Layne Riggs reacts to Corey Heim championship, rivalry during 2025 season

For a moment, it looked like Layne Riggs was going to steal the race win and the Owners’ Championship from Corey Heim. Then overtime happened. Riggs and Heim have had their fair share of battles this season. Tonight was the final chapter, at least in this series.

Corey Heim is moving on from the Truck Series. Layne Riggs is likely the one to inherit the title of championship favorite next year. I do not think he or anyone will win 12 races next year, but Riggs should win more than three races in 2026.

Before we start moving on to the next season too soon, let’s hit the brakes. Riggs spoke to the media after the finish. When asked about his back-and-forth with Heim at times this year and the season they both had, Riggs remained his usual humble self.

“Yeah, great. He taught me a whole lot,” Riggs said on pit road after the finish. “I mean, I’ve become a lot better racecar driver as the year has gone. Racing up front with him about every single race has taught me a whole lot. So, yeah, I enjoyed it. We raced late models together for a long time. Obviously, we had our scuffles here and there, but you know, that’s all in good racing. Like I said, in the end, he won. He was a great representation of a champion.

“He’s done a lot of good things and won a lot of races. Hopefully it’s mine next year. I’ve learned a lot. I think we had the truck to do it tonight, we showed it, had the right strategy. Not having my crew chief or car chief here, my engineer had to step up and be crew chief for the first time ever. He did an amazing job. Jonathan Coates, he – really really proud of that guy. He’s gonna be a crew chief one day, and I’ll be happy to see it.”

Layne Riggs is a great driver. He is going to be racing against Corey Heim more in the future. I suspect they will both be facing off on Sundays soon enough.

Layne Riggs almost got one more over on Corey Heim

While Corey Heim won 11 races before tonight’s championship, Layne Riggs remained a thorn in his side the whole time. So, it wasn’t exactly shocking to see Riggs take the lead late with his four tires to Heim’s two.

When Riggs took the lead, it put Heim in dirty air. Then, Ty Majeski began to close-in on Heim from P3 and for the championship. On the radio, Heim expressed concern that Riggs was sandbagging to let Majeski get closer and beat Heim for the championship. Well, we’ll never know, I guess.

Despite having so many more wins than Riggs, Heim has found himself annoyed with the 34 at times. The two got into it at North Wilkesboro, racing for the win. Heim wrecked because of that incident and lost the race. Then there was Nashville, where the two raced each other hard. Heim seemed to still hold a grudge against Riggs at that point.

We will never know because Corey Heim won this race tonight through sheer will and determination. But if I had to guess, losing the championship because Layne Riggs won the race and let Ty Majeski pass the 11? That would have been the nightmare scenario for Heim. Instead, he’s off celebrating into the Phoenix night.