Layne Riggs faces multiple penalties after NASCAR discovers illegal panel

Front Row Motorsports' shot at the owner's title just took a major blow in pre-race inspection ahead of the Phoenix finale

While his own title hopes ended in a brutal tiebreaker last weekend, Layne Riggs is still fighting for the owner's championship on behalf of Front Row Motorsports at the Phoenix Raceway finale.

NASCAR found that the No. 34 FRM Ford had "added a panel to the oil that closes off the area between it and the floorboard, which is not permitted."

As a result, Riggs will start from the rear of the field for the NASCAR Truck Series finale at Phoenix, but are still required to qualify. He will also have to serve a pass-through penalty after the green flag waves, which could put him a lap down.

Additionally, crew chief Dylan Cappello has been ejected from the track for the remainder of the race weekend.

In the owner's fight, FRM is facing the No. 11 Tricon Toyota driven by Corey Heim, the No. 52 Halmar-Friesen Racing Toyota driven by Kaden Honeycutt, and the No. 98 ThorSport Racing Ford driven by Ty Majeski.

The winner of a Phoenix Truck race has never started deeper than 16th in the field, so Riggs and FRM will have quite the task ahead of them.

UPDATE: Despite the penalties, Riggs still went out and earned pole position for the season finale in a front row lockout for Front Row Motorsports.