What happened
With 12 laps remaining at Martinsville Speedway, leader Layne Riggs restarted on the inside after his Front Row Motorsports team opposed his request for the outside. Chandler Smith cleared him from the outside lane and went on to win.
Riggs said his truck was too loose to accelerate effectively on restarts as rubber came off the track. He said the team viewed the outside as too risky because it surrendered control of the restart to the truck underneath. Riggs also said he lacked the clean air he had enjoyed on earlier runs.
What it cost
Riggs fell from 1st to 3rd on the final restart, a loss of 2 positions. Ben Rhodes also passed him during that restart and finished ahead of him.
The lost victory also cost Riggs the winner’s points premium. A win paid at least 55 points, compared with 35 for 2nd, a difference of 20 points before accounting for his further drop to 3rd.
What could have been done differently
Front Row should have backed Riggs’s request and selected the outside. Tristan McKee had already passed him for the lead using that lane, and Riggs later used it to retake the lead from McKee.
The team put too much weight on surrendering control to the truck underneath. Riggs’s difficulty accelerating demanded a lane choice based on his truck’s handling and the outside lane’s demonstrated effectiveness on restarts.