NCTS Race Recap: OnlyBulls Green Flag 150 at St. Petersburg

NASCAR made its debut in the OnlyBulls Green Flag 150 at St. Petersburg. Weather limited the practice and washed out qualifying, so the race lineup was set by a metric. Connor Mosack and Gio Ruggiero started the race on the front row. James Hinchcliffe and Ben Rhodes started behind them. The stage lengths were 20 laps for the first two stages, with the final stage being 40 laps.

The Long and Winding Rhodes

Mosack was the first truck to turn one with Ruggiero and Rhodes battling for second. Rhodes could not complete the pass and settled in third. Mosack built his lead to a second.

Justin Haley was the first truck out of sorts. He got turned around in turn one off the bumper of Stewart Friesen. Haley could not get his truck re-fired, so the first caution came out.

Mosack and Rhodes got the race restarted out front. Rhodes immediately passed for the lead on the outside of turn one. He pulled away by over a second and a half.

Dario Franchitti and Hinchcliffe got into each other in turn one. They both were able to keep it straight, but Hinchcliffe lost a spot.

Kaden Honeycutt, after starting in 19th, cracked the top ten before lap 10. Layne Riggs, who started in 28th, was also able to cut through the field with ease. Riggs managed to get to 12th with 10 to go in the stage.

Mosack gradually caught back up to Rhodes and began to challenge for the lead. They had a gap of over five seconds over third-placed Landen Lewis. They traded mistakes fighting for the lead. Mosack slipped back to a second behind Rhodes.

Tanner Gray tank slapped the wall. He was able to keep it going, but had severe damage to his left rear.

Rhodes led the field to the green and white checkered flag, getting the stage win in the OnlyBulls Green Flag 150!

Life in the Fast Layne

Mosack and Rhodes brought the field back to the green flag. Rhodes dove into turn one and took the lead out of turn two. Honeycutt missed turn four and lost all the positions he had fought to gain.

Riggs continued showing his speed. He passed Ruggiero and Mosack in turn one to get into fourth.

Adam Andretti and Christian Eckes got together and stopped on the track. That brought out the third caution of the day. Both suffered severe damage to their trucks.

Chandler Smith joined Rhodes on the front row for the restart. Riggs took a shot at the lead in turn one but could not get out front. Smith took the lead out of the turn with Riggs behind him in second.

With four to go, Riggs caught Smith and tried to take the spot. Smith was fast enough to hold on to the lead. Riggs used the entire track to complete the pass for the lead on his teammate. Riggs went on to win stage two in the OnlyBulls Green Flag 150!

Cautions, A Lot of Them

Smith and Riggs brought the field back to green. Ty Majeski used a huge run on the front stretch to take second place. Tyler Ankrum got into the back of Lewis and suffered damage to his right front. He was able to keep going, but began to lose spots.

Kris Wright took too much speed in turn one and got turned around. He was able to get back going.

The fifth caution came out when Derek White stopped on the track.

With 25 laps to go, Majeski joined Riggs on the front row for the restart. Riggs took back his lead into turn one. Majeski fought back but could not take the spot.

The sixth caution came out when White got turned around and could not get back going.

Riggs to the House

Majeski and Riggs, again, brought the green back out. Majeski drove deeper into turn one and took the lead. Rhodes tried to get underneath Riggs to take the runner-up spot, but could not make it stick. Majeski overshot turn 13 and fell to sixth. Riggs assumed his lead back and tried to run away with it. Rhodes did not let him get away, keeping him at about half a second ahead.

Tyler Reif turned Eckes into the outside wall; however, they were both able to keep going.

Riggs pushed his lead to a second over Rhodes and kept increasing it. With 10 to go, his lead was at two and a half seconds.

Majeski was able to get back onto the podium after his prior mistake. He was the fastest truck on the track, after Riggs.

Rhodes closed the gap down to under two seconds. Riggs was caught behind Ruggiero and could not get around him. He finally got around Ruggiero in turn one after a huge run on the front stretch. While Rhodes was able to catch the leader, Majeski caught the back of Rhodes.

With four to go, Riggs had several lapped trucks in front of him with Rhodes and Majeski closing in behind. Riggs made contact with Friesen while trying to pass the lapped truck. Rhodes got to the rear bumper of Riggs but could not get closer. He continued to push, locking up his tires several times, for the lead, but he was not able to get to Riggs.

Majeski passed Rhodes to take second on the coming to the white flag. Majeski got close to Riggs but overshot turn 14.

Layne Riggs got the white and checkered flag to win the OnlyBulls Green Flag 150 at St. Petersburg!

Marvin’s Minute:

Layne Riggs was the fastest driver and truck on the track all day. He got his sixth career truck win, and he earned it. Riggs will, again, fight for the championship later this season. He continues to impress me and will get another win or more this season! You heard it here first!