DAYTONA BEACH — Growing up a second-generation racecar driver, Layne Riggs spent most of his life with shoes to fill.

So, when it came time for Front Row Motorsports to replace nine-time winner and 2022 Craftsman Truck Series champion Zane Smith in its coveted No. 38 Ford F-150, Riggs was a logical choice.

And if there is any trepidation for Riggs, who at 21 is getting his shot in one of the series’ premier rides, he needn’t look far for someone to compare notes with. Just to the top of his team’s pit box, in fact.

That’s where Dylan Cappello will reside in his first season as a crew chief. The 27-year-old spent the past few years as an engineer. The duo are just part of the turnover within the organization and team during the offseason, and while there’s certain to be a learning curve, the goal is to keep the No. 38 near the top right away.

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“I know that we’re capable, I know our trucks are fast enough, I know I have the talent to do it — just got to place it all together,” Riggs said via Zoom interview last week.

Certainly, the quality of the equipment and the championship pedigree are assurances. In addition to the championship two seasons ago, Smith won six races in two years in the 38 and that includes back-to-back victories in the Fresh From Florida 250, the Truck Series opener that will be run Friday night in Daytona.

Cappello was part of the team for both of those victories and surprisingly of the two, it’s him with by far the most experience in terms of competing at Daytona. Riggs, the son of former NASCAR driver Scott Riggs, who made 383 starts across the Cup, Xfinity and Truck series, has different memories of the World Center of Racing.

“I’ve been on the playground a lot at Daytona but I haven’t done much racing,” he said with a laugh. “Back in the day, I didn’t care about the racing much, it was more about the experience of being there. My most memorable moments were the grid walk, doing fly-overs and him always holding my ears as a kid when the jets go by.”

Scott Riggs won four Xfinity Series events and five Craftsman Truck Series races in his career but none at Daytona. He finished fourth in the 2005 Daytona 500.

As for Cappello, unsurprisingly, the last couple of years have shaped a rather positive outlook when it comes to Daytona International Speedway.

“It’s kind of near and dear to my heart now; I love that place,” Cappello beamed. “It’s a cool feeling going through that tunnel.”

For the 38 team to make it three in a row, the combination of Riggs and Cappello will need to gel quickly and there are factors that are helping on that front.

First and most obvious, the two are only six years apart in age and both have recently been handed a big-time promotion. With that inevitably comes pressure, but it’s felt and taken on by both of them.

“We’re keeping each other in check, keeping each other’s head on straight,” Riggs said. “We’re both learning. Us dealing with the struggles of promotion together is going to help.”

Further linking the two, Cappello is still an active racecar driver himself. In October, he won the Star Nursery 150, an ARCA Menards West stock car race at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway Bullring.

While his own driving plans are on hold for the foreseeable future and while he has never run a Truck Series race, there is a familiarity and a relatability when it comes to communication with Riggs, who also has largely cut his teeth at the grassroots, short-track level.

“I know that feel and what (drivers are) thinking and as soon as they say something, I know where to look and what part of the corner they’re talking about and what areas of the truck to focus on,” Cappello said. “I feel like that’s huge for the driver to be able to trust the crew chief.”

Sure, this Friday night is a big one for the two and the team and a third straight win at Daytona would be one heck of a start. But though the two will be rookies in their current jobs, the perspective is a mature one and is focused far beyond Daytona.

“Big picture, maximizing your resources, maximizing your day,” Riggs said. “If you have a fifth-place truck, finish fifth with it. It’s a long season, keeping a level head, being smart and truthfully, not doing anything dumb.”

And who knows, maybe someday, the two will find themselves at the same bullring, at the same time. While the two have never met on track, Cappello said he’s confident on how that meeting would go.

“It might not be off speed, but I’ll beat him,” he grinned. “The bumper works.”

This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Fresh From Florida 250: Riggs, Dylan filling big shoes with Front Row