Corey Heim wins a dramatic NASCAR Truck Series slugfest at Texas Motor Speedway on Friday night in the SpeedyCash.com 250.
FORT WORTH, Texas — A casual glance at the box score might tell you Corey Heim’s victory in Friday night’s SpeedyCash.com 250 was a cakewalk.
Corey Heim Wins at Texas
Quite the contrary. Heim’s 14th career win was anything but easy.
The driver of the No. 11 TRICON Garage Toyota and CRAFTSMAN Truck Series points leader had to survive two overtimes at Texas Motor Speedway to pick up his first victory at the track and his third of the season.
Heim was barely ahead when caution stalled the first overtime almost before it began. The restart in the second extra period packed a surplus of drama into the final two laps.
Starting second to Heim’s outside, Ben Rhodes held his ground, racing side-by-side through the first two corners. As the drivers navigated the third turn, both had to lift off the gas, allowing Daniel Hemric a strong run to the inside at the start/finish line.
But Heim pressed the accelerator, charged between trucks, and surged into the lead, clearing Hemric and Rhodes in the first turn. Heim pulled away slightly to beat Hemric to the stripe by 0.279 seconds, as Rhodes lost momentum and faded to sixth.
“I wasn’t going to let that one get away from me,” said Heim, who led a race-high 96 of 174 laps and gained an extra Playoff point by winning Stage 2. “I’ve given up too many this year so far. “I’m just overwhelmed—so many restarts there at the end, and guys were taking me three-wide.
“I wasn’t going to let them take it from me… They tried to take me three-wide into (turn) one, and I drove until I couldn’t any more.”
At age 22, Heim is the youngest driver in series history to reach 14 wins. Friday night‘s Truck Series race also was the first to go to overtime after 21 straight events had ended in regulation.
The SpeedyCash.com 250 Results
Rajah Caruth ran third behind Heim and Hemric, with Tyler Ankrum finishing fourth and Tanner Gray fifth.
Rhodes was unhappy with how Heim raced him into the third turn on the white-flag lap in the second overtime.
“I was a little upset, and even still watching the replay, with how I was run in three and four by Heim,” said Rhodes, a two-time series champion. “Basically, to see him come off the bottom, and the groove is extremely narrow here. That’s why all those wrecks kept happening.
“I had to lift. I think he had to lift, and that’s what opened up for three-wide down the frontstretch and why we’re in sixth place.”
All told, the race produced 11 cautions for 57 laps, a testament to the intense action at the Fort Worth track.
Texas Motor Speedway versus the Drivers
Texas Motor Speedway, arguably the most treacherous 1.5-miler on the schedule, claimed three early victims. On lap 31, rookie Giovanni Ruggiero drove too low entering the tri-oval, clipped the grass below the apron, and shot up the track, collecting Brandon Jones and Kaden Honeycutt in a violent collision.
The impact ripped the right front wheel off Jones’ Toyota and destroyed Honeycutt’s Chevrolet.
“It is just so hard to see the grass here on the frontstretch when you’re behind other trucks,” Ruggiero said. “I definitely misjudged it on my part. Really unfortunate for all of my guys.
“We had a really fast JBL Tundra—definitely not how I wanted tonight to go. Just have to keep digging and come back stronger for the next one.”
On lap 52, Layne Riggs spun underneath the Ford of reigning series champion Ty Majeski. Thirteen laps and two cautions later, Riggs was off course again after contact with Luke Fenhaus’ Ford. This time, bouncing through the frontstretch grass and tearing the nose off his F-150.
Andres Perez de Lara backed into the second turn wall on lap 57, damaging his Chevrolet beyond repair. Before the end of the second stage, the race was peppered with six cautions, with the longest green-flag run coming from the start to a competition caution at lap 20.
A Turning Point: Then, Back to Chaos
The tenor of the race changed after the second stage break. During a 60-lap green-flag run that began on lap 87 and featured a cycle of green-flag pit stops, Heim built a lead of 15.794 seconds before Frankie Muniz crashed in the second turn on lap 147 to cause the eighth caution of the night.
From that point, the race reclaimed its frenetic character and required the two overtimes to get to the finish.
The NASCAR Truck Series Point Standings
The result left Heim 46 points ahead of second-place Chandler Smith in the series standings. Daniel Hemric, Tyler Ankrum, and Ty Majeski hold the third through fifth spots.
Completing the top ten are Grant Enfinger, Jake Garcia, Layne Riggs, Kaden Honeycutt, and Ben Rhodes.
Up Next
NASCAR Truck Series teams now head to Kansas Speedway for their next race on Saturday, May 10th. The Heart of America 200 starts at 7:30 pm ET with coverage on FS1, NRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio
The current series points leader, Corey Heim with Tricon Garage, is the defending winner.