racing and Bare Knuckle Boxing, and admitted he really wanted one of Martinsville’s famous grandfather clocks. That particular souvenir will have to wait.
But the championship is still there for the taking.
“It looks like it’s going to be me and the 11 at Homestead,” Riggs said. “It looks like a winner-take-all like usual, but it’s just only two of us. So bring it on.”
And that’s where things stand heading into the final race of the season.
Honeycutt has a 20-point cushion. Riggs has momentum from a dominant performance at Martinsville, even if the victory escaped him. Neither driver has the luxury of worrying about anybody else.
One race. Two trucks. One championship.
Homestead should be interesting.
RACE RESULTS
Greg was a writer for DriveTribe supporting Amazon's The Grand Tour and has been published in major publications across the country including the Los Angeles Times, the Cleveland Plain Dealer and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. He was also a contributor to Chicken Soup for the NASCAR Soul, published in 2010, and the Christmas edition in 2016. He wrote as the NASCAR, Formula 1, Auto Reviews and National Veterans Affairs Examiner for Examiner.com and has appeared on Fox News. He holds a BS degree in communications, and a Masters degree in psychology. He is currently the weekend Motorsports Editor for Autoweek and a regular contributor to Forbes.
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