Tag: Corey Heim

Corey Heim returning to TRICON Garage in Truck Series for 2024

TRICON Garage announced on Monday morning that Corey Heim will return to the No. 11 truck in the Truck Series for the 2024 season.

TRICON Garage announced on Monday morning that [autotag]Corey Heim[/autotag] will return to the No. 11 truck for the 2024 NASCAR season. Heim is currently in his first full-time season with TRICON Garage and has three victories, including one at Bristol Motor Speedway that has locked him into the Championship 4 at Phoenix Raceway.

The driver of the No. 11 truck has shown exceptional speed on a weekly basis and has definitely earned another year with TRICON Garage. There were questions over whether Heim could be a fit for Joe Gibbs Racing’s program in the NASCAR Xfinity Series but any starts would have to be part-time due to this news.

There are two races remaining in the 2023 Truck Series season and Heim only has to worry about the race at Phoenix. The TRICON Garage driver could end up being a champion in a few weeks and the announcement of his future will allow him to focus on the task at hand. For now, Heim will look to claim his fourth win of the season at Homestead-Miami Speedway this weekend.

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Dramatic late pass gives Heim Truck Series win at Bristol

After stealing a victory last Saturday at Kansas Speedway, Christian Eckes got his pocket picked by Corey Heim on Thursday night at Bristol Motor Speedway. On lap 195 of 200 of the UNOH 200 Presented by Ohio Logistics, Heim forced his way beneath …

After stealing a victory last Saturday at Kansas Speedway, Christian Eckes got his pocket picked by Corey Heim on Thursday night at Bristol Motor Speedway.

On lap 195 of 200 of the UNOH 200 Presented by Ohio Logistics, Heim forced his way beneath Eckes’ No. 19 Chevrolet — with the lapped truck of Eckes’ TRICON Garage teammate, Tanner Gray, to the outside — took the lead and claimed the victory by 0.218s over his disappointed rival.

With his third NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series victory of the season, his first at Bristol and the fifth of his career, Heim, the regular-season champion, moved one step closer to another possible title. The win propelled him into the Championship 4 race, scheduled for Nov. 3 at Phoenix Raceway.

“This is insane,” said Heim, who led only the last six laps. “I felt like I’ve given so many away this year, to win one like that at the end is so special… Like I said, we’ve given so many away, and we finally got one back…

“Gosh, it’s just so awesome to know we’re in Phoenix.”

Eckes seemed Phoenix-bound himself before Heim made the decisive pass. Eckes led 150 laps and swept the first two stages. The runner-up finish left him one point behind Heim in the Playoff standings but without a ticket to the Championship 4.

“I just think it’s ironic that the 15 (Tanner Gray) is three laps down and waited,” said Eckes, who felt Gray held him up and allowed Heim to close in. “Whatever. Good truck. I got really tight there at the end…

“That one stinks, for sure.”

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If it’s any consolation to Eckes, mistakes and ill-fortune that beset other drivers created a significant spread between those above the cut line for the Championship 4 and those below it.

Defending series champion Zane Smith was penalized for pitting outside his box on lap 116, was relegated to the rear of the fell and fell a lap down to Eckes on lap 161. He finished 24th and heads for the next race — Sept. 30 at Talladega — in fifth place, 14 points behind Grant Enfinger (third on Friday) for the final Playoff-eligible position.

Contact between Heim’s Toyota and Ty Majeski’s Ford cut Majeski’s right front tire on lap 107, three laps before the of Stage 2. Majeski was never a factor after that and finished 19th, leaving him 22 points behind Enfinger.

Carson Hocevar finished fourth and enters the second Round of 8 race at Talladega 18 points above the cut line.

Tyler Gray, Rajah Caruth, Ben Rhodes, Chase Purdy, rookie Nick Sanchez and Matt DiBenedetto completed the top 10.

Sanchez started at the back of the field because of a broken suspension part that prevented him from making a qualifying run. Though he salvaged the ninth-place result, he trails Enfinger by 22 points with two races left in the Round of 8.

RESULTS

Corey Heim steals the victory, Championship 4 spot at Bristol

Corey Heim wins the NASCAR Truck Series race at Bristol Motor Speedway in thrilling fashion to clinch a spot in the Championship 4.

The NASCAR Truck Series went to Bristol Motor Speedway for the first race of the Round of 8 and left with a new driver chasing a title. [autotag]Corey Heim[/autotag] made a late pass on Christain Eckes and claimed the victory. It was surprising as Eckes led the most laps while winning both Stage 1 and Stage 2. Still. it was Heim who clinched a spot in the Championship 4.

The driver of the No. 11 truck won the Truck Series regular-season championship and has been one of the best competitors in the series for the entire year. As for the other playoff drivers, Zane Smith and Ty Majeski lost the most with finishes outside of the top 15 spots. They both sit below the playoff cut-line now.

The Truck Series now goes to Talladega Superspeedway in two weeks for the second race of the Round of 8. It will be wild as seven drivers outside of Heim look to clinch a spot in the Championship 4 at Phoenix Raceway.

UNOH 200 presented by Ohio Logistics top-10 finishing order:

  1. No. 11 Corey Heim
  2. No. 19 Christian Eckes
  3. No. 23 Grant Enfinger
  4. No. 42 Carson Hocevar
  5. No. 17 Taylor Gray
  6. No. 24 Rajah Caruth
  7. No. 99 Ben Rhodes
  8. No. 4 Chase Purdy
  9. No. 2 Nick Sanchez
  10. No. 25 Matt DiBenedetto

Heim survives wet-to-dry chaos to win Truck Series at Mid-Ohio

Corey Heim started on the pole and finished with his second victory of the year in Saturday’s O’Reilly Auto Parts 150 NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series race at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. What happened between the green flag and checkered flag was …

Corey Heim started on the pole and finished with his second victory of the year in Saturday’s O’Reilly Auto Parts 150 NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series race at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course.

What happened between the green flag and checkered flag was pure chaos.

In a race that started in a deluge and ended in bright sunshine, cars were spinning like tops on a skittles board and landing in gravel traps that required tow trucks to pull them to freedom.

Teammates collided at the front of the field, and frequent contact between trucks produced 10 cautions for 23 of the 67 laps and stretched the race from a projected 2 hours 17 minutes to nearly four hours.

In the end, the best truck won. Heim powered his No. 11 TRICON Garage Toyota past Ty Majeski on lap 42 and held the top spot for the final 26 laps to claim his first-ever road course victory at the 2.258-mile, 13-turn circuit.

Heim beat reigning series champion Zane Smith to the finish line by 0.947s, as Smith had to settle for the runner-up spot for the second straight year.

“It’s just unbelievable,” Heim said. “We came here with high expectations. I felt like I did a good job last year of staying up front, but I put in the work to go from being a third-place truck to a winning truck…

“This thing was good ever since we unloaded. I felt like we were the fastest truck in practice, qualified on the pole, of course, and came here and won the race. It’s just awesome. Hats off to everybody.”

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Smith had to start from rear of the field after his team made repairs to the transmission in his No. 38 Ford. He sustained minor damage to the truck while charging forward through heavy traffic.

“Yeah, brutal to finish second here again,” Smith said. “Such a fun road course. Our (truck) lacked turn, especially on the right-handers, all day long and struggled in first gear. Some things to improve on, but I just felt like we needed a little bit more.

“I don’t know how much our damage here was slowing us down, but those things happen when you start in the back. Frustrating to finish second again, but our road course program has been outstanding.”

Winless drivers immediately above and below the Playoff bubble remained closely bunched, with Stewart Friesen finishing fourth, Matt Crafton sixth, Matt DiBenedetto eighth and Nick Sanchez ninth.

Two races remain before the Truck Series Playoff field is set at Richmond.

Ben Rhodes won the first stage, and ThorSport Racing teammate Majeski took the second, but their two Fords collided and slid off-course on lap 43 while running second and third behind Heim. Rhodes recovered to finish fifth, and Majeski salvaged a seventh-place result.

Christian Eckes, a two-time winner this year, ran a solid race and came home third behind Smith.

RESULTS

Heim outlasts rain and rivals for Martinsville Truck win

Corey Heim prevailed at Martinsville Speedway late Friday night to earn his first NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series victory of the season after persevering through both rain and dry conditions, two red flag periods for weather and multiple charges by …

Corey Heim prevailed at Martinsville Speedway late Friday night to earn his first NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series victory of the season after persevering through both rain and dry conditions, two red flag periods for weather and multiple charges by the highly motivated veteran Kyle Busch.

The 20-year old Georgia-native, Heim, led his first laps of the 2023 season at exactly the right time — holding the point for an impressive 82 of the 124 laps of the Long John Silver’s 200. Including the most important lap.

An accident with 85 laps remaining brought out the yellow flag and after several circuits under caution, NASCAR brought the trucks to pit road where the red flag flew for rain and the race was declared official on lap 124 of the scheduled 200 laps.

“Rain, rain, come on,’’ Heim urged to his TRICON Garage crew on the radio, just before climbing out of his No. 11 Toyota truck during that final red flag period.

“This race was cut short and that’s definitely unfortunate, but this truck was fast all night,’’ he said. “I couldn’t ask for a better group of guys.’’

Heim had to work for this, holding off Busch — who was racing for Kyle Busch Motorsports’ 100th win — and reigning series champion Zane Smith on four different re-starts to claim the famed one-of-a-kind grandfather clock Martinsville trophy only minutes before that clock would strike midnight.

“We just didn’t have a good enough short-run truck,’’ said Busch, who finished second. “Being a little bit loose and free that we were, we were hoping that would pay off in the long run but never had a long run. The longest run of the race was on rain tires.

“It did not go our way today, unfortunately.’’

Heim swept both stage wins – his first of the season as well.

“I bring a 100-percent effort to every race every week so to be able to sit here and have it pay off is phenomenal,’’ Heim said.

Smith finished third in the No. 38 Front Row Motorsports Ford with ThorSports Racing’s Ty Majeski and Heim’s TRICON teammate Tanner Gray rounding out the top five.

Ben Rhodes, Matt DiBenedetto, Taylor Gray, William Sawalich and Chase Purdy completed the top 10. It was the 16-year old Sawalich’s Truck Series debut and helped the TRICON team to four top-10 finishes.

Majeski maintains the points-lead after Martinsville by 26 points over Smith and 49 over Rhodes.

The trucks take a couple weeks off and will return to competition on May 6, at Kansas Speedway in the Heart of America 200 (8 p.m. ET, FS1, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

RESULTS:

1. (4) Corey Heim, Toyota, 124.
2. (2) Kyle Busch(i), Chevrolet, 124.
3. (1) Zane Smith, Ford, 124.
4. (12) Ty Majeski, Ford, 124.
5. (9) Tanner Gray, Toyota, 124.
6. (3) Ben Rhodes, Ford, 124.
7. (5) Matt DiBenedetto, Chevrolet, 124.
8. (24) Taylor Gray #, Toyota, 124.
9. (22) William Sawalich, Toyota, 124.
10. (8) Chase Purdy, Chevrolet, 124.
11. (19) Nick Sanchez #, Chevrolet, 124.
12. (25) Ross Chastain(i), Chevrolet, 124.
13. (18) Jake Garcia #, Chevrolet, 124.
14. (10) Grant Enfinger, Chevrolet, 124.
15. (6) Christian Eckes, Chevrolet, 124.
16. (31) Kris Wright, Chevrolet, 124.
17. (26) Colby Howard, Chevrolet, 124.
18. (15) Conner Jones, Ford, 124.
19. (28) Timmy Hill, Toyota, 124.
20. (27) Hailie Deegan, Ford, 124.
21. (36) Dean Thompson, Toyota, 124.
22. (23) Bret Holmes #, Chevrolet, 124.
23. (30) Spencer Boyd, Chevrolet, 124.
24. (29) Memphis Villarreal, Toyota, 124.
25. (16) Rajah Caruth #, Chevrolet, 124.
26. (11) Matt Crafton, Ford, 124.
27. (14) Tyler Ankrum, Toyota, 124.
28. (17) Kaden Honeycutt, Ford, 123.
29. (33) Jonathan Shafer, Toyota, 123.
30. (13) Stewart Friesen, Toyota, 123.
31. (21) Daniel Dye #, Chevrolet, 123.
32. (20) Lawless Alan, Chevrolet, 122.
33. (32) Mason Massey, Ford, 122.
34. (7) Carson Hocevar, Chevrolet, 122.
35. (34) Brad Perez(i), Chevrolet, 118.
36. (35) Stephen Mallozzi, Ford, 116.

Average Speed of Race Winner: 46.849 mph.
Time of Race: 1 Hrs, 23 Mins, 32 Secs. Margin of Victory: Under Caution Seconds.
Caution Flags: 6 for 63 laps.
Lead Changes: 2 among 3 drivers.
Lap Leaders: Z. Smith 1-5;K. Busch(i) 6-42;C. Heim 43-124.
Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Lead, Laps Led): Corey Heim 1 time for 82 laps; Kyle Busch(i) 1 time for 37 laps; Zane Smith 1 time for 5 laps.
Stage #1 Top Ten: 11,51,38,15,19,99,98,25,42,1
Stage #2 Top Ten: 11,51,38,19,15,98,99,42,25,9