Corey Heim wins chaotic Texas NASCAR Truck race in double overtime

After some difficult losses in recent weeks, Corey Heim rebounded in a big way at Texas Motor Speedway. Driving the No. 11 TRICON Garage Toyota, he held on in a fierce battle for the win after dominating most of the night, capturing his third checkered flag of the season.

The race got pushed into double overtime after a rash of late incidents. Entering Turn 1 in the middle of a three-wide situation but Heim did not back down. He actually took the white flag in the second overtime with Ben Rhodes to his outside and Daniel Hemric to his inside — coming out at the other end of the corner in control, taking the victory. 

“I wasn’t letting them take that one away from me,” said Heim, who now had 14 career wins in the NASCAR Truck Series. “I’ve given up too many this year so far. Just so proud of these TRICON guys … just overwhelmed. So many restarts there at the end. Guys were trying to split me three wide. I wasn’t letting them take that one from me. I can’t even speak — I’m so overwhelmed. They tried to take me three wide into (Turn) 1 and I just drove until I couldn’t anymore. Just catching my breath, as you can tell.”

Hemric finished second, Rajah Caruth third, Tyler Ankrum fourth and Tanner Grag fifth. Rhodes, Matt Crafton, Bayley Currey, Dawson Sutton, and Ty Majeski filled out the remainder of the top ten.

The wreck-filled race didn’t see its first true long run until the final stage with Heim in control over Carson Hocevar. During a cycle of green-flag pit stops, Hocevar tried to gain some ground by pitting a few laps before Heim, but it didn’t matter in the end. A battery issue that plagued the full-time Cup driver earlier in the race reappeared, forcing him back to pit road. Adding insult to injury, he had to slam on his brakes and stop to avoid Toni Breidinger while exiting his stall. His truck remained intact, but his shot at the win was gone.

At this point, Heim was hoping he could just cruise to the win, holding a lead approaching 16 seconds. However, the green flag conditions did not persist as Frankie Muniz clobbered the wall, ending a solid night for the actor-turned-racer. He was irate over the radio, stomping form his mangled truck in frustration.

On the restart, a dominant Heim remained firmly in control as Stewart Friesen challenged Grant Enfinger for second. Unfortunately, he got loose and slipped up the track, wrecking himself, Enfinger and Chandler Smith who was directly behind them.

The incident forced a brief red flag to repair the SAFER Barrier in Turn 4, but the race finally got underway with Heim again shooting out ahead of the field. But they weren’t done wrecking yet as Jake Garcia and Connor Mosack wrecked.

That wreck pushed the race into overtime with Matt Mills quickly clipping the grass and spewing debris all over the track. The caution was waived, but not before they went three-wide for the lead. Heim held on, but only by a nose. That set up the final restart of the race leaving Heim to fend off attacks from all sides to hang on to the win.

Photos from Texas – Race