Layne Riggs: Pedal to the Metal

ESPN reports about him. Motorsports veterans race against him. NASCAR celebrates him. 

Designated as “one to watch,” Layne Riggs ’24 just concluded his first career season with back-to-back wins and NASCAR’s Truck Series Rookie of the Year Award, capturing the attention of the U.S. racing community.

Race enthusiasts have their collective eyes fixed on Riggs for good reason. With these early career accomplishments as a result of his focus, determination and talent, Riggs checks all the boxes to compete in the Cup Series race, the highest tier of professional stock car racing in the U.S. He also has a good shot at his career goal, which is winning a Cup race, since 32% of truck Rookies of the Year go on to do exactly that.  

What sets Riggs apart, however, is his parallel success as an engineering student. The commitment he demonstrates on the track is also applied in his coursework in thermodynamics, solids mechanics, machine analysis and more. With that commitment, Riggs has earned a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering with a motorsports concentration, becoming the first-ever NASCAR winner to earn a UNC Charlotte engineering degree.

Through a Niner lens

“I’ve learned a lot in Charlotte’s motorsports program,” Riggs said. “Being able to go in-depth with the mathematics of it helps me think more critically about how the cars generate power. I’m able to work more closely with my crew chief and race engineers knowing how we make that speed not just behind the steering wheel, but in the shop.”

For his engineering capstone, a year-long senior design project, Riggs and his team designed and built a race car, which placed second in May at the national FSAE race (Formula-style student design competition), setting a record for UNC Charlotte and the William States Lee College of Engineering. 

Tyler Stover, a teaching assistant professor in UNC Charlotte’s Mechanical Engineering and Engineering Science Department, has gotten to know Riggs over the years.

“Layne is a great student, most recently in my Road Vehicle Dynamics class,” said Stover. “Despite the challenges he has with his race schedule, he has added a valuable perspective, especially on the senior design team.”

Like many students, Riggs leverages experiences between work and school, adding to his depth of understanding. For example, at the Oct. 4 race at Talladega Superspeedway, the yellow No. 38 Ford pickup took a hard hit, and Riggs experienced significant g-force. 

Three days later back on campus, Riggs learned about the science of that impact from NASCAR’s vice president of safety engineering and Charlotte adjunct professor John Patalak.

“That day, we learned to calculate g-force,” Riggs said. “Professor Patalak estimated that my impact, based on my speed, car weight and other variables, was a force of about 40g. That’s much more than what you feel when a roller coaster takes off, which is about 3g.” 

Legendary support, distinct advantage

Even as he is applying the classroom skills in the shop and planning toward his next race, the rising star recognizes the long-term value of his experiences in the Alan D. Kulwicki Motorsports Lab on Charlotte’s campus. Named for the late 1992 Winston Cup champion, who was NASCAR’s first driver to hold an engineering degree, the lab offers students 6,800 square feet of state-of-the-art training space, among the largest in the Southeast. 

“It’s cool to have similarities with such a legend: working in the lab that honors his legacy, receiving the Kulwicki scholarship, being a driver and earning an engineering degree,” said the NASCAR Niner. “The lab has more tools than I have in my race shop at home, and the lab manager, Jim Fox, has taught me some new things like fabrication methods that I haven’t done before.”

Motorsports Experts

Located in the heart of NASCAR country, UNC Charlotte offers one of the most innovative, hands-on motorsports engineering programs available in the U.S. It’s a first stop for employers hiring interns and entry-level engineers.