Corey Heim absolutely dominated Friday’s NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series (NCTS) race at Rockingham, but he had to fight for it in the closing laps.
Heim suddenly began to struggle with his No. 1 truck, wondering on the radio if he had a tire going down. As he navigated slower traffic, teammate Kaden Honeycutt ran him down, setting up an incredible battle for the win. They were side-by-side on the final lap, and Honeycutt even surged ahead before Heim drove deep into the final corner, just barely hanging onto the lead.
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“I didn’t feel like I was pushing any harder than the previous run, so I didn’t feel like I did any more damage to the right front, but all of sudden with about four to go, I had to turn more right on the straightaway to keep it straight,” said Heim, who now has 25 career NCTS wins. “It was clocked like 20 degrees to the right and it was chattering really bad in the corner. I was like ‘oh boy, here we go, we’re going to lose this one in the worst way possible.’ But we hung in there. Just had to use a couple of lapped car picks to defend. Respect to Kaden for racing clean. I did what I had to do there at the end.”
He won the first Triple Truck Challenge race at Darlington, netting a $50,000 bonus. Rockingham was the second, earning him an additional $100,000. If he wins the final Triple Truck Challenge race next weekend at Bristol, the prize money increases to $500,000 for sweeping all three races.
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“I was hoping everyone would have moved when we started racing each other, but it is part of it – it is part of racing and you have to navigate it,” said Honeycutt, who is still looking for his first win in the Truck Series. “He (Heim) did an excellent job there at that last corner. I tried to shove Tanner (Gray) as far as I can and hoped that he would have gone to the bottom or something like that, but I don’t really know what I could have done differently other than run me and him down in the marbles and all that. I didn’t want to do that, but I wanted to make sure that me or Corey (Heim) won the race, and I obviously wanted to win it, but it was good that our Tricon organization could do that. Our team has been really, really good this year.”
Behind Heim and Honeycutt, Layne Riggs finished third, Chandler Smith fourth, and Stewart Friesen fifth. Grant Enfinger, Tyler Ankrum, Corey Lajoie, Ty Majeski, and Jake Garcia filled out the remainder of the top ten.
Corey Heim leads the field, No. 1 Tricon Garage Toyota
Corey Heim leads the field, No. 1 Tricon Garage Toyota
Tanner Gray took the lead from pole-sitter Garcia at the very start, but it wasn’t long until Heim passed them both.
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Andres Perez got into the wall early, damaging the right-rear of his truck and falling back through the pack.
Heim went on to win Stage 1 over Majeski, Honeycutt, Riggs, Tan. Gray, Butcher, Garcia, Eatman, Ruggiero, and Lewis.
Ruggiero was sent to the rear of the field for speeding on pit road, and Hocevar entered a closed pit so the No. 77 Spire team could work on some issues with his truck.
Enfinger, who only took two fresh tires, actually moved into the lead on the restart with a helpful push from Majeski. It did not last long though, as Heim quickly regained control of the race.
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Moments after the lead changed hands, the first natural caution of the race flew as Adam Andretti nosed his No. 5 truck into the inside wall on the backstretch.
On the ensuing restart, Brenden Queen — who was the top-running Ram driver at the time — smacked the wall and fell to the back of the pack.
Heim swept the stages, winning Stage 2 over Majeski, Honeycutt, Riggs, Enfinger, Tan. Gray, Friesen, Hemric, Butcher, and Garcia.
Corey Heim, No. 1 Tricon Garage Toyota; Kaden Honeycutt, No. 11 Tricon Garage Toyota
Corey Heim, No. 1 Tricon Garage Toyota; Kaden Honeycutt, No. 11 Tricon Garage Toyota
Heim continued to dominate throughout the final stage, as Hocevar fell out of the race with mechanical issues.
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With just over 50 laps to go, a round of green-flag pit stops began. However, Heim waited a bit longer.
It was a smart decision to wait as Michael Christopher Jr. got sent sideways, triggering a caution that trapped several trucks that had already pit.
The green flag waved with 28 laps to go, and Heim once again drove away. However, it did not last, as he reported a possible tire issue in the final five laps. Honeycutt ran him down and almost got to his outside with three laps to go. Honeycutt caught a slower truck at a bad time, but quickly ran Heim back down.
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At the white flag, Honeycutt got to Heim’s outside and the two teammates were side-by-side for most of the lap. At the exit of Turn 2, the lapped track of Tanner Gray — a teammate to both Honeycutt and Heim — was directly in Honeycutt’s path. He shoved him ahead, and nearly cleared Heim before reaching Turn 3.
However, Heim still had a fender there, so he drove it in deep and slid up in front of Honeycutt, who crossed the line glued to Heim’s back bumper. Just 0.090s separated the two drivers, with Honeycutt still searching for his first career win.
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