Each week, The Athletic asks the same 12 questions to a different race car driver. Up next: Front Row Motorsports driver Layne Riggs, who is currently advanced to Round 2 of the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series playoffs. This interview has been edited and condensed, but the full version is available on the 12 Questions podcast.
1. What was one of the first autographs you got as a kid, and what do you remember about that moment? Did you even get autographs, since your dad (Scott Riggs) was a driver?
Not really (because) of having Dad in the sport. I remember sitting with him at driver intros as a kid. I specifically remember him, Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson and Dale Earnhardt Jr., all sitting there chatting. Back then, I didn’t think it was anything. I was like, “These guys are racing against my dad, I don’t like these guys.” You look back later on and you’re like, “Wow, that was actually pretty cool.” People would kill to be in that seat, but I could not have cared less when I was younger.
2. What is the most miserable you’ve ever been inside of a race car?
Texas 2023 in the Kaulig Xfinity car. I almost didn’t finish — at about 20 laps to go, I almost pulled in. It was like 110 degrees in Texas that day. We had an AC box and a cool shirt, but the air conditioning to the helmet broke — and not only broke, it reversed and turned to heat. I couldn’t reach the top to get it off, and it malfunctioned where I couldn’t turn it off. It was literally a hot hair dryer blowing to my head. The cool shirt worked, but it didn’t matter.
They had the right-side window in, it was 110 outside and during a caution with 20 to go, I was thinking, “When is this deal over?” I don’t remember a lot from the end of the race. I don’t even remember driving the car.
After the race, they measured 145 degrees coming out of the vent onto my head. I can’t believe I finished it … I actually didn’t do terrible. (Riggs finished 19th.)
3. Outside of racing, what’s your most recent memory of getting way too competitive?
My golf game. I just started playing regularly about six months ago — you know, big-time NASCAR driver, you’ve gotta play golf on the weekdays, right? (Laughs.) I’m so bad. I get aggravated with myself because I suck so bad. The ball is sitting still; it shouldn’t be that hard. Then I remind myself I’m out here to have fun. I’ll bring a whole bucket of balls — if I lose them, I lose them.
Have you broken 100 yet?
No. I’m bad enough I can’t actually keep score. I want to get good enough to where I can play a hole without losing a ball — hit fairways, not shank it into the woods. Sometimes I’ll shank the tee shot, do another one, then that one is gone too. I’m like, “Am I counting this as a six, or do I take a mulligan? I’m not even going to keep score anymore.”
4. What do people get wrong about you?
Everybody calls me “the short-track ace.” I’m always labeled as, “Layne Riggs, the short-track racer.” I don’t feel that way anymore. I’m just as confident going to any racetrack now. After my first win of the year at Pocono — furthest thing from a short track — someone asked if the short-track braking similarities helped me. I said, “No, that has nothing to do with short tracks. I’ve actually gotten good at the bigger tracks.”
Of course, I feel pretty good at short tracks — I’ve done them long enough — but I’m just as confident at mile-and-a-halfs or anything else. Even road courses, I think I’m decent at. I don’t like being labeled as the short-track guy anymore. I feel like I’ve done it all now.
“I get aggravated with myself because I suck so bad,” Layne Riggs said of his newfound golf hobby. “The ball is sitting still; it shouldn’t be that hard.” (Samuel Corum / Getty Images)
5. What kind of Uber passenger are you, and how much do you care about your Uber rating?
I’ve only Ubered like two or three times by myself, and I could care less about the rating. Usually, I ride with other people who book it for me; I just sit there quietly. I prefer my own rental car.
6. I’m asking each person a wild-card question. The Truck Series field can be over-aggressive and sometimes lacks racecraft. You’re trying to move up and learn while navigating others who might be impatient. How do you balance that?
Knowing who you’re racing around. If it’s a guy’s first mile-and-a-half race and he’s on the inside, I’m giving him a lot of room — I can’t get on his door and pull him around. With (veterans), I can run them differently and more aggressively, pinch them more, knowing they can handle it.
At the same time, I’m probably one of the impatient drivers who gets himself in trouble more than not; I’m working on that myself. It’s a good series to learn with that mix of veterans and rookies.
7. This is my 16th year doing these 12 Questions interviews, so I’m going back to an old question and re-asking it. Let’s say NASCAR requires every driver to have a passenger for a race, but you get to pick. Who’s riding with you?
My girlfriend. She’d actually enjoy it. She’s a pretty good passenger on the road — she spots for me when we pull up to a stop sign: “Clear right, clear one inside.” She could be like a rally co-driver navigating me: “Right-front’s falling off of it!” I think she’d be helpful and wouldn’t be scared.
8. Other than your teammate Chandler Smith, name a driver you’d be one of the first to congratulate in victory lane if they won a race.
Rajah (Caruth). We’re always pretty close. We actually share the same birthday — same day, year and everything — so I call him my brother from a different mother. He won Nashville this year; we had a good battle for the lead, and I was one of the first to congratulate him. He does the same for me.
9. How much do you use AI technology, whether in your job or daily life? Are you a ChatGPT guy?
Not really. If we’re debating something, I might ask it instead of Google, but I use it more for entertainment purposes. I was an engineering student in college, and it was tempting to use, but I found it wasn’t as helpful as I wanted — it let me down. I’m waiting for it to get better before I put faith in it.
10. What’s a time in your life that was really challenging, but you’re proud of how you responded?
My (NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series) national championship year in 2022, racing locally. I was a sophomore in college — the engineering “weed-out” year — racing two to three times a weekend for our family team. It was me, Dad and volunteers after work. I did nothing besides school and racing that year. It came down to the last race, tied in points, to win the championship.
I didn’t lose it. I didn’t go crazy. Being as young as I was and how stressful it was, I handled myself well and raced well. I didn’t try too hard or make a big mistake — I just stayed on path and raced how I always do. I feel like that set me up for what’s coming in a couple months — hopefully at Phoenix as a Championship 4 guy. I’ve never been in the playoffs, but I’ve been through that same situation.
11. What needs to happen in NASCAR to take the sport to the next level of popularity?
NASCAR is trying to do all they can, but I don’t know if it’ll ever be the same as football or basketball. It’s hard to relate to — any kid can play football or basketball or soccer, and it’s so much easier to get involved, but not every kid has a go-kart. It’s kind of an acquired taste.
The key is getting people more involved — get them to the racetrack, let them see it. Don’t just watch the race (with no rooting interest); if I’m not pulling for somebody while watching the race, that’s boring even to me. … You need a driver to pull for, someone in the mix, either running good or bad, to make it interesting for you.
12. Each week, I ask the driver to give me a question for the next person. The last interview was with Brad Keselowski and he wants to know: What’s the best childhood story or memory you have from watching your dad race?
I was really young when he was in his prime — like 4 or 5. I remember being on the grid wanting to stand in the seat and play with the steering wheel, and security guards getting mad at my mom because they didn’t know who she was. Being on the grid at the (Daytona) 500 and thinking nothing of it.
I really didn’t care about racing until I was 8 or 9, and then I was like “OK, this is pretty cool. I want to do this.” But that was kind of the time he was getting out of it and doing part-time stuff.
He ran Ricky Benton’s No. 92 truck at Charlotte and Martinsville (in 2012, when Layne was 10). I remember going to Martinsville and watching — the equipment wasn’t amazing, but he made the best of it. He finished fifth, and I was pulling so hard for him. He just kept running the bottom, being smart while everybody would get into each other and go up the track and he’d pass them. Down the straightaway, he’d get out-motored and I’d think, “Oh man, that thing is not great.” That’s the last race I really remember him being competitive in at the NASCAR level. …
After that, he’s pretty much been with me for everything — he’s only missed five of my races ever. He’s always supportive and there. … He’s super involved with our team. During practice, he’ll have a hot pass on, and he’s over the wall helping change tires, doing wedge adjustments. Officials see him and go, “Oh, it’s Scott, we’re not going to mess with him.”
You said you weren’t interested in racing until you were 8 or 9. What flipped to make you become interested in it?
Because I grew up around it, it wasn’t cool. It’s like, “Yeah, my dad is a race car driver — isn’t everybody’s dad a race car driver? This is kind of boring.” But then you grow up and it’s like, “Wait, this isn’t normal. Not everybody gets to experience this.” Then you realize how cool it actually is.
I tried baseball, basketball and soccer in school, and I’m not coordinated enough. I realized I don’t want to do any sport besides (racing). I had to beg Mom and Dad to finally let me race, because they really didn’t want to at first. … I had to show and prove I was ready for it, that I wanted to do it, and that I was mature enough to take it seriously.
Do you have a question I can ask the next person? It’s Carson Hocevar.
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(Top photo: Jared C. Tilton / Getty Images)