Eric Riggins Jr.

Eric Riggins Jr. is a professional Sprint Car driver who currently competes in the United Speed Contest Sanction's (USCS) Outlaw Thunder National series for Riggins Motorsports, driving the No. 47 Alpha Canvas Race Products 360 winged Sprint Car.
Personal life
Riggins was born in Charlotte, NC, and currently resides there along with his parents, Eric Sr. and Angie, and his six siblings (Alexia, Olivia, Lucas, Blake, Jesse, and Victoria). He previously attended Charlotte United Christian Academy, but is now home schooled due to his hectic racing schedule. Eric's younger brother, Jesse Riggins, is also a well known Go Kart driver on the Southeastern circuit.
Go Karting
Riggins life was highly influenced by the racing world even at a young age. His grandfather, Bobby Riggins, was a local drag racing hot shoe, and his family owns a business that is heavily involved with NASCAR. When Eric was just 6 years old, his parents purchased him a used dirt oval Go-Kart, which they began to run at local Friday night races. After showing talent at the regional level, he joined the World Karting Association at 8 years old and moved on to competing at the State, and National levels.

Riggins became highly successful on the kart circuit, and his skills on the track caught the attention of many well known players in the southeastern dirt oval karting world. He was eventually selected as one of the original team drivers for MC Motorsports. Ultramax Racing Chassis out of Greenville, SC also took note of his talent, and he was chosen to become a Factory Driver; Riggins continued with Ultramax for the remainder of his karting career, and occasionally returns to drive for them in large karting events. Riggins was able to earn dozens of National (WKA), State (TN, SC, GA) and Money titles throughout his karting career.
360 Winged Sprint Car
In 2008, Eric Sr. came across the opportunity to purchase a used Winged Sprint Car, along with a 360 motor that needed rebuilding. He and Eric Jr. began to work on getting the car and motor ready to test. In the spring of 2009, he was ready to get in the seat for the first time. He entered 4 USCS Sprint Car events that year. His very first USCS race came at Carolina Speedway in Gastonia where he competed against a talented field including sprint car legend Tony Stewart, and 7 time USCS national champion Terry Gray. He finished 10th out of a field of 29, and garnered Rookie of the Race honors
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2010 was Eric Jr.'s first year running the full USCS Southern Thunder Series schedule. His goal for the year was simply to gain seat time and experience, but he quickly established himself as a top contender on the tour. Eric was able to record six Heat Race wins, a Dash for Cash win at Lavonia Speedway, five Top-5 finishes in his last five USCS races, and a 2nd place finish at the Carolina Thunder Nationals. He was able to garner multiple Rookie of the Race honors as well as a KSE Hard Charger award. Eric was able to record four runner-up finishes in the last seven USCS Southern Thunder Tour dirt track events, including the Senoia Summer Nationals, and the Carolina Thunder Nationals. At the end of the 2010 racing season, Riggins was crowned the USCS Southern Thunder Tour Rookie of the Year
In 2011, Riggins committed to participating in the USCS Outlaw Thunder National Tour, which carried him to eight different states across the Southeast and Midwest (AL, AR, GA, MO, MS, NC, SC, TN). Eric's 2011 started off promising, with a runner up finish his fourth race of the year at RAD @ the Races in Travelers Rest, SC. He continued to gather steam throughout the summer of 2011, including a stellar performance on July 4 weekend which included a fifth place finish, a Wilwood Hard Charger Award, and a Keizer Wheels Top Five Award at Thunderhill Raceway, followed up by a strong runner-up finish the next day at Clarksville Speedway. All of the momentum that Eric had gained throughout the end of 2010 and beginning of 2011 finally culminated into a thrilling last lap pass to take his first career 360 Winged Sprint Car win on July 16 at Dixie Speedway in Woodstock, GA. Following the big win at Dixie, Riggins ran into some hard luck, blowing a motor, and subsequently having to miss two consecutive USCS races. When he returned to racing action, he finished outside the top 5 for three consecutive weeks . With the pressure on to perform at his home track, Eric Jr. set out to turn his luck around at the Carolina Thunder Nationals. The Friday night preliminary proved to be mediocre for Riggins, who was only able to muster a 5th place qualifying effort, and a 2nd place heat finish. However, at the Saturday night finale, Eric succeeded in wheeling the #47 machine back into Victory Lane for his second career win in the first of the Twin Feature Events. Riggins wrapped up his weekend by coming from a 16th starting position (due to an inversion rule) to finish 2nd in the final Twin Feature Event. Riggins final race of the 2011 season is scheduled for November 5th, in West Memphis, Arkansas.

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