It took much longer than expected, but Craftsman Trucks points leader Layne Riggs scored the first win of NASCAR San Diego Weekend Friday with an improbable, come-from-behind victory in the Navy 250.
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“Layne van Gisbergen came through to win,” joked Riggs immediately after taking the checkered flag in a tribute to Cup road racing king Shane van Gisbergen.
“I don’t even know what happened that last lap. What a crazy race. I was going to run out of gas. I was going to finish or fifth.”
Riggs was apparently running on fumes and buried in fourth place when a race that had been delayed earlier by a red flag headed into a two-lap overtime on the 3.4-mile, 16-turn street course at Naval Base Coronado.
“The engine had sputtered even before the restart,” said Riggs. “I had no idea if I had enough fuel.”
But even if he did, there were three trucks ahead of him, including Front Row Motorsports teammate Chandler Smith, who looked to have the strongest entry as he held a strong lead just ahead of the late-race chaos.
Kaden Honeycutt led on the final restart, but lost control with Smith sliding sideways in an effort to avoid a crash. That opened the door for 19-year-old Tyler Reif, who led deep into the final lap before he lost control and missed the turn into the final chicane — turning the lead and victory over to Riggs.
“I don’t know if I was going to catch Reif,” said Riggs. “He just missed the corner. I wasn’t even pushing him there.”
“I was pushing 101%,” said Reif. “It was my mistake. I won’t make that mistake again.”
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The victory was Riggs’ third in the last four races.
And while Jimmie Johnson finished 30th after a series of late-race problems, the seven-time NASCAR Cup champion from El Cajon had some memorable moments in his first Craftsman Trucks start in 17 years.
Johnson qualified fourth and led briefly during the first half of the 50-lap, 160-mile race.
“I heard from my team that when it gets to the end, get ready for a lot of plunges that don’t make sense and you won’t expect,” said Johnson. “I had two of those and got turned around. We had a strategy that could win the race. Who knows if we would have made it with all the carnage that took place.
“But hats off to NASCAR for putting this together. It was an exciting race for the fans.”
Johnson was running second with 19 laps to go when he was passed by Riggs. Three laps later he was spun out from behind by another truck, leading to a longer list of problems that included two more, 360-degree spins and a long pit stop.
Johnson enjoyed a moment shortly after the track first opened for practice. His Toyota Tundra was allowed to be the first NASCAR race vehicle on the course.
“My plan was to start practice at around 80% and pick it up from there,” said Johnson, who posted both the fourth-best practice and qualifying speed in just the second Craftsman Trucks start of his career.
Honeycutt was the No. 1 qualifier at 90.813 mph. Riggs was second (90.535). Johnson was fourth at 89.736. Coronado’s Austin Varco qualified 29th.
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