February 28, 2026 | By Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service

Layne Riggs won in NASCAR Trucks on street course at St. Petersburg

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla.—In a thrilling final run to the checkered flag, Layne Riggs bobbed and weaved, saving just enough fuel to keep a pair of hard-charging fellow Ford drivers in Ty Majeski and Ben Rhodes behind him – ultimately earning his first trophy of the season in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series inaugural race on the streets of downtown St. Petersburg.

Riggs’ No. 34 Front Row Motorsports Ford crossed the line a .879-seconds ahead of Majeski for the sixth victory of his career in Saturday’s dramatic, high-action OnlyBulls Green Flag 150 at St. Petersburg.

Starting 28th in the 36-car field, Riggs turned in remarkable work moving forward from the drop of the green flag. He finished seventh in the opening 20-lap stage and won the second stage 20 laps later. Riggs said the fuel light was flickering with about eight laps to go and that he was almost certain he wasn’t going to have enough to finish, “just didn’t know how long it was going to last.’’

It lasted long enough to take the win and allow for victory donuts around the crowded course as he celebrated the first road course victory of his career, leading a race best 41 of the 80 laps

“It was a lot of fun racing here at St. Pete, I think everybody heard street course and thought they weren’t going to be able to pass and there wouldn’t be great side-by-side racing, but this was one of the race-iest tracks we’ve ever gone to at least in the truck series in my time,’’ a smiling Riggs said. “It was a lot of fun.

“I call myself a road racer now,’’ he added with a smile, noting this was only his fifth career road course race of any kind in his life. “It’s amazing to race so many well-known guys, going past some and knowing these guys are road course ringers and we were faster today.’’

Sunny skies and a scenic 1.8-mile 14-turn course along the downtown St. Pete waterfront provided a great scene for the series’ first ever street course event and the trucks did not disappoint the large and enthusiastic crowd.

At one point late in the race, Riggs, 23, held a sizable two-minute plus advantage on the field, but lapped traffic in the final 10 laps allowed Majeski and Rhodes to close in. With a lap to go it looked like Majeski had put his No. 88 ThorSport Racing Ford in position to make a final challenge on Riggs, but he overshot Turn 13 (for the second time on the day) – recovering enough to hold onto second but still feeling he’d lost an opportunity.

He also climbed out of his Ford truck similarly encouraged by the venue.

“It was probably the most fun I’ve had in a race car in a long time,’’ said the 2024 series champion Majeski. “A lot of fun. It’s a racey race track with three good passing zones and rewards discipline.

“Just finding that balance between being aggressive and making mistakes and staying disciplined,’’ Majeski said of his day, which included two laps out front and that runner-up finish after starting 22nd.

“Just made a little mistake into [turn] 13, got a little wheel-hop and had to chase it and battle my way back. Hope everyone enjoyed the show. We passed a lot of trucks today

Rhodes, who led 23 laps early, similarly could not mount a challenge in the closing laps, having to save fuel himself.

“That’s all we had in the tank for our F150 here, literally I was running out of gas those last two laps,’’ said Rhodes, who now has a pair of top-five finishes through the opening three races of the 2026 season.

“Really proud of Ford Racing for bringing us a fast truck. Our truck’s in one-piece and a lot of these trucks aren’t. Very excited though. Brand new truck and a good showing for it.’’

Former IndyCar stars – Dario Franchitti and James Hinchcliffe and current IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Series full-timer Colin Braun – added an extra element of intrigue to the field. Braun, who started 16th in Kaulig Racing’s No. 25 RAM Truck finished ninth – best among that trio.

The former Indy 500 polesitter and multi-race winner Hinchcliffe finished 10th in the No. 77 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet and the three-time Indianapolis 500 winner Franchitti, was officially scored 27th, his No. 1 TRICON Garage Toyota pitting late in the race and losing a lap.

Fords swept the top four positions, with Riggs’ teammate Chandler Smith finishing fourth after leading seven laps. TRICON Garage’s Kaden Honeycutt rounded out the top-five in a Toyota.

Neice Motorsports teammates Landen Lewis and Andres Perez De Lara were sixth and seventh with McAnally-Hilgemann’s Daniel Hemric, Braun and Hinch completed the top-10.

“I think the overall headliner is that a Bahamian, North Carolina boy won on a road course against some of the best in the world,’’ a grinning Riggs said. “It’s a testament to everyone at Front Row Motorsports and a shout out to [sports car driver] Joey Hand who did a lot of work with me.’’

“It is an amazing place to come and I don’t know why we couldn’t come back next year … I couldn’t believe how packed the grandstands were and I thought it was one of the best road course races the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series has ever seen,’’ Riggs said of running the double-header weekend along with the IndyCar Series, which races Sunday. “Thank you to all the fans for coming out.’’

Smith now leads the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series championship standings by 34 points over the former two-time series champion Rhodes.

The series returns to action in the March 20 Buckle Up South Carolina at the historic Darlington (S.C.) Raceway (7:30 p.m. FS1, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). The 2025 season champion Corey Heim is the defending winner.


NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series Race Number 3
Race Results for the OnlyBulls Green Flag 150 at St. Petersburg - Saturday, February 28, 2026
Grand Prix of St. Petersburg - St. Petersburg, FL - 1.8 - Mile Paved

Total Race Length - 80 Laps - 144. Miles

Provided by NASCAR Statistics - Saturday, 2/28/2026 @ 03:27 PM Eastern

Fin Str Trk Driver Team Laps Pts Pos Status Tms Laps Pos
1 28 34 Layne Riggs Long John Silver's Ford 80 7 1 70 Running 3 41
2 22 88 Ty Majeski Chi Chis/Menards Ford 80 4 42 Running 2 2
3 4 99 Ben Rhodes Campers Inn RV Ford 80 1 5 50 Running 2 23
4 5 38 Chandler Smith OnlyBulls Ford 80 4 2 49 Running 1 7
5 19 11 Kaden Honeycutt Safelite Toyota 80 9 34 Running
6 8 45 Landen Lewis J.F. Electric/Utilitra Chevrolet 80 3 3 47 Running
7 14 44 Andres Perez De Lara Zambos Chevrolet 80 10 10 32 Running
8 34 19 Daniel Hemric Motion Industries Chevrolet 80 29 Running
9 16 25 Colin Braun RAM is Back RAM 80 28 Running
10 3 77 James Hinchcliffe Delaware Life Chevrolet 80 27 Running
11 35 4 Ben Maier DQS/J.F. Electric Chevrolet 80 26 Running
12 11 16 Justin Haley Celsius RAM 80 25 Running
13 1 7 Connor Mosack Roaring Pines Motorclub Chevrolet 80 2 33 Running 2 7
14 30 13 Cole Butcher # Atlantic Tilt Load Ford 80 23 Running
15 31 91 Christian Eckes NAPA Auto Care Chevrolet 80 22 Running
16 18 42 Tyler Reif DQS Solutions & Staffing Chevrolet 80 21 Running
17 12 10 Daniel Dye Mopar RAM 80 20 Running
18 9 98 Jake Garcia Quanta Services/Curb Records Ford 80 19 Running
19 20 81 Kris Wright F.N.B. Corporation Chevrolet 80 18 Running
20 29 15 Tanner Gray Place of Hope Toyota 80 17 Running
21 26 2 Carter Fartuch Mazzaro Italian Market Ford 80 16 Running
22 25 9 Grant Enfinger Grant County Mulch Chevrolet 80 9 17 Running
23 10 5 Adam Andretti TopLiner Toyota 80 14 Running
24 15 12 Brenden Queen # Cummins RAM 80 13 Running
25 2 17 Giovanni Ruggiero JBL Toyota 79 5 6 23 Running
26 17 52 Stewart Friesen Halmar International Toyota 79 11 Running
27 6 1 Dario Franchitti Dollar Tree Toyota 79 6 8 18 Running
28 21 14 Mini Tyrrell # RAM RAM 77 9 Running
29 24 22 Jackson Lee Browning Chapman Ford 75 8 Running
30 23 33 Frankie Muniz Morgan & Morgan Ford 74 7 Running
31 13 18 Tyler Ankrum LiUNA! Chevrolet 70 8 7 13 Running
32 36 56 Timmy Hill Coble Enterprises Toyota 63 5 Running
33 33 26 Dawson Sutton WAR Shocks/Rackley Roofing Chevrolet 62 4 Accident
34 27 76 Nathan Nicholson Whelen Engineering Chevrolet 55 3 Accident
35 32 69 Derek White Elite Rewards Ford 52 2 Fuel Pump
36 7 62 Wesley Slimp HNTB Toyota 15 1

Time of Race: 2 Hrs, 27 Mins, 3 Secs. Average Speed: 58.756 MPH Margin of Victory: 0.879 Seconds

Stage 1 Top 10: 99, 7, 45, 38, 17, 1, 34, 18, 11, 44
Stage 2 Top 10: 34, 38, 45, 88, 99, 17, 18, 1, 9, 44

Race Comments: Layne Riggs won the OnlyBulls Green Flag 150 at St. Petersburg, his sixth NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series victory.  Prior to the start the following car(s) dropped to the rear of the field under penalty for the reason indicated: No. 13 (backup truck), No. 14 (transmission change).

Failed to Qualify: None.

Caution Flags: 6 for 17 laps; Laps: 4-6 (No. 16 Stalled Turn 1 [None]); 22-23 (Stage 1 Conclusion [33]); 27-30 (Nos. 5,19, 91 Incident Turn 7 [16]); 42-43 (Stage 2 Conclusion [7]); 53-55 (No. 69 Stalled Turn 7 [91]); 59-61 (No. 69 Stalled Turn 9 [15]).

Lead Changes: 9 among 5 drivers; C. Mosack 1-6; B. Rhodes 7-21; C. Mosack 22; B. Rhodes 23-30; C. Smith 31-37; L. Riggs 38-54; T. Majeski 55; L. Riggs 56-60; T. Majeski 61; L. Riggs 62-80.

(i) Ineligible for driver points in this series

Next Race: March 20, 2026 - Darlington Raceway

NASCAR Integrated Marketing Communications @ P.O. Box 2875, Daytona Beach, FL 32120-2875



CURRENT NASCAR CRAFTSMAN TRUCK SERIES STANDINGS

UNOFFICIAL UNOFFICIAL

1. Chandler Smith 38 3 0 152 0 0 1 1
2. Ben Rhodes 99 3 1 118 -34 34 0 1
3. Ty Majeski 88 3 1 102 -50 16 0 0
4. Giovanni Ruggiero 17 3 -2 98 -54 4 0 0
5. Layne Riggs 34 3 18 96 -56 2 1 1
6. Kaden Honeycutt 11 3 1 87 -65 9 0 0
7. Andres Perez De Lara 44 3 1 85 -67 2 0 0
8. Stewart Friesen 52 3 -3 70 -82 15 0 1
9. Christian Eckes 91 3 1 69 -83 1 0 0
10. Justin Haley 16 3 3 67 -85 2 0 0
11. Brenden Queen # 12 3 -5 66 -86 1 0 0
12. Tyler Ankrum 18 3 -3 64 -88 2 0 0
13. Daniel Dye 10 3 -1 64 -88 0 0 0
14. Jake Garcia 98 3 0 58 -94 6 0 0
15. Cole Butcher # 13 3 6 52 -100 6 0 0
16. Kris Wright 81 3 2 49 -103 3 0 0
17. Tanner Gray 15 3 2 48 -104 1 0 0
18. Landen Lewis 45 1 -18 47 -105 1 0 0
19. Daniel Hemric 19 3 10 46 -106 1 0 0
20. Mini Tyrrell # 14 3 -5 45 -107 1 0 0