Rivalry simmers after Chandler Smith’s NASCAR Truck win at North Wilkesboro
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NORTH WILKSBORO, N.C.—Chandler Smith owes Front Row Motorsports teammate Layne Riggs a vote of thanks after Saturday’s Window World 250 at North Wilkesboro Speedway.
After Riggs’ Ford slid up into the No. 11 Toyota of Corey Heim in Turn 2 of the final lap, Smith took the lead and held on for the win, his first at the 0.625-mile short track and his second of the season in the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series.
Heim, who led 162 of 255 laps, left North Wilkesboro with a 17th-place finish and a percolating rivalry with Riggs, his nemesis throughout the race.
Riding on tires that were 68 laps older than Smith’s, Heim had the lead for the overtime restart on Lap 254. He quickly cleared Smith on his inside and Riggs behind him, but Riggs mounted a strong run through Turns 3 and 4 on the white-flag lap and steered to Heim’s inside.
Riggs slid up into Heim’s truck, which turned sideways as Smith claimed the lead and headed for the finish line with Riggs in his wake. Smith’s margin of victory over his teammate was 0.611 seconds.
The final overtime lap was the only one Smith led on Saturday in collecting his seventh career Truck Series win.
“I feel like this place… tires kind of mattered but they also kind of didn’t,” said Smith, who started from the rear of the field after unapproved adjustments to fix a break issue in his No. 38 Ford. “I didn’t think we were as good as the 11—obviously we had a tire advantage on him there.
“That last restart, I did everything but the right thing. My teammate, Layne Riggs, executed perfectly, and we came out on the right end of the stick.”
Heim doubtless would take exception to the characterization “perfect execution.”
On a Lap 81 restart after the first stage break, Riggs ran Heim up toward the outside wall, handing the lead and ultimately the Stage 2 win to Grant Enfinger.
Then came the controversy in overtime.
After the race, Heim briefly expressed his displeasure to Riggs on pit road.
“He tried to do it to the 7 (Carson Hocevar) last week for the win, and mission accomplished for him, I guess, this week,” Heim said. “And it cost him one, too. I don’t know. We’ve given up so many of them this year, after dominating the race.
“The 38 (Smith) was the only other guy that was rightfully good. I felt like he deserved to win over anyone else, not the 34 (Riggs). I got really loose into (Turn) 3. Just struggled being loose on the short runs, and he had an opportunity to wreck me. Just disappointed.”
Predictably, Riggs had a different perception of the final lap.
“I feel like he got really loose into (Turns) 3 and 4 and kind of gave the bottom up, and we’re side by side on the frontstretch,” Riggs said. “I had a huge run, and I went bottom. I didn’t fence him. I slid him up the track and gave him one lane there.
“It’s North Wilkesboro on the last lap for a truck win. I feel like I didn’t really do anything wrong there.”
After the last-lap melee, Tyler Ankrum finished third, followed by Daniel Hemric and Enfinger. Defending series champion Ty Majeski, Giovanni Ruggiero, Kaden Honeycutt, Kyle Busch and Sammy Smith completed the top 10.
Busch’s efforts were hampered by a pair of pit road speeding penalties in his second start of the season.
Heim retained the series lead by 47 points over Chandler Smith in second heading to next Friday’s North Carolina Education Lottery 200 at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series Race Number 10
Race Results for the Window World 250 - Saturday, May 17, 2025
North Wilkesboro Speedway - North Wilkesboro, NC - 0.625 - Mile Paved
Total Race Length - 255 Laps - 159.375 Miles
Provided by NASCAR Statistics - Saturday, 5/17/2025 @ 04:01 PM Eastern
Fin Str Trk Driver Team Laps Stage 1 Pos Stage 2 Pos Pts Status Tms Laps Playoff Pts
1 14 38 Chandler Smith QuickTie Ford 255 5 3 55 Running 1 1 5
2 27 34 Layne Riggs UNC Charlotte Ford 255 6 5 46 Running
3 13 18 Tyler Ankrum LiUNA! Chevrolet 255 7 4 45 Running
4 7 19 Daniel Hemric NAPA Auto Care Chevrolet 255 8 36 Running
5 8 9 Grant Enfinger Champion Power Equipment Chevrolet 255 9 1 44 Running 2 68 1
6 12 98 Ty Majeski Soda Sense/Curb Records Ford 255 31 Running
7 4 17 Giovanni Ruggiero # First Auto Group Toyota 255 1 40 Running 1 24 1
8 9 45 Kaden Honeycutt DQS/Masked Owl Technologies Chevrolet 255 29 Running
9 2 07 Kyle Busch(i) Gainbridge Chevrolet 255 10 6 0 Running
10 3 7 Sammy Smith(i) TMC Transportation Chevrolet 255 10 0 Running
11 24 15 Tanner Gray Place of Hope Toyota 255 26 Running
12 5 13 Jake Garcia Quanta Services Ford 255 4 32 Running
13 30 66 Luke Baldwin Mohawk Northeast Inc Ford 255 24 Running
14 6 52 Stewart Friesen Halmar International Toyota 255 3 31 Running
15 18 71 Rajah Caruth HendrickCars.com Chevrolet 255 7 26 Running
16 19 81 Connor Mosack # Friends of Jaclyn Foundation Chevrolet 255 21 Running
17 1 11 Corey Heim Mobil 1 Toyota 255 2 2 38 Running 4 162
18 15 88 Matt Crafton Great Lakes Flooring/Menards Ford 254 19 Running
19 32 75 Patrick Emerling Black Rhino Chevrolet 254 18 Running
20 22 91 Jack Wood Adaptive One Calipers Chevrolet 254 17 Running
21 21 5 Toni Breidinger # Celsius Toyota 254 16 Running
22 10 1 Brent Crews JBL Toyota 254 8 18 Running
23 11 99 Ben Rhodes TSPORT Trucks Ford 254 9 16 Running
24 20 77 Andres Perez De Lara # Telcel Chevrolet 253 13 Running
25 16 42 Matt Mills J.F. Electric/Utilitra Chevrolet 253 12 Running
26 17 26 Dawson Sutton # Rackley Roofing Chevrolet 253 11 Running
27 23 44 Conner Jones Niece Chevrolet 251 10 Running
28 25 76 Spencer Boyd RightMark Roofing Chevrolet 251 9 Running
29 29 33 Frankie Muniz # Levrack Ford 248 8 Running
30 31 02 Jayson Alexander Constant Contact Chevrolet 242 7 Running
31 28 22 Tyler Tomassi(i) Badass Workbench Ford 209 0 Suspension
32 34 67 Ryan Roulette VFW - Veterans of Foreign Wars Chevrolet 153 5 Brakes
33 26 2 Derek White O.C.R GAZ BAR Ford 96 4 Too Slow
34 33 6 Norm Benning MDIA INC Chevrolet 62 3 Vibration
Fastest Lap Bonus: # lap 231 / 18.981
38
Time of Race: 1 Hrs, 45 Mins, 33 Secs. Average Speed: 90.597 MPH Margin of Victory: Under Caution
Stage 1 Top 10: 17, 11, 52, 13, 38, 34, 18, 19, 9, 07
Stage 2 Top 10: 9, 11, 38, 18, 34, 07, 71, 1, 99, 7
Race Comments: Chandler Smith has won the Window World 250 at North Wilkesboro Speedway, his 7th career victory in the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series. Prior to the start of the race, the following trucks dropped to the rear for the reasons indicated: No. 38: unapproved adjustments.
Failed to Qualify: None.
Caution Flags: 6 for 42 laps; Laps: 48-54 (#22 Spin Turn 2 [77]); 72-80 (Stage 1 Conclusion [76]); 139-149 (#44 Incident Turn 2/Stage 2 Conclusion [75]); 212-218 (#22 Incident Turn 2 [15]); 247-253 (#52, 1, 99 Incident Turn 2 [81]); 255-255 (#11, 71 Incident Backstretch [None]).
Lead Changes: 7 among 4 drivers; C. Heim 1-50; G. Ruggiero # 51-74; C. Heim 75-80; G. Enfinger 81-143; C. Heim 144; G. Enfinger 145-149; C. Heim 150-254; C. Smith 255.
(i) Ineligible for driver points in this series
Next Race: May 23, 2025 - Charlotte Motor Speedway
NASCAR Integrated Marketing Communications @ P.O. Box 2875, Daytona Beach, FL 32120-2875
NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Points Report
North Wilkesboro Speedway
Window World 250
UNOFFICIAL Provided by NASCAR Statistics - Saturday, 5/17/2025 @ 06:23 PM Eastern UNOFFICIAL
Rank Driver Car Starts GL Points Ldr Nxt Race Wins Stage Wins Playoff Pts
1. Corey Heim 11 10 0 450 0 0 3 6 21
2. Chandler Smith 38 10 0 403 -47 47 2 1 11
3. Daniel Hemric 19 10 0 363 -87 40 1 0 5
4. Tyler Ankrum 18 10 0 357 -93 6 1 1 6
5. Grant Enfinger 9 10 0 339 -111 18 0 2 2
6. Ty Majeski 98 10 0 316 -134 23 0 1 1
7. Jake Garcia 13 10 0 306 -144 10 0 0 0
8. Layne Riggs 34 10 1 294 -156 12 0 2 2
9. Kaden Honeycutt 45 10 -1 285 -165 9 0 0 0
10. Stewart Friesen 52 10 1 267 -183 18 0 0 0
11. Ben Rhodes 99 10 -1 261 -189 6 0 1 1
12. Giovanni Ruggiero # 17 10 0 260 -190 1 0 1 1
13. Rajah Caruth 71 10 0 246 -204 14 0 0 0
14. Tanner Gray 15 10 0 242 -208 4 0 0 0
15. Matt Crafton 88 10 0 221 -229 21 0 1 1
16. Jack Wood 91 10 0 203 -247 18 0 1 1
17. Connor Mosack # 81 10 3 187 -263 16 0 0 0
18. Matt Mills 42 10 0 185 -265 2 0 0 0
19. Dawson Sutton # 26 10 -2 184 -266 1 0 0 0
20. Andres Perez De Lara # 77 10 -1 179 -271 5 0 0 0
21. Bayley Currey 7 0 151 -299 28 0 1 0
22. Spencer Boyd 76 10 0 151 -299 0 0 0 0
23. Toni Breidinger # 5 10 0 137 -313 14 0 0 0
24. Frankie Muniz # 33 10 0 117 -333 20 0 0 0
25. Nathan Byrd 9 0 102 -348 15 0 0 0
26. Luke Fenhaus 6 0 91 -359 11 0 0 0
27. Josh Reaume 4 0 66 -384 25 0 0 0
28. Cody Dennison 4 0 50 -400 16 0 0 0
29. Luke Baldwin 66 3 8 46 -404 4 0 0 0
30. Stefan Parsons 2 -1 44 -406 2 0 0 0
31. Timmy Hill 2 -1 42 -408 2 0 0 0
32. Justin Carroll 4 -1 42 -408 0 0 0 0
33. Parker Kligerman 3 -1 38 -412 4 0 0 0
34. Norm Benning 6 5 1 32 -418 6 0 0 0
35. Lawless Alan 1 -2 31 -419 1 0 0 0
36. Jason White 1 -2 29 -421 2 0 0 0
37. Johnny Sauter 1 -1 29 -421 0 0 0 0
38. Patrick Emerling 75 1 -38 18 -432 11 0 0 0
39. Brent Crews 1 1 -39 18 -432 0 0 0 0
40. Stephen Mallozzi 4 -2 15 -435 3 0 0 0
41. Matthew Gould 1 -2 14 -436 1 0 0 0
42. Morgen Baird 1 -2 12 -438 2 0 0 0
43. Keith Mcgee 2 -2 12 -438 0 0 0 0
44. Conner Jones 44 1 -44 10 -440 2 0 0 0
45. Jayson Alexander 02 1 -45 7 -443 3 0 0 0
46. Ryan Roulette 67 2 0 7 -443 0 0 0 0
47. Michel Disdier 1 -5 6 -444 1 0 0 0
48. Alan Waller 1 -5 6 -444 0 0 0 0
49. Akinori Ogata 1 -5 5 -445 1 0 0 0
50. Clay Greenfield 1 -5 4 -446 1 0 0 0
51. Derek White 2 1 -51 4 -446 0 0 0 0
52. Kyle Busch(i) 07 2 -5 0 -450 4 1 1 0
53. Kyle Larson(i) 2 -5 0 -450 0 1 0 0
54. Carson Hocevar(i) 2 -5 0 -450 0 1 1 0
55. William Byron(i) 2 -5 0 -450 0 0 0 0
56. Justin Haley(i) 2 -5 0 -450 0 0 0 0
57. Ross Chastain(i) 1 -5 0 -450 0 0 0 0
58. Brandon Jones(i) 5 -5 0 -450 0 0 0 0
59. William Sawalich(i) 3 -5 0 -450 0 0 0 0
60. Sammy Smith(i) 7 2 -1 0 -450 0 0 0 0
61. Michael Mcdowell(i) 2 -6 0 -450 0 0 0 0
62. Nicholas Sanchez(i) 1 -6 0 -450 0 0 0 0
63. Corey Day(i) 5 -6 0 -450 0 0 0 0
64. Mason Maggio(i) 1 -6 0 -450 0 0 0 0
65. Patrick Staropoli(i) 2 -5 0 -450 0 0 0 0
66. Tyler Tomassi(i) 22 2 -5 0 -450 0 0 0 0
67. Bryan Dauzat 0 -5 0 -450 0 0 0 0
-Ldr/-Nxt = Points behind Leader/Next higher, (i) Ineligible for driver points in this series
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