NASCAR CHAMPIONSHIP MEDIA DAY

November 5, 2026

Layne Riggs

Press Conference

An Interview with:

LAYNE RIGGS: I have at Lime Rock, when we went and did that track day, tried to get better for Lime Rock last year, went with Joey Hand for a day last year, but they weren't -- they didn't have -- they were literally street cars.

Q. (Inaudible.)

LAYNE RIGGS: I'm going to have fun with it because that's all it is. It's just for fun. It's on TV? Oh, crap. I didn't know it was that big. I thought it was just kind of like a streaming thing. That's sick. That's good. It's exciting. Glad I can do it.

At first I got told I wasn't going to be a driver, I was going to be a backup driver, so I think I pulled their leg enough, they finally -- that would be excellent.

Q. (Inaudible.)

LAYNE RIGGS: I wouldn't say anything specific that I've learned. I think just my experience over time. Third year in the series, just finally getting comfortable. I can see scenarios, how they play out. Just comfort down pit road, knowing where I need -- being able to mindlessly drive, just drive with instinct versus having to drive and think about what you're doing, and I think that's any skill set.

Yeah, just all my experience over the years culminating into this one moment.

Q. (Inaudible.)

LAYNE RIGGS: I think that consistency was definitely something that we didn't quite have enough of. Bristol was going well, had a bad day on pit road; Kansas had a bad day, still was going to be able to claw back and made a mistake. So that's two races that kind of put us in the hole pretty big.

From there on we've been really consistent, but just a little bit too late to have a points lead at the moment. So I'm just super glad we're in the position that we're in.

People have been asking me what's the extra pressure feel like. For me it's less pressure because 36 other guys in the field would love to be in the spot I'm in. If they envy the position that I'm in, I should look at that as pressure off me because I've done something right to get here.

So yeah, for me it's just a great opportunity and excitement, and yeah, just a lot of years of culmination.

Q. (Inaudible.)

LAYNE RIGGS: I mean, I think I'm really good on offense at all times. I think when I've got a carrot in front of me, I know what the goal is and the task is. I can go out there when the pressure is on and perform really well.

I'm just excited about the weekend, excited about the opportunity I have. This is my first time coming to the final race of the year where I actually have a shot to get it done. Yeah, just a lot of great improvement.

No matter what happens, obviously championships are our goal, being the season that we've had. But at the same time, if it doesn't happen, we still can't let this one race determine and put a bad look on the entire year.

It's been an amazing season, seven-win season. If I would have told myself that a couple years ago, I would have been amazed. No matter what, we've done a great job as a team to put ourselves in this spot.

Q. (Inaudible.)

LAYNE RIGGS: He can only tell me so much. You just do your thing, you don't try to overthink it. People ask me what I'm doing different this week to prep. Nothing. I give 100 percent for every race. I'm not going to try to do 110 percent and screw myself up doing it.

Just doing my normal things, being myself, doing what I've done to get myself here. Just going to keep doing that. It's been working so far.

Q. (Inaudible.)

LAYNE RIGGS: I feel like over time, I've definitely gotten calmer behind the wheel. I definitely drive with my emotions on my sleeve. I think everybody knows that, which is entertaining for everybody.

But I think that for me, just being confident in myself, having fast equipment, knowing that, okay, when I go into the corner here, I know what's going to happen. I can think laps ahead. I can be thinking about strategy during the race.

So I don't have to be actively thinking about, okay, I've got to do this and I've got to do that. I can just mindlessly let my talent take over, and I feel like in that position I'm a lot more calm.

Last year at Talladega I measured my heart rate, and I got up to 205 at one point at Talladega. And this year, I didn't track it, but I don't think I got over 100. I was really calm, just felt a lot more comfortable and in control. And when I'm in control, I'm a lot more at ease.

Q. (Inaudible.)

LAYNE RIGGS: Yeah, we're good. Hard-nosed racers. Been racing against each other a long time. I know we're kind of cut from the same cloth from background of racing style.

Yeah, we've both got a lot of passion, and we don't give each other an inch.

Q. (Inaudible.)

LAYNE RIGGS: No, I mean, any extra pressure they're going to add to me is not going to be beneficial to my performance. I want to win for Ford Racing every race. I want to win every championship. I want to lead every lap. I want to win every pole for them.

Of course I want to make those guys proud and win for Ford, but at the same time I'm not going to do anything special or different. I'm always giving it my 100.

Q. (Inaudible.)

LAYNE RIGGS: Yeah, I've got a lot of good people in my corner. My dad, obviously, kind of giving me the reins on this, saying: Hey, man, you got here for a reason, being you, being aggressive, being the race car driver you are and laying it all on the line, which you've got to keep doing. Don't overthink it.

Ford Racing, got a lot of people there. David Ragan, kind of being my mentor over on that side, has helped me a lot. He does a really good job with helping us look at the bigger picture of things. Not just me, but my crew chief, my crew. We're all pretty young guys as well. So just trying to get everybody on the right page and right mindset is important.

So yeah, just having people with that experience in our corner is definitely beneficial.

Q. (Inaudible.)

LAYNE RIGGS: I can't remember. I think the 2020-ish late model CARS Tour days. A lot of wheel-to-wheel racing.

Q. (Question regarding the practice tonight.)

LAYNE RIGGS: I think it's really cool. I haven't practiced at night in forever, so that's going to be really neat. To be under the lights and be practicing, it's going to be odd.

But last year's race, a little bit cooler, so the track will be a little bit less grip. Also, just with the natural age progression. And then in 2024 we raced during the day, during the middle of the summer, and it was really hot.

I feel like three very different track conditions, and hopefully myself and the team have made the right offsets to make sure we've got the right balance and hit it right.

Q. (Inaudible.)

LAYNE RIGGS: I wouldn't say it's a tough track. You look at Darlington, it's tough because it has so much character. But I feel like this place is very natural. It flows very well.

I think that for us and the trucks, obviously having to run the fence to make a lot of speed is where it is because, for us, the risk versus reward is a lot different than other series.

You look at the O'Reilly Series and the Cup Series, and they can bounce off the wall and keep going like it's no problem. Us, if you just kiss the wall, it sucks you in. Obviously we saw that at Kansas with me trying a little too hard.

To that same token, I feel like I've been one that's been willing to get near the fence all year long. I know the balance offset of my truck. I know what adjustments I have to make different to be good up there, whereas a lot of other guys are scared to push the limit on that.

So I feel like I'm going to be a lot more comfortable right off the bat and have the edge the whole race.

Q. (Inaudible.)

A. Yeah, I think that you have so many lanes. It's low grip, which is difficult in itself, hard to launch. When you're going through the gears, you're spinning through first through third. A lot of times you can mat the throttle. Tire falloff, tire management, lane decisions, lane choices. Lanes are constantly changing during the race.

It's a very dynamic racetrack, and I feel like, with my background and knowing how to find grip, is right up my alley.

Q. (Inaudible.)

LAYNE RIGGS: Well, I know that I can't do it like Larson yet. He was literally in front of me going through the corner and scraping the wall. Like he was literally riding the wall with his right rear corner all the way around the track. You go do that, I'll run second to you because I can't do that all day.

It's good to race with him. Good when those Cup guys come down, especially at a track that was this last year, just to show us what the potential is and to be able to kind of base off of. Right now we only kind of have each other to know what our limits are.

So when you have a guy that comes in here with nothing to lose, pushes the limits, he really shows us what the limit is, so we're able to push toward that.

Q. Do you find it a little ironic that coming down to the end of the season with the format change, you're probably going to have to win to win the championship?

LAYNE RIGGS: I wouldn't say it's ironic, but it's a lot clearer picture for us. It's a lot more straightforward. If we still had the potential that the fourth-place guy could in one race outrun us and get the championship, I feel like that's a lot more flukey.

I enjoy the format we're in. It definitely rewards consistency, which I feel like we haven't had the best of, which is why we're not in the points lead. And I think we've had more raw speed but the consistency hasn't gone with it.

So still got to clean things up on my end, the team's end, to have that consistency. Obviously racing in the Truck Series again next year, I know what this format looks like and what we've got to do to execute even better and be in a better spot than we are right now.

Overall, I definitely like the change.

Q. (Inaudible.)

LAYNE RIGGS: Yeah, none. Tomorrow, winning the championship or not, has no difference on my future. I feel like I've proven myself to everybody. I look at the stats of other drivers that have the pedigree that I have in the Truck Series so far, and they've all gone on and still do great things in the Cup Series.

I think that I've already proven that I can do it.

But that's that future mindset outlook. What that looks like, don't really know yet and not something that's in the forefront of my mind.

Q. (Inaudible.)

LAYNE RIGGS: Yeah, I think obviously myself and the 11 truck, no matter who's driving it, have always been the best two in the series consistently. I think if you put that down on paper at the beginning of the season, that's what we'd have all expected. Yeah, I don't think any big surprises here.

Q. (Inaudible.)

LAYNE RIGGS: Yeah, the outlook is always tough. You've got Kasey Kahne coming in, you've got a bunch of different guys. You don't know what's going to bounce around during the off-season.

You can always predict before the year even starts, but until you get through the first three or four races, then you kind of know, okay, these are the guys. These are the guys you're going to see all year long, that's not going to change.

We're just going to have to wait and see, but I'm excited about it.

Q. (Inaudible.)

LAYNE RIGGS: Yeah, like I said, we're definitely cut from a similar cloth with background of racing. You see other guys coming from dirt backgrounds. We both came from asphalt late model backgrounds. So that's really cool that we've been able to do that, racing each other a long time.

Thank you to everybody that's helped me out. The Riggs racing late model team, the volunteers, the people that spend a lot of hard work and time to get to the position I'm at, to get me an opportunity to race at a national level, that's all built me.

And thank you to all the competitors, Josh Berry and Lee Pulliam, so many legends, Deac McCaskill, guys that I grew up with forever that even my dad used to race against, those guys all taught me to be the racer that I am today.

Q. (Inaudible.)

LAYNE RIGGS: Good doctors and PT. Everybody at OrthoCarolina did a good job. I broke my collarbone when I was younger riding dirt bikes, kind of always had shoulder issues because of it. Kind of got to a point where I needed to fix it.

Just the right precautions. It's not the first go-around doing that. We knew exactly what the outlook was going to be. But yeah, I think my one that's fixed is even stronger than my original one.

Yeah, just a lot of good people in my corner that helped me out.

Q. (Inaudible.)

LAYNE RIGGS: No, that was two years ago. It was the end of '24. No, I mean, I feel like even the beginning of last year in '25 it was better than it was before. Yeah, it's all improvements.

Q. (Inaudible.)

LAYNE RIGGS: I mean, right now I think it's a cherry on top, but I don't look at it as something that is going to make or break the opportunities that I get in the future. I'm pretty confident of that.

Like I said, just with the wins, the pedigree that I have, what I've done so far in the series, I think I've proved myself, and I think that clinching a championship or not isn't really going to change that outcome.

Q. (Inaudible.)

LAYNE RIGGS: Yeah, we have a lot of respect for each other in the way that we race. Hard racers, we don't give each other an inch, and we wouldn't expect any different either way. Yeah, a lot of mutual respect there.

Q. (Inaudible.)

A. Not really. I can't really think back that far, what that looks like. There's a lot of guys coming in and out of series.

Q. (Inaudible.)

LAYNE RIGGS: Yeah, like I said earlier, you don't really know until the first few races of the season. You've got Kasey Kahne coming in. People are always going to be making moves over the off-season. You don't know what guys are going to come in or out of the series, and you don't know over the off-season how a team could change, one could get stronger, one could get weaker.

I'd say after the first five races next year we'll have a clearer picture who's going to be strong for the entire season.

Q. (Inaudible.)

LAYNE RIGGS: I mean, I'd love to, but right now it's not at the forefront of my mind. Just focusing on this weekend, and would love to make that step. Just got to see what opportunities come up.

Q. (Inaudible.)

LAYNE RIGGS: Yeah, I feel like it's a track that's right up my alley, low grip, searching for grip, running the wall. It just flows for me, and I feel like it's a really natural racetrack for myself. I'm excited about that and how we can adapt to the racetrack well and make good changes. The trucks have always been good here.

Yeah, I'm excited to get out there tonight and feel it out. I haven't been here in a year and a half.

Q. (Inaudible.)

LAYNE RIGGS: I think back to 2024, my first year in racing trucks at a national level, getting used to a radial tire, just trying to figure out aero racing, big tracks. My first six months in the Truck Series were very difficult, questioning, is it me? What am I doing wrong? I had a crew chief that was new as well, who's never crew chiefed before.

Then we went to Milwaukee, got my first win, and it was a big shot in the arm. Okay, now I know what it takes to win a race. We then went to Bristol the next weekend and won again. It's like, okay, now we're not a fluke. We know what we got. We know that we're serious. And I feel like ever since then, we've been competitors every single race we go to besides a few here and there that we don't quite hit it right.

Yeah, ever since then it's been good confidence for the team. We know what it takes to win, and we're pushing for it every week.

Q. (Inaudible.)

LAYNE RIGGS: No, if it was easy, everybody would do it, right?

Q. (Inaudible.)

LAYNE RIGGS: No, it's our same truck we ran at Kansas. It was new at Kansas, so super excited about that. Everybody at Front Row is putting in a lot of good work, building good bodies. Spent a lot of time with the Ford Racing simulator to get better. Everything has culminated to put out our absolute best bullet we've ever made.

Q. (Inaudible.)

LAYNE RIGGS: Yeah, I mean, my dad always in my corner is helpful just because he has experience in these situations. But he just told me: Look, you got here because of the way you drive. You're aggressive. You put it all on the line. And just do you. If you do you, you're going to be victorious.

Between that and then also David Ragan at Ford Racing is a good mentor of mine that helps me out a lot to be better and just kind of think about things from a big picture standpoint.

Q. (Inaudible.)

LAYNE RIGGS: That's right, it worked out for him. Got to keep doing that. I think the people that overanalyze it or overthink it or try too hard hurt themselves, and I think that -- why am I here in the first place? That's what I'm going to keep doing. People from my late model crew, people all around, they always tell me, Do what you do. Do what you do. Do you. That's what I do, and I don't have any regrets with that.

Q. (Inaudible.)

LAYNE RIGGS: Yeah, I'm excited. It's the first time I've been in championship contention, so excited.

Q. (Inaudible.)

LAYNE RIGGS: Like I said, it comes down to control. If you're questioning yourself or you feel like you're not quite in control, you have that adrenaline, you feel like you need to overcome something that's not real or not there or possible. But when you know and you have the confidence in yourself that you know you can do it, that's when you're calm because you're like, I've got this.

In my opinion, racing is 85 percent mental.

Q. (Inaudible.)

LAYNE RIGGS: For us, we had to go out there and match stage points and win the race. We know the position we're in, going for broke. That's what I'm supposed to do as a race car driver.

I love this track. It's got a lot of character. Low grip, getting to run the wall a lot, a lot of lanes, a lot of options to move around. So glad that it's back as the season finale for NASCAR. I think it's a perfect facility.

Really warm down here, very humid. But I'm just excited that we're racing here.

Q. (Inaudible.)

LAYNE RIGGS: Yeah, I think it just puts on a lot better product for racing. You think of southern Florida, hot is the championship finale race. Feels like summer out here. The fans love this track. I think everybody was disappointed when it went away from here.

Just a lot of good things happening in the sport, the Chase coming back, Homestead being the season finale. Feels like the good ol' days.

Q. (Inaudible.)

LAYNE RIGGS: It is for sure. The composite body versus steel body and the shape of our bodies has a big effect on how that works. I think we get more reward for running the wall, but when you do just touch it, you just kiss the wall, your day is done, whereas the Cup and O'Reilly Series, they can bounce off the wall and keep going, no issues.

So just having to keep that in mind, knowing your risk versus reward, depending on where you're at, is very important. Just got to keep that at the forefront.

Q. (Inaudible.)

LAYNE RIGGS: Yeah, I mean, I think that anytime that you have tragedy anywhere, it kind of makes you realize what's the big picture here, what's life all about, kind of brings everybody close together.

Being able to win in Charlotte that weekend was really amazing as well. I was glad I was able to commemorate that win to him and everybody in the family.

Still thinking about them. He's definitely at the forefront of all of our minds, even though we have to keep going. We have to keep racing. That's what he would want us to do.

But no matter what, especially in the Truck Series, he was the goal. You wanted to be like him. You wanted his stats. You wanted to have the pedigree that he had one day. That's always going to be the benchmark of what you want to do and your goals, but I don't think anybody is ever going to catch him.

Q. (Inaudible.)

LAYNE RIGGS: No, I have, and it's been difficult just with timing and all. Like I said, I know that racing against Keelan as well -- I haven't raced against him, but I talked with him. Good friends with Kevin and all when I raced his late models and stuff.

Yeah, you look at Tristan McKee, you look at a lot of these young guys, I'm somehow not the young guy again. I'm turning into the middle-aged veteran-feeling guy. It's crazy how much that's changed.

Q. What's that been like?

LAYNE RIGGS: I mean, I was always the kid in late models in the CARS Tour. You have to be 14 years old to race late model stocks in the CARS Tour. My first start was on my 14th birthday. I was that kid that was breaking records for age, and now I feel like I'm 24 and the old guy now, which is crazy. Old is a very broad term on that aspect.

But yeah, 10 years ago, been racing late models, being the young guy, now I feel like I'm becoming more the veteran because of the experience that I have, the positions I've been in before. It's all just culminating together a lot better.

Q. (Inaudible.)

LAYNE RIGGS: He could still get the job done if he had to.

Q. (Question regarding how he would celebrate if he won the championship.)

LAYNE RIGGS: I am going to do whatever my heart tells me to do. I think anytime you plan a celebration, that's bad juju.

Q. (Inaudible.)

LAYNE RIGGS: Yeah, the Veterans Day Classic, I'm super honored that I'm able to do it. Thank you to Ford Racing and everybody for giving me the opportunity to go out there. We're going to have some fun. It's a lot of different types of racers out there. You've got F1 guys. You've got Joey Hand, my coach for road courses. I'm going to try to take the coach to school, but I don't know if that's going to happen.

For me, it's just going out there with good friends, good teammates and the Ford camp and having some fun and putting on a good show for everybody.

Q. (Inaudible.)

LAYNE RIGGS: It's great. Ford is America's race team. I feel like representing them and being a part of the Ford family is really amazing for me, and I would not want to be anywhere else. I've raced Fords pretty much all my career, even in late model days.

To honor the military, to have a lot of attention on that, freedom is not free. We wouldn't be here without those people. We love to celebrate them.

Q. How are you feeling?

LAYNE RIGGS: I feel good. I'm excited. My first-ever time I've had a chance at the final race of the year to have a shot at the championship. So very exciting. Big improvements. It's an opportunity that we have in front of us, and we've just got to go execute and make it happen. I wouldn't want to be anywhere else.

Q. With the points gap, does it feel like -- basically you've just got to go win?

LAYNE RIGGS: Yeah, we have to match stage points and win the race to get the bonus points. Still racing against 36, 38, however many trucks are registered for this race. Just got to go execute.

No matter what happens, we know this season has been an amazing season for myself and my team regardless. Seven wins right now, hopefully eight tomorrow, is just an amazing season in itself, and we can't take away from that. If it doesn't go our way, we can't put a dark look on this season as a whole.

Like I said, it's an opportunity. I'm excited. I think pressure is a privilege. I think a lot of people would love to be in the position that I'm in. I know that everybody is behind me in points would love to be in the position that I'm in, and I look at that as excitement and opportunity, not pressure.

Q. It's got to feel cool knowing how it was back then, knowing that you're now -- could you ever have imagined that you'd be here in this position?

LAYNE RIGGS: Yes and no. I knew if I ever got the right opportunity in the right equipment, I was going to be able to capitalize, perform and run well.

I'm just so thankful to everybody at Front Row Motorsports for giving me that opportunity to be a full-time race car driver. I was into my junior year in college, and I was doing this part-time opportunities, and I didn't really know what my future held.

I told myself if I graduated college and I didn't have a national series ride, I was going to hang the helmet up and get a big-boy job. Somehow plan A ended up working out. To go from that and realizing I'm going to be a professional race car driver to where I'm sitting right now, I've just got to look at the big picture and be so thankful for where I'm at.

Q. What would that big-boy job would have been?

LAYNE RIGGS: Probably would have been an engineer on some team and working for another race car driver. I love racing too much; it would be so hard to get out of the sport. Or I could have been building robots, who knows.

No matter what, I graduated from UNC-Charlotte with my mechanical engineering degree. I feel like I use that indirectly every day, directly or indirectly, within the race team. And I feel like it's just really helped me be a better race car driver overall.

Q. (Inaudible.)

LAYNE RIGGS: Yeah, I think, like I said, vocabulary. Myself, my crew chief is an engineer, and my engineer obviously has an engineering degree. So all three of us can really be on the same level of vocabulary communication and understanding of what actually goes on, and I feel like it helps give me the upper edge knowing, okay, we make this change on the race car, I know what it actually does; it's not just I know it from experience. I think that definitely helps us have those dominant days sometimes.

Q. Do you remember coming down here when your dad was racing?

LAYNE RIGGS: I don't specifically remember this track. I don't remember any of the racetracks specifically. I just remember being at the playgrounds, doing the driver intros, the flyovers. Stuff like that was always so amazing growing up in the sport. Took it for granted at the time, but definitely have been around it since the very beginning.

Q. Is it kind of cool coming back here?

LAYNE RIGGS: For sure. He's going to be here as well. A lot of family members coming down here to support. Just super excited for the opportunity that's in front of us. Hopefully we can all celebrate together.

Q. What are you looking forward to (inaudible)?

LAYNE RIGGS: Just good long-run speed, just getting a feel, trying to get up near the wall a little bit, getting comfortable up there, knowing what the balance shift needs to be. I'm pretty sure what we need, but we're going to try a couple big balance swings and big package changes just to see if we can hit something better than what we're anticipating.

Q. (Inaudible.)

LAYNE RIGGS: Yeah, I haven't raced here in a year and a half. I don't think anybody has because NASCAR hasn't been here since last spring, 2025. This is the drivers' racetrack. I think 90 percent of the drivers that come here love this place. You have options. You have grooves, low grip, really good side-by-side racing.

Being championship weekend is one of our biggest weekends of the season. The weather down here is great this time of year. And there's been a lot of excitement from the community that I've seen, even going out to dinner, people know what's going on in the racetrack, stuff like that. I love that we're back in Homestead for the season finale.

Q. (Inaudible.)

LAYNE RIGGS: Yeah, you always think about, in my opinion, the Tony Stewart-Carl Edwards ending to the season and how great that was coming down to the last race here. This place resonates championship, final race. I always think about how the frontstretch is painted. Everybody does their burnouts in the paint, makes the color smoke. It screams championship, and I love that it's back here in the environment.