NASCAR star Layne Riggs confident of Cup Series opportunity after 23XI announcement

NASCAR Truck Series star Layne Riggs says Corey Heim landing a full-time ride in the Cup Series gives him confidence he will one day get the same opportunity.

23XI Racing announced that Heim will race for the team full-time in the 2027, replacing Riley Herbst in the No. 35 after running a part-time schedule with the team this year.

Heim does so after winning the Truck Series championship in 2025, which Riggs currently leads in points after winning back-to-back races at Charlotte and Nashville.

With just a 37-point lead over Kaden Honeycutt at this stage and The Chase to come later in the year, there is still plenty of time to go. However, Heim's recent opportunity gives Riggs confidence that big opportunities could be on the horizon for him, too.

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Corey Heim news leaves Layne Riggs confident of Cup Series opportunity

“For sure. It gives me confidence as well that I’m gonna have an opportunity in the future," Riggs explained to the media on Tuesday when asked if the Heim news served as motivation for him.

"Not just from Corey, but you look at Zane (Smith) and (Carson) Hocevar and a lot of other guys that went straight from Trucks to Cup. I feel like that’s a common path nowadays.

"It seems like when you do get to a national level, you either go straight to Trucks and then you go to Cup, or you go straight to the O’Reilly Series and then go to Cup.

"You look at somebody like Jesse Love. He’s only run a handful of Truck races before on a part-time basis. He went straight to the O’Reilly Series from the start. I feel like the O’Reilly and Truck Series are more on an equal plane nowadays when it comes to ranking level as both being feeder series where you can make that jump directly up to Cup.

"I have the confidence that I’m gonna be there one day. I’m waiting for that right opportunity whenever it becomes available, but I do feel like that will be inevitable if I keep staying on track with the performance that I have now and just hopeful and thankful to do what I do now.

"I’m trying to enjoy it and soak in all the fun I’m having as I work my way up.”