As NASCAR Truck Series title favorite, Layne Riggs likes 'the feeling of being the best'

If there's pressure on Layne Riggs and the No. 34 Front Row Motorsports team going into the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Chase, Riggs doesn't feel it. 

"I wouldn't say pressure to perform," Riggs said Saturday after winning for the sixth time in 2026 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. "I like it. We obviously have a points lead still. It's crazy, we won the race today and lost a lot of points because of the reset. Good day for us, but not good for the reset."

Riggs clinched the No. 1 seed in the Chase on Saturday and has a 25-point gap over second-place Kaden Honeycutt ahead of the Sept. 17 Chase opener at Bristol. 

Layne Riggs enters the Chase as title favorite, No. 1 seed

"I feel like all year long, we've been a strong truck," Riggs said. "Obviously, the statistics are there for us and the team. I like the feeling of being the best. It makes everybody else know that you're the guy to beat. It's a great feeling and a position every race car driver wants to be in."

The seven-race Chase schedule bodes well for Riggs, especially the opening race of the postseason at Bristol. Riggs said he is also looking forward to the three-week break teams will have before racing seven times over the final eight weeks of the NASCAR season. 

"We don't have as many shop guys. Our road crew guys work on the trucks during the week," Riggs said. "It's a little bit different than the Cup teams that race every single weekend. We need those weeks off to prepare in the shop to get better. It's pretty hard and tough [with] back-to-back weekends a lot in the Chase. 

"I love winning going into breaks. You get two or three weeks to enjoy it, be the most recent winner for a while. Usually by that point, I'm ready to get back to the racetrack and do it again."

Given that Riggs is a two-time Bristol winner, there's a very real chance that he opens the Chase with his seventh victory of the year in Thunder Valley. If he were to do so, he'd have won three of the last four Truck Series races.

Quotes provided by NASCAR Media.