'Every day is a new day' for Layne Riggs, as NASCAR Truck Series title hunt is in new territory

For the first time in the 2026 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Chase, momentum is on Layne Riggs' side. 

After finishes of 32nd and 19th at Bristol and Kansas, respectively, to begin the postseason, Riggs won Friday's Ecosave 200 at Charlotte Motor Speedway after a thrilling late-race battle with Kaden Honeycutt, who leads Riggs by 17 points with four races left in the season. 

At Kansas on Sept. 26, it was Honeycutt who found victory lane as Riggs floundered late. The tables were turned on Friday, as Honeycutt hit the wall with seven laps to go and faded to third as Riggs took the checkered flag. 

"Every day is a new day, every race is a new race," Riggs said in his post-race news conference. "I've never really been one to carry past feelings into the next race. Obviously, it was kind of beat down after Kansas. Felt like I let my team down. But at the same time, I'm like, I can't change that. I just gotta focus forward. I know I can go win at Charlotte. I know I can go win the rest of the races this year. 

"Obviously, we had a fast enough truck tonight to be able to do that. Just, eye on the prize. I just had fun tonight. Had some great battles with Kaden there at the end. It was really enjoyable racing on the racetrack, and that's what made it fun for me and kept me in the zone."

How Layne Riggs' mindset differed at Charlotte

Riggs, who was the No. 1 Chase seed and had a 25-point lead over Honeycutt as a result ahead of Bristol, has still lost a net of 42 points to Honeycutt over the last three races. But with momentum back on his side, the No. 34 team has its mojo back going into Phoenix. As Riggs previously alluded to, him winning the final five races of the season in succession isn't at all out of the question. 

"I feel like we've had the fastest truck the last four or five races," Riggs said. "Or one of the fastest trucks, either first or second fastest everywhere we go. The 15 bonus points for winning is going to make that difference at the end of the day in not letting the other person win. That was kind of what I was thinking going into Kansas. 

"But when you don't think about that, you put that in the background, and you just go focus on today and say, 'I just want the trophy, I'm just gonna do it the right way, I'm going to be smart. If I don't have the truck or the capability to do it, I don't need to try to make something happen that's not possible. That's just what I focused on tonight."

Riggs' series-leading seventh victory of the season ensured that he stayed in championship contention. Had Honeycutt won the race, he would've gone into the Oct. 16 race at Phoenix with a whopping 58-point advantage over Riggs. 

Now, Riggs is within two stage wins of Honeycutt in the standings and could leave Arizona next week with the points lead.