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With more than 100 victories to their credit, the Riggs Racing team is the most successful team on the NASCAR Whelen Southern Modified Tour and the former SMART Modified Tour. Every competitor knows that the Riggs team is always a threat to win.
Many of modified racing's legendary drivers have visited victory lane in cars owned, or prepared by the Riggs. Names such as Paul Radford, Jamie Tomaino, Johnny Bryant, Tony Jankowiak, Melvin "Puddin" Swisher, Tim Arre, Junior Miller, and the late Dale Earnhardt.
It's obvious that the Riggs team know their way to victory lane. The team has traveled up and down the east coast to compete and win at many of the sport's most famous and competitive race tracks. The Riggs have won races at New Smyrna, North Wilkesboro, Caraway, New River Valley, Greenville-Pickens and Martinsville Speedway. One of the Riggs team's best known victories came in the fall of 1985 when the Riggs and Johnny Bryant become the last southern car owner and driver combination to win a modified race at Martinsville Speedway.
On June 10, 2000 in Winston Salem, NC, David Riggs became the first car owner to ever repeat the feat of winning both feature races in a Twin 25 night at Bowman Gray Stadium. The first double-win came with Johnny Bryant in 1980 and the second with Junior Miller. This record has stood for over 27 years.
Riggs Racing is not only known for winning races, but the team is also known for their many championships. After competing on the SMART Modified Tour full-time for only nine years, the team has won the tour championship a record 5 times (1994, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000) with two different drivers, Tim Arre and Junior Miller. The Riggs and Miller combination also teamed up to win the inaugural NASCAR Whelen Southern Modified Tour championship in 2005 and repeated their accomplishment to go back to back in 2006. Riggs has also won the track championships at the historic Bowman Gray Stadium, Caraway Speedway, as well as the FASCAR championship at New Smyrna Speedway outside of Daytona Beach, Florida.
In 2008, after 45 years of dominating modified racing, David Riggs passed the torch to his son and team crew chief Jeff. Jeff will now inherit the car owner position, handing the crew chief duties to long time car chief, Reggie Newman. While not keeping the extensive travel schedule of the current tour, David will still be a major driving force behind the team's success. The team's many successes can probably be contributed to the close-knit group of childhood friends that not only races together but also spends much of their spare time together. After observing the group on several trips "down south" to cover S.M.A.R.T races, Bruce Boucher featured the team in his "Speedway Scene" column on several occasions. Because the team was always together, Bruce nicknamed the group, "The Boys" which has stuck ever since.
After two NASCAR Whelen Southern Modified Tour championships and a fourth place finish in the final 2007 standings, The Riggs and Junior Miller decided to part ways so Miller could cut back and run a limited schedule. While the racing partnership ends, the friendship between the Riggs and Junior Miller will last a lifetime.
At the advice of their long time driver Junior Miller, the Riggs quickly signed 20 year old Andy Seuss to drive the car for the 2008 season. Hopefully, the Hampstead New Hampshire native will continue the long standing tradition of race wins and championships for years to come. |
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