Corey Heim wins in triple overtime after wild NASCAR Truck race at Watkins Glen

The NASCAR Truck race at Watkins Glen nearly reached the sunset time limit due to several major incidents in the closing stages of the event, but on this evening, the earth’s rotation was set to Heim time. 

Corey Heim took the lead from Christopher Bell on one of the late-race restarts, but he still had to fight off a hard-charging Daniel Hemric in the end to finally win the race. Along with it being his sixth win of the year, Heim now has 17 career wins in the Truck Series.

“Never give up,” said Heim, who was battling brake issues at one point during the race. “I got behind in that last stage. I was scratching and clawing, trying to get back back through the field. I had my brakes pretty much go out on me when I was beating them up, trying ton get back through the field. I blew the bus stop, made a lot of mistakes. I feel like we’ve had a lot of them get away from us this year, but we finally had one go our way.”

Behind Heim and Hemric, Gio Ruggiero finished third, Bell fought back to fourth, and Tyler Ankrum finished fifth. Sammy Smith, Ty Majeski, Connor Zilisch, Matt Mills, and Layne Riggs filled out the remainder of the top ten.

Stage 1 and 2

Several trucks had mechanical issues during the race, including Kyle Busch, who finished last after suffering a broken steering box. Kaden Honeycutt, who is driving for Young’s Motorsports this weekend after being released from Niece Motorsports, also fell out of the race early with an issue. 

William Lambros brought out the first caution of the race when his truck stalled on track. While most of the field pitted, a couple did stay out with Ruggiero and Ben Rhodes leading the way on the restart. They were not able to defend against those who had pitted, as Heim went on to win the opening stage, with Ross Chastain in second and Bell third.

At the start of Stage 2, Chastain snatched the lead away from Heim on the restart. What followed was an intense, but brief battle with the two drivers nearly crashing at one point before Heim escaped with the lead.

Once again, the caution flew just a few laps shy of the stage end. This time, it was a major incident for Jack Wood. Something broke as he entered the esses, causing him to slam the guardrail on both sides of the track. Thankfully, he was checked and released from the infield care center.

Most of the field filed down pit road, despite being just outside the accepted pit window. Bell had a slow stop, but Chastain had it worse as the team battled fuel pump issues.

The second stage ended in a one-lap dash to the flag. Several trucks stayed out, but a few didn’t make it beyond the first turn. Frankie Muniz locked up his brakes, causing Grant Enfinger, Layne Riggs, and Timmy Hill to all go spinning.

At the other end of the lap, Jake Garcia got loose and sent Connor Zilisch spinning into the gravel. While trapped there, the teenage star lost a lap. Rhodes held on to win the stage with Sammy Smith second and William Sawalich third.

Stage 3

Timmy Hill, Timmy Hill Motorsports Toyota, Layne Riggs, Front Row Motorsports Ford

Photo by: Sean Gardner / Getty Images

During the stage break, some drivers (including Heim) chose to pit again to ensure they had enough fuel to go to the end. Bell chose to risk it, staying out and taking over the race lead.

Heim tried to charge back through the field, but he began to struggle with brake issues, even blowing the bus stop. 

Matt Crafton went for a spin, while Chastain pulled his truck to the boot with more issues, but neither issue triggered a yellow flag. But the caution did come eventually, flying with 13 laps to as Tori Breidinger’s truck went up in flames.

The race resumed with nine laps to go, but no one had anything for Bell. Just one lap later, Tanner Gray slammed the wall hard after hooking himself off the nose of Ty Majeski. He suffered major damage, forcing another caution to fly. This continued to help Bell in his efforts to make the fuel in his No. 52 truck last.

The green flag was back out with just four laps left in the race. Andres Perez and Sawalich collided in the battle for second, clearing the way for Heim to take second.

Soon after, Rhodes slammed into the guardrail at the exit of Turn 6 as the left rear wheel flew off. This incident pushed the race into overtime.

Heim took the lead away from the restart, only for another wreck exiting the bus stop. Both Perez and Dawson Sutton slammed the tire packs at the exit of the corner while trying to avoid a spinning Connor Mosack, which was bad news for Bell. He was out of fuel, forced to come down pit road. Ankrum, who inherited second place, also needed to pit for fuel.

In double overtime, Mosack spun once again at the exit of the bus stop. Once again, two trucks nailed the tires, involving Grant Enfinger and Garcia. That set up the final triple overtime restart where Heim held back Hemric to capture the win.

All that, and it’s still Heim Time — marking the sixth race win of the season for Corey Heim.

1	C. Heim TRICON Garage	11		Toyota	81			5	57
2	D. Hemric McAnally Hilgemann Racing	19		Chevrolet	81		0.202	6	38
3	G. Ruggiero TRICON Garage	17		Toyota	81		0.396	7	39
4	C. Bell Halmar Friesen Racing	52		Toyota	81		0.394	6
5	T. Ankrum McAnally Hilgemann Racing	18		Chevrolet	81		0.665	6	34
6	S. Smith Spire Motorsports	7		Chevrolet	81		2.400	10
7	T. Majeski ThorSport Racing	98		Ford	81		0.176	7	34
8	C. Zilisch Niece Motorsports	45		Chevrolet	81		1.173	9
9	M. Mills Niece Motorsports	42		Chevrolet	81		0.206	7	28
10	L. Riggs Front Row Motorsports	34		Ford	81		1.200	11	29
11	W. Sawalich TRICON Garage	1		Toyota	81		0.099	6
12	W. Slimp Halmar Friesen Racing	62		Toyota	81		0.398	8	25
13	M. Crafton ThorSport Racing	88		Ford	81		0.873	7	24
14	D. Sutton Rackley W.A.R.	26		Chevrolet	81		0.262	9	23
15	J. Garcia ThorSport Racing	13		Ford	81		0.338	8	22
16	C. Mosack McAnally Hilgemann Racing	81		Chevrolet	81		0.058	7	23
17	B. Crews Brent Crews Racing	70		Toyota	81		2.516	10	20
18	S. Boyd Freedom Racing Enterprises	76		Chevrolet	81		4.707	8	19
19	D. White Motorsports Business Management	69		Ford	81		19.895	10	18
20	T. Hill Hill Motorsports	56		Toyota	81		20.529	8	17
21	A. Pérez de Lara Spire Motorsports	77		Chevrolet	81		10.092	8	17
22	C. Buescher ThorSport Racing	66		Ford	78		3 Laps	9
23	C. Smith Front Row Motorsports	38		Ford	77		1 Lap	12	14
24	G. Enfinger CR7 Motorsports	9		Chevrolet	76		1 Lap	9	13	Accident
25	G. Buffomante Reaume Brothers Racing	22		Ford	75		1 Lap	10	12
26	B. Rhodes ThorSport Racing	99		Ford	68		7 Laps	7	27	Accident
27	F. Muniz Reaume Brothers Racing	33		Ford	66		2 Laps	6	10
28	T. Gray TRICON Garage	15		Toyota	64		2 Laps	7	14	Accident
29	T. Breidinger TRICON Garage	5		Toyota	58		6 Laps	7	8	Engine
30	R. Chastain Niece Motorsports	44		Chevrolet	51		7 Laps	7		Fuel pump
31	P. Kligerman Henderson Motorsports	75		Chevrolet	47		4 Laps	8	9	Suspension
32	R. Caruth Spire Motorsports	71		Chevrolet	36		11 Laps	10	5	Brakes
33	J. Wood McAnally Hilgemann Racing	91		Chevrolet	35		1 Lap	7	4	Accident
34	K. Honeycutt Young’s Motorsports	02		Chevrolet	29		6 Laps	8	3	Drivetrain
35	W. Lambros Reaume Brothers Racing	2		Ford	21		8 Laps	5	2	Suspension
36	K. Busch Spire Motorsports	07		Chevrolet	13		8 Laps	9		Steering