Corey Heim snags another NASCAR Truck Series victory at Charlotte Motor Speedway on Friday night in the North Carolina Education Lottery 200.
CONCORD, N.C.—This time, Corey Heim didn’t just slam the door on his NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series competition—he nailed it shut.
Corey Heim’s Victory at Charlotte Makes History
Heim’s three previous 2025 wins notwithstanding, the driver of the No. 11 TRICON Garage Toyota has had difficulty closing out races with a dominant truck this season.
That was emphatically not the case on Friday night, when Heim led 98 of 134 laps and beat runner-up Ross Chastain to the finish line by 6.229 seconds in the North Carolina Education Lottery 200 at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
Heim’s first victory at Charlotte and his fourth of the season was the 15th of his career, tying him with Matt Crafton for tenth on the career list. At age 22, he is the youngest to reach the 15-win milestone.
It was a perfect night. Heim swept the first two stages of the race and set the fastest lap, scoring a maximum 61 points to widen his series lead to a massive 100 points over second-place Chandler Smith. His margin of victory was the largest ever in the series at Charlotte.
“I felt like we’ve had the speed the last couple years here, but circumstances haven’t let us get it done,” said Heim, who has won five of the last nine Truck Series races on intermediate speedways.
“Obviously, it was such a good truck. I had to execute on my part. The pit crew did a great job. Just a really nice clean day. … It feels great. It feels like we’ve had a lot of opportunities to do that this year, really. Just can’t say enough about these guys. My team gave me a great Tundra, and we just really checked all of the boxes tonight. It feels great.”
The North Carolina Education Lottery 200 Results
Chastain was the best of the three Neice Motorsports Chevrolet drivers in the top seven. Kaden Honeycutt ran third, and Matt Mills was seventh. But none of the Niece trucks could mount a challenge to the race winner, particularly on longer runs.
“Best in class,” Chastain said of his own effort. “The 11 (Heim) is the best in the field right now, and none of us had anything for him. The 7 (Kyle Busch), the 38 (Smith), the 34 (Layne Riggs)—it was a heck of a race (for second) back there between us, but we’ve got to make it last longer.”
Riggs and Busch came home fourth and fifth, respectively, followed by Grant Enfinger, Mills, Daniel Hemric, Rajah Caruth, and Brandon Jones.
Smith fell victim to a lap 71 wreck involving pole winner Gio Ruggiero, reigning series champion Ty Majeski, and Connor Mosack. The winner last week at North Wilkesboro, Smith, was the first driver eliminated from the race and finished 34th.
There were three cautions for 20 laps, two of the yellows for stage breaks.
The only negative for Heim is that no other 1.5-mile intermediate speedways are remaining on this season’s Truck Series schedule.
The NASCAR Truck Series Point Standings
While Heim holds a historic 100-point lead in the series standings, only nine other drivers will join him in the playoffs. Just seven races are remaining in the regular season. After 11 races, Chandler Smith, Daniel Hemric, Tyler Ankrum, and Grant Enfinger round out the top five. Grant Enfinger and the rest of the top-ten drivers are winless on the season so far. Layne Riggs, Kaden Honeycutt, Jake Garcia, Ty Majeski, and Stewart Friesen complete the top ten.
Up Next
The NASCAR Truck Series now heads to Nashville Superspeedway. The Rackley Roofing 200 begins at 8 p.m. on May 30. Coverage is on FS1, NASCAR Radio Network (NRN), and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio. Last year’s winner is Christian Eckes, who is now racing full-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series.