For the first time in 2025, Layne Riggs raced to victory in NASCAR’s Craftsman Truck Series, but the win didn’t come under normal circumstances. Chaos was once again the theme of the day, with a late-race restart completely changing the outcome.
Following Jake Garcia’s spin into the inside wall of Turn 1, drivers piled up for a restart, with Riggs, Corey Heim and Carson Hocevar gearing up for the showdown. Almost inexplicable events followed, leaving Riggs the last man standing.
Layne Riggs Breaks His Silence on Carson Hocevar Incident at Pocono
Just as the race was about to go green, Heim inexplicably suffered a flat right rear tire, sending him to the back of the grid. At the time, Hocevar was running in P3 on the outside lane behind Heim and assumed he had become the control car.
However, Riggs had actually become the control car, and Kevin Harvick promptly shared this information during the Fox broadcast. Meanwhile, Hocevar ended up serving a penalty, leaving Riggs with clean air to race to victory.
Breaking his silence, the Pocono race winner has since clarified that it wasn’t a calculated move on his part. Rather, he revealed his spotter didn’t give him the update about being the control car soon enough.
Layne Riggs said his spotter told him he was the control truck at the last second before the final restart.
“Right when he said that, the No. 7 took off. … I wish they had added another lap there.”#NASCAR #MillerTech200
— Dalton Hopkins (@PitLaneCPT) June 21, 2025
Speaking about the result, Riggs said he hated what happened to Heim’s car just before the restart. But first, he gave credit where it was due. “That’s just a testament to this team,” he said.
He then added, “This thing was bad fast, especially that last run. I really hate that the 11 [Heim] fell out. Not sure what the 7 [Hocevar] was doing on the restart there, but I made sure to take advantage of it. Not really sure why we slowed down 30 mph in the restart zone, but hey… I’m a happy man right now.”
Due to the confusion, Hocevar was flagged for jumping the restart and handed a black flag. The 22-year-old went from being a contender to finishing outside the top 10 in 13th place.
Extremely unhappy with how things played out, Hocevar unleashed his frustration over the team radio, asking them to challenge the penalty. Once the challenge was denied, Hocevar berated the Truck Series proceedings and even took a jab at the series’ managing director, Seth Kramlich.
READ MORE: Carson Hocevar Unleashes Scathing Radio Message on NASCAR After Costly Truck Series Setback
It started with Hocevar saying, “What a joke!” His spotter replied, “Yes, sir, [Truck] series is becoming a joke, copy.” Then Hocevar added, “Good job, Seth. Should have won. Can’t help that somebody doesn’t know the rules.”
Following the race, Riggs moved into fourth place in the drivers’ standings with 483 points. Despite the adversity, Heim still holds a commanding lead of 124 points over second-place Chandler Smith.