Layne Riggs happy to rid himself of playoff stress late in Truck Series regular season

LONG POND, Pennsylvania -- Layne Riggs' victory in Friday's NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race at Pocono was special for many reasons. 

Riggs' victory makes him a second-generation Pocono winner, as his father, Scott, won an ARCA race at the facility in 2004. It's Layne Riggs' first victory of the season in a year that's been filled with close calls. It's also his first win on a track longer than a mile. 

But perhaps most importantly, Riggs' third career win locks him into the 2025 Truck Series playoffs, ensuring Riggs a postseason berth for the first time. 

At a time in the regular season when the cut line was beginning to encroach on Riggs, the win couldn't come at a better time. 

"I knew we had a good buffer, but I didn't want to rely on it," Riggs said in his post-race news conference on Friday. "Right now, it's time to start building the Darlington truck for us and just do the best we can through these other ones to get as many points as we can."

Following Friday's race, only four races remain in the Truck Series regular season. Many of Riggs' competitors won't have the same freedom that Riggs and his Front Row Motorsports teammate, Chandler Smith, have in regards to being locked into the playoffs. 

"We don't have to worry about it," Riggs said. "It's been tough to watch Chandler win this year and be locked in and not have to worry about it. He's happy-go-lucky every week, and we were having to think about it a little more and say, 'Hey, we can't have a bad race. We can't miss, we can't wreck.' Now, we can just do whatever we need to until the playoffs."

All quotations obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted.