Corey Heim sweeps at Kansas Speedway in the NASCAR Truck Series elimination race on Friday night in the Kubota Tractor 200.
KANSAS City, Kan.— Corey Heim won Friday night’s Kubota Tractor 200 in the fastest truck. He did, however, need help from fellow Playoff driver Ty Majeski to secure the victory in the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series Round of 10 elimination race at Kansas Speedway.
Corey Heim Sweeps at Kansas in the NASCAR Truck Series Elimination Race
Majeski ran out of fuel approaching the white flag while leading, allowing Heim to surge past in his No. 11 TRICON Garage Toyota and claim his sixth victory of the season in a race that saw reigning series champion Ben Rhodes and Playoff rookie Daniel Dye eliminated from title contention.
Under the third and final caution on lap 78 of the 134-lap race, Majeski came to pit road for tires and fuel, along with ThorSport Racing teammate Rhodes and eventual fourth-place finisher Kaden Honeycutt.
Heim, runner-up Layne Riggs, and third-place finisher Christian Eckes stayed on track during the caution and made green-flag pit stops within the final 30 laps. Heim, who started the race from the rear of the field after hitting the outside wall and cutting a tire in practice earlier in the day, was chasing Majeski when the latter ran out of fuel.
Majeski clinched a berth in the Round of 8 with his win in Stage 1. He rolled home in 15th, the last driver on the lead lap.
“We were the best truck all night—it’s my favorite track, I love coming here,” said Heim, who won at the 1.5-mile speedway in the spring. “I look forward to this. I had a smile on my face all week coming to this place.
“I just thought we could sweep the year here. It’s an awesome place to come. I certainly thought we had it lost there to the 98 (Majeski), almost making it on fuel, but it just shows my team made the right call.”
The victory was Heim’s second at Kansas and the 11th of his career. In an event that featured ten lead changes among three drivers, he led a race-high 64 laps.
The Kubota Tractor 200 Results
In the second race of the Round of 10 at Bristol, Heim, Eckes, and Nick Sanchez clinched their spots in the Round of 8. Majeski, seventh-place finisher Rajah Caruth, ninth-place Grant Enfinger, 14th-place Tyler Ankrum, and 18th-place Taylor Gray advanced on points Friday night.
There was real suspense in the closing laps regarding the fortunes of two-time series champion Rhodes and Enfinger. Rhodes was on the same strategy as Majeski and ran as high as third as the race neared its conclusion.
But Enfinger gained positions as Rhodes lost them in the late going. The die was cast when Rhodes ran out of fuel.
“We qualified fourth, and at the start of the race—massive changes with the truck,” said Rhodes, who won titles in 2021 and 2023. “We could not get it tightened up… Still kind of unacceptable. If we’d have gotten our stage points, it would have taken care of itself.”
Rhodes came home 22nd. After running out of fuel he fell 25 points short of Enfinger for the final spot in the Round of 8.
“It was definitely a little bit stressful, definitely too close for comfort there,” Enfinger said. “This is a round we want to forget. We snuck through here, and now we’re looking forward to going to Talladega next week (for the first race in the Round of 8).”
The NASCAR Truck Series Point Standings
Dye scraped the outside wall twice during the first stage and made multiple pit stops, falling three laps down. He finished 27th and, like Enfinger, was 25 points away from advancing to the next round.
Riggs, who is not a Playoff contender in his rookie season, added the runner-up finish to his two victories in the previous two races.
Dawson Sutton ran fifth, followed by Tanner Gray, Caruth, Bayley Currey, Enfinger, and Connor Mosack.
Next Up
For the NASCAR Truck Series, the Round of 8 starts next week at Talladega Superspeedway. The Loves RV Stop 225 starts at 4:30 pm ET on Friday, October 4th. Coverage is available on FS1, MRN, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.