Corey Heim has another dominant NASCAR Truck Series win at Lime Rock debut on Saturday afternoon in the LiUNA 150.
Corey Heim’s victory in the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series’ debut at Lime Rock Park wasn’t just a case of domination. It was an eyelash away from perfection.
Corey Heim: Another Win
Heim led 99 of 100 laps at the 1.478-mile road course in bucolic Lakeville, Connecticut, to win the LiUNA! 150—his fifth victory of the season and the 16th of his career.
The only lap Heim failed to lead came on a restart with five laps left, after Matt Mills ran off course and stalled near the first turn on lap 90. Layne Riggs beat Heim to the start/finish line on lap 96 but drove hard into the first corner and stacked up the field behind him, scrambling positions two through five.
Aside from the one lap he didn’t lead, Heim’s performance was the model of consistent excellence. The driver of the No. 11 TRICON Garage Toyota posted the fastest lap of the race on his second circuit (54.941 seconds), swept both stages, and posted dramatic margins over his closest pursuers in each of the first two segments.
Heim is the first driver in Truck Series history to win three-straight road-course races, having triumphed at Mid-Ohio in 2023 and Circuit of the Americas last year.
“Yeah, that was nothing short of incredible,” Heim acknowledged. “These road courses—I really look forward to them, pre-event and whatnot, and I really prepare for them, so to see all that pay off with (sponsor) Safelite, TRICON, Toyota, it’s super special.
“Obviously, the truck was so good today. I can’t complain one bit about that. A flawless day and we will take that and move forward and try and collect some wins that we should have had this year.”
The LiUNA 150 Results
Reigning series champion Ty Majeski was the beneficiary of Riggs’ aggressive charge into the first turn on the final restart. Majeski inherited the runner-up spot and crossed the finish line 1.381 seconds behind Heim.
“Honestly, we struggled with the truck a little bit to fire off,” Majeski said. “We kept getting it better progressively each and every run. So, got it close at the end, had a shot at Corey and probably got a little over-zealous in turn four, hit the curb and kind of ruined my shot to make him a least a little nervous and try to force him into a mistake.
“From there, he just got too much breathing room and was kind of able to do his thing. Overall, really good day. This is the point when I want to turn our season around—going to IRP (Lucas Oil Indianapolis raceway Park), Watkins Glen and Richmond next. Three really good tracks for us, so I’m excited for this Playoff stretch.”
Rookie Giovanni Ruggiero ran third, followed by Ben Rhodes and Australian Cam Waters, as ThorSport Racing put three drivers in the top five (Majeski, Rhodes and Waters).
Riggs fell to 12th during the first turn melee and finished 13th. Road course ace Jordan Taylor finished third in the first two stages. But he dropped to 20th at the finish.
Stage Recaps
Heim started from the pole and led all 35 laps in Stage 1, building an advantage of 7.065 seconds over second-place Riggs at the first green/checkered flag. Third-place Taylor, a star in the sportscar ranks, was 14.051 seconds in arrears at the first stage break.
After lap 37, the race trucks came to pit road for a controlled stop under red-flag conditions. The restart on lap 40 brought no changes at the front of the field. Heim cleared Riggs through the first two corners and quickly expanded his advantage over the second-place truck
The second stage mirrored the first. Heim beat Riggs to the finish line by 7.281 seconds, with Taylor in third trailing by 14.286 seconds. The two stage wins were the 13th and 14th for Heim this season.
The NASCAR Truck Series Point Standings
Corey Heim extends his lead to 144 points over Chandler Smith in second. Layne Riggs, Daniel Hemric, and Kaden Honeycutt round out the top five. Stewart Friesen and Rajah Caruth have one win each but are below the cut line. So, they displace Jake Garcia and Giovanni Ruggiero, who have zero wins, from ninth and tenth in the playoff picture at this point. Three races remain in the regular season before the playoff begins.
Up Next
The NASCAR Truck Series is on break until July 25th when they race at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park. The TSport starts at 8 pm ET on FS1, NRN, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio. The 2024 champion, Ty Majeski is the defending winner.