EXCLUSIVE: Layne Riggs Settles Decades-old NASCAR Vs. F1 Debate With Bold Claim

The debate between NASCAR and Formula One is something that has gripped the attention of motorsports fans around the world for a while now. While the NASCAR faithful believe that the competition is not just limited to the track, F1 fans are usually of the opinion that it takes a lot more skill to drive the open-wheel race cars. Adding another voice to the ongoing debate, NASCAR racer Layne Riggs shared his opinion and explained the key differences between the two major forms of motorsports, in an exclusive interview with EssentiallySports.

Layne Riggs has raced in the Truck and Xfinity Series but perhaps the 21-year-old’s greatest motorsports achievement so far came at the Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series. In 2022, he became the champion after winning 16 races and became the youngest-ever driver to win the competition at 20 years old. And fast forward to 2024 and the driver already has a full-time Truck Series seat with Front Row Motorsports.

Layne Riggs echoes the sentiments of NASCAR fans everywhere

Speaking about the state of Formula One, Riggs spoke for, perhaps, every F1 fan in the world in an exclusive interview with EssentiallySports. The 21-year-old said that while he did not follow the sport a lot, he wished that there was more on-track competition. In 2023, Max Verstappen and Red Bull Racing dominated the season to win the driver’s and constructor’s championships. The team won every single race last year except the Singapore Grand Prix.

However, Riggs wasn’t complaining. The former Weekly Series champion stated that it was just the culture of Formula One. One of the key differences between F1 and NASCAR is that in the former, teams have to build their cars from scratch while in NASCAR, they have to purchase the cars from the organizers.

“It’s a lot different from what I’m used to seeing. I wish that there was more passing, I wish there wasn’t as much dominance but you know that just goes back to the culture of…each team has their own purpose-built race car. You look at NASCAR, everybody buys their cars from NASCAR. They have to be certified, they are all the exact same, it’s almost more spec racing,” the 21-year-old explained.

Current F1 world champion Max Verstappen statistically had the most dominant season any driver has ever had in the history of the sport in 2023. The Dutchman shattered all kinds of records during his jaw-dropping run to glory. However, as far as Riggs is concerned, Red Bull Racing deserved more credit than Verstappen.

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Truck Series star hails dominant F1 team for achieving the “unachievable”

Unlike NASCAR, F1 cars are not the same. The saying that a driver is only as good as their car rings true in this aspect. The teams have a much larger role to play in F1 than in NASCAR, when it comes to the outcome of the race. Layne Riggs understands this and heaped praise on Red Bull Racing for a churning out a near-perfect season.

“It’s not really Max Verstappen won all the races. I look at it more like Red Bull Racing won all the races. I think the team does a lot more…I’m sure he’s a great race car driver. He did everything right, he filled his shoes, and he did his part. But the team is what propelled to give him such a good car every race and that’s really hard to do in NASCAR, to have that upper edge every single weekend so they did a great job,” he said.

However, Riggs also mentioned that NASCAR competitors having similar cars makes the stock car racing competition a lot more exciting to watch. Everyone expected Red Bull to win on every race weekend last year but in NASCAR competitions, no one has much of an idea beforehand.

“It’s something that’s almost unachievable in NASCAR and that’s what gives the sport some excitement cause you truly don’t know who’s gonna win that weekend,” the Truck Series star added. “You can have an idea but in NASCAR it’s different. You don’t know. In Formula One, you know unless something happens, so it’s definitely a lot different.”

There will be people who will agree with Layne Riggs and those who will not, but the Front Row Motorsports star raised some good points in this exclusive interview with EssentiallySports. Do you agree with the 21-year-old? Let us know your thoughts.

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