Layne Riggs Wins First NASCAR Truck Series Race at Naval Base Coronado

Layne Riggs won the inaugural NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race at Naval Base Coronado on Friday. The race marked his fourth win of the 2026 season and second on a street circuit, following his victory in St. Petersburg, Florida in February.

“I don’t even know what happened at the end,” Riggs reflected after a chaotic last few laps. “It’s sparks flying, people wrecking, staying in the throttle. I was running out of fuel the entire last lap, it was like St. Pete all over again.”

Friday marked NASCAR’s first ever race on an active military base, and its grand entry into the San Diego sports market. Naval Base Coronado was retrofitted with all the necessary infrastructure to become a major motorsports street circuit, and the Truck Series was the first to test it out.

A red flag was waved with four laps remaining after Tyler Ankrum made heavy contact with the wall exiting Turn 16. The barrier was damaged heavily enough to create a gap, forcing crews out with heavy equipment to restore it to race-safe conditions.

On the ensuing restart the trucks scarcely completed a corner before the next caution flag flew. Ben Rhodes caught the tire barrier and ricocheted back in front of traffic, causing damage to multiple trucks and sending the race into overtime.

Chandler Smith’s No. 38 Front Row Motorsports Ford F-150 was sent spinning with two to go, ending the hopes of a driver who led 13 laps. A whole new battle then began, with Tyler Reif, Layne Riggs, and Daniel Hemric furiously struggling for the lead.

Reif cleared the competition on the final lap in the No. 42 Niece Motorsports Chevrolet Silverado, with Layne Riggs bearing down on him. As Reif’s truck began to smoke with an apparent tire rub, it quickly became apparent he’d need to execute perfectly to clinch the checkered flag.

Riggs managed to get beside Reif in the final two corners, and after some tight racing Reif inadvertently cut the track chicane. He was forced to serve a stop-and-go penalty, placing him seventh after his first career appeared to be just moments away. Later scoring relegated him to 19th.

“I pushed it 101%,” Reif said. “I was just way over the tire there. I heard ‘one back with Layne’, and I just didn’t want him to have a chance to get to me. So my mistake. I mean, it’s very unfortunate that I did that and I don’t know how many more chances I’ll have like this but I’m sure there’ll be more.”

Daniel Hemric finished second for McAnally-Hilgemann Racing, followed by Halmar Friesen Racing’s Kaz Grala in third making his first Truck Series start since 2023. The top five was rounded out by Landen Lewis and Ty Majeski.

Familiar Faces

Jimmie Johnson was among the top stories of the weekend, making his first Truck Series start since 2008. The seven-time Cup Series champion and NASCAR Hall of Fame inductee put his No. 1 Tricon Garage Toyota in the lead for two laps at his home racetrack. Johnson finished 30th after his truck stalled under red flag.

NASCAR veteran Jamie McMurray was part of the Truck Series field on Friday, competing in his first race since the 2021 Daytona 500. Taking part of Kaulig Racing’s free agent truck, McMurray finished 34th after slamming the wall 22 laps in.

Brendan Gaughan also emerged from his own long stint away, making his first NASCAR start since 2020. Driving for McAnally-Hilgemann Racing, Gaughan finished 17th. Spire Motorsports reserved a truck for Trackhouse Racing owner Justin Marks, a former road course winner in the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series. Marks finished 25th, one lap off the pace.

Race Results