Layne Riggs Key Takeaways

• Stage One: 1st / Stage Two: 1st / Race Result: 1st

• Layne Riggs earned his second win of the 2025 NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series season last night at the Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park. Leading 160 of the 200 scheduled laps, Riggs swept the stages before capturing the checkered flag. Friday night’s win marks the fourth career win for Riggs and fourth Truck Series win for Front Row Motorsports in 2025.

• “This truck was absolutely flying today,” said Riggs. “Dylan (Cappello), the entire team, and everyone back at the shop in Mooresville brought me a rocket ship—it made my job easy. It’s awesome to get Clew Nicotine Pouches to Victory Lane in just their second race with us. This track is special to me. I made my first Truck Series start here in 2022, and my dad ran his first Truck race here back in 1999. To come full circle and grab the win here is just really cool.”

Chandler Smith Key Takeaways

• Stage One: 3rd / Stage Two: 5th / Race Result: 7th

• “Today was a solid points day for us,” said Smith. “We gave up a few spots on pit road, but overall, it was a strong run for our first race back after the break. Big congratulations to Layne (Riggs) and the No. 34 team—they were definitely the best truck out there.”

FRM PR

There is something that is not quite right about doing the same thing repeatedly and expecting different results. This brings to mind the NASCAR race on Chicago’s lakefront streets for the past three years.

Since the city of Chicago and NASCAR agree there will be no race in 2026, that gives everyone a chance to take a deep breath and start thinking outside the box or, in this case, outside the makeshift road course that doesn’t seem to make anybody happy.

How about a NASCAR Festival at Navy Pier or even at McCormick Place? Think Chicago Auto Show but for NASCAR devotees and all kinds of car geeks. Giant screens showing historic NASCAR races and highlights. Cars, drivers, pit crews, vendors, entertainers and even sponsors could be showcased over a couple of days along our magnificent lakefront. Navy Pier has tons of space outdoors and inside. McCormick Place already has a blueprint for showcasing cars and trucks, plus all the neat car stuff you can imagine.

If the whole purpose of what transpired in Chicago over the past three years was to build the NASCAR brand and get Chicagoans to fall in love with everything NASCAR, while bringing revenue to the city, then think what a festival could do. More people could possibly attend. Chicago’s weather would be much less of a factor. There could be ample opportunities to let folks actually touch the cars and listen to, or talk to, those who are devoted to everything NASCAR.

The people on both sides who are responsible for what will happen here in 2027 have ample time to figure out the actual opportunities and costs without shutting down a single street.

— Susan Burritt, Chicago

Goodbye, NASCAR

After learning that NASCAR decided not to return to Chicago in 2026, my first reaction was: “Yeah!”

My second reaction was: Thanks for returning Grant Park back to Chicago.

My third reaction was: Now let’s return the Taste of Chicago to Grant Park in July, when it is supposed to be, and let’s return it to at least a full-week schedule and with more activities, like it used to be, and not the measly, reduced-size, three-day weekend as is scheduled this year.

And also, let’s return the Fourth of July fireworks to the Grant Park lakefront instead of the out-of-the-way, hard-to-get-to, overcrowded Navy Pier.

— Mario Caruso, Chicago

National park visitors

In their July 23 op-ed (“How do we help America’s national parks? Make global visitors pay more”), Tate Watkins and Sharon Suiwen Zou advocate making international visitors to our national parks pay higher admission fees. They embrace the administration’s “America First” policy under the pretense of generating more revenue to “sustain our most treasured public lands for visitors of all types” — you know, those foreign types!

This is the same administration cutting national parks staff, looking to open up parks for private development and starting global tariff wars (with many countries that have been America’s biggest source of tourism). How do you think that’s going to play out? Want to visit the Eiffel Tower, the Vatican or Tower of London? Oh, you’re an American? You have to pay more.

America’s 85 million acres of national parks are places where everyone is welcome to experience the natural beauty of the United States. Raising fees for global visitors would drive more tourism away than add any meaningful funding for the park system. Throughout our history, presidents, Congress and leaders of industry have protected and invested with pride in keeping national parks pristine and accessible. They didn’t scheme to make a land grab for mining minerals, drilling for oil or building condos.

This isn’t about budgetary constraints or political correctness. It’s a foreign policy message. Let’s not hide behind “America First” and wind up “America Last.”

— Lindsay Resnick, Chicago

Church’s inclusivity

Thank you for the article regarding Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church (“Will Pope Leo XIV forge greater LGBTQ+ inclusion?” July 20). Our Lady of Mount Carmel has been a keystone of LGBTQ+ inclusivity for decades.

I remember 40 years ago turning to the church after an egregious life event and was welcomed by one of the deacons there, who not only was empathetic but also invited me and my partner to the rectory and his own home. I will never forget this kindness and the empathy extended to us!

Thank you so much for highlighting this wonderful community inclusion.

— Jeff Hale, Chicago

Great sundae place

Thank you for the “Sundae school” article in the Wednesday Food & Health section. My wife and I went that day to the Karak Cafe on Ogden Avenue in Lisle to congratulate them on their being highlighted in the article and try the Dubai chocolate sundae that was featured. The very friendly and gracious family there was unaware of your front-page section article but was pleased that we let them know about it. Also, the Dubai chocolate sundae is not on the cafe’s posted menu, but fortunately, it is available upon request.

— John Edinger, Burr Ridge

Mass transit woes

Why did I sit on a bus bench recently for over an hour, contemplating the dire future of our planet that is heating up at an alarming rate? I’ll tell you why: because no bus came, neither a city bus nor a free bus, while a thousand cars and trucks trundled by or stopped to idle noisily at a red light before continuing on.

Four other people joined my vigil, each staring at their phone, naturally. Every person I asked about a possible arrival time for the bus had a different version: five minutes, 12 minutes, 14 minutes, etc. Finally, a fifth soul came along whose phone told her that the bus was “canceled.”

I don’t mind that I simply walked back home without completing my little shopping trip. I do mind that we should be cutting down on traffic, thereby helping prevent dangerous air pollution. We encourage people to take public transportation to help save our planet. But who wants to take buses and trains that can’t be relied upon? And can we blame people for taking their cars knowing they can make three or four stops in an hour and still be home by lunchtime?

Future public transportation is going to have to be some kind of wonderful if we have any hopes of reducing the number of cars and trucks on the streets of our cities.

— Kathleen Melia, Niles

Submit a letter, of no more than 400 words, to the editor here or email letters@chicagotribune.com.

Friday was a special day for Stewart Friesen, who was both celebrating his 42nd birthday and making his 200th career start in the NASCAR Truck Series .. and it almost had a storybook ending.

Friesen utilized an alternate strategy, taking his final set of tires early in order to gain track position. He had the lead for the start of the final stage, and held that advantage until Layne Riggs made the pass for the win with just over 50 laps to go.

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However, Friesen held strong, finishing third after leading 20 laps. Unfortunately, the No. 52 Halmar-Friesen Racing Chevrolet did not pass post-race technical inspection.

Friesen’s truck failed front height checks, as it was too low. As a result, he has lost his third-place finish and all stage points he scored on Friday night. Officially, he will be credited with a last-place finish (35th).

The disqualification moves newly crowned regular season champion Corey Heim up to third, Grant Enfinger fourth, and gives Ty Majeski a top five. Chandler Smith is now sixth, Daniel Hemric seventh, Tyler Ankrum eighth, Ross Chastain ninth, and Rajah Caruth snags the final spot inside the top ten.

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Friesen is the tenth different driver to face a post-race disqualification across all three national divisions this year.

The team will appeal the penalty, claiming the failure was “caused by a part malfunction that occurred during the race by circumstances out of our control.”

Read Also:

Layne Riggs wins NASCAR Truck race at IRP in dominant showing

“It doesn’t sit well with me”: Why Kyle Larson wants to run the Indy 500 again

Denny Hamlin says new JGR contract extension “most likely” his last

To read more Motorsport.com articles visit our website.

(GMM) George Russell (pictured) says he’s not reading into Toto Wolff’s public comments hinting that both Mercedes drivers are likely to stay in 2026 – despite weeks of speculation linking Max Verstappen to a shock move from Red Bull.

Speaking at the Belgian GP, Russell dismissed the idea that Wolff’s remarks were a coded vote of confidence.

“That message was for you, not for me,” he told reporters. “Nothing has changed on my end. I wasn’t even aware of what Toto’s been saying until an hour ago.”

The 26-year-old – managed by Mercedes throughout his F1 career – has been at the center of swirling rumors in recent weeks. Wolff was even spotted meeting Verstappen in Sardinia earlier this month.

But Verstappen now appears likely to remain at Red Bull in 2026 following Christian Horner’s sacking and the installation of Laurent Mekies under the Austrian parent company’s control.

Wolff admitted in Spa that the Verstappen talk intensified after Russell began publicly expressing doubts over his long-term status at Mercedes, despite being in the best form of his career.

Russell insists he’s since shifted his focus.

“It’s not something I’m losing sleep over,” he said. “Initially, I was stressed and worried about my future, but in recent months, I’ve been focused primarily on performance. So I think it’s within my control.”

He added, “Mercedes needs the best drivers, and I believe I’m one of them. I don’t think there are many drivers who can do a better job than me. I need the team, and the team needs me. That’s how it is in motorsport.”

Wolff said Friday he expects Russell will “sleep well over the summer break” – but a new contract isn’t yet imminent.

“There’s no contract on the table yet,” said Russell. “I don’t know if before the break is realistic. Reaching an agreement in two weeks is unlikely.”

Given where it is located on the NASCAR Cup Series calendar, Sunday afternoon’s Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway traditionally would have been shown live on NBC under the media rights deal that was in place from 2015 to 2024.

But a new seven-year, $7.7 billion deal was agreed to before the 2025 season, and it includes not only longtime partners Fox and NBC but a newcomer in Amazon Prime Video and a former partner in TNT Sports. TNT had not been a part of the Cup Series broadcast schedule since 2014.

Prime and TNT were each given five-race stretches in the middle of the season, and to make room, Fox’s season-opening portion was reduced by four races (18 to 14; 16 to 12 points races), and NBC’s season-ending portion was reduced by six (20 to 14).

Under the old agreement, NBC would have taken over by this point in the season. But that switch is not set to happen until next weekend at Iowa Speedway, as Sunday’s 160-lap race around the four-turn, 2.5-mile (4.023-kilometer) Speedway, Indiana oval is set to wrap up TNT Sports’ coverage for the year.

TNT Sports’ five races on this year’s schedule are the five races of the inaugural In-Season Challenge, which is now down to two drivers.

Brickyard 400 not being shown live on NBC

The TNT Sports broadcast booth consists of the same trio from the Amazon Prime Video booth, with Adam Alexander serving as the lead announcer alongside color commentators Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Steve Letarte, though Prime’s overall production from their five-race run has generally garnered more positive reviews than TNT’s.

Though NBC’s coverage is set to kick off next weekend at Iowa, that race is actually set to be shown live on USA Network, the NBCUniversal-owned alternate channel during NBC’s portion of the Cup schedule. USA effectively replaced NBC Sports Network when NBC Sports Network shut down at the end of 2021.

In fact, the majority of NBC’s races are actually set to be shown on USA, rather than main NBC, similarly to how the majority of Fox’s races were actually shown on Fox Sports 1 (nine of 14, to be exact).

Just four races are set to be shown live on NBC, the first being the regular season finale at Daytona International Speedway on Saturday, August 23. The other three are the final three races of the playoffs at Talladega Superspeedway, Martinsville Speedway, and Phoenix Raceway.

The NBC broadcast booth is once again set to consist of lead announcer Leigh Diffey, who replaced Rick Allen before last year’s regular season ended, alongside color commentators Letarte and Jeff Burton.