Riggs edges Hocevar for Truck pole at North Wilkesboro
NXTbets Pro | Published On: July 18, 2026
Riggs Takes Pole
Layne Riggs won the pole for the Faith Fest 250 at North Wilkesboro Speedway and he did it with a quick, clean lap in the No. 34 Front Row Motorsports Ford F-150. Riggs turned an 18.502-second qualifying run at 121.608 mph and edged Carson Hocevar by 0.016 seconds. That margin put Riggs on the pole for the second time in the 2026 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series season. It also gave him the sixth pole of his Truck Series career and the 69th start of that career. The result kept Riggs at the front of the qualifying sheet and gave him the top spot for one of the tighter sessions of the day. Hocevar came right behind him, but Riggs stayed ahead on the clock and claimed the position that mattered most. The run added another strong entry to Riggs’ season and put Front Row Motorsports in the lead spot before the trucks took the green. His lap stood at the top of the list and set the tone for the rest of the qualifying order.
Top Five Qualifiers
Christopher Bell qualified third, Corey Heim was fourth and Giovanni Ruggiero took fifth. Chase Elliott was set to start sixth and Kaden Honeycutt was seventh. Those spots rounded out the front of the field behind Riggs and Hocevar, and they showed how many recognized names landed near the front. Bell, Heim and Ruggiero all earned top-five positions, while Elliott and Honeycutt followed close behind in the next two spots. The order gave the race several drivers with a clear path to attack from the first few rows, and it left Riggs with the best view of the opening laps. The qualifying numbers also showed the small gap at the top of the board, with Riggs first and Hocevar second by less than two hundredths of a second. The next five spots then filled in behind them with Bell, Heim, Ruggiero, Elliott and Honeycutt, a cluster that could shape the early part of the race if any of those trucks stayed near the front. After qualifying, Riggs led Honeycutt in the standings, so the pole carried value beyond the starting grid.
Van Gisbergen 19th
Shane van Gisbergen returned to North Wilkesboro Speedway and qualified 19th in the No. 71 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet Silverado. He posted an 18.859-second lap and landed in the middle of the 38-truck entry list. That run put him behind the main group at the front of the board, but it still gave him a place in the field for the Faith Fest 250. Landon Huffman and Timmy Hill failed to qualify from the 38-truck entry list, so they missed the race. Van Gisbergen’s effort added another line to a qualifying session that mixed a tight fight up front with a few notable misses farther back in the order. Riggs remained the headline at the top after his pole run, while van Gisbergen settled into 19th and prepared to start from deeper in the field. The qualifying sheet separated the front-runners from the rest of the trucks, with Riggs, Hocevar, Bell, Heim and Ruggiero filling the top five and van Gisbergen finding his spot much farther down. The session ended with Riggs on pole, Honeycutt behind him in the standings and the field set for the Faith Fest 250.
