Corey Heim holds off teammate in dramatic 0.090s finish at Rockingham

Corey Heim absolutely dominated Friday’s NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series (NCTS) race at Rockingham, but he had to fight for it in the closing laps. 

Heim suddenly began to struggle with his No. 1 truck, wondering on the radio if he had a tire going down. As he navigated slower traffic, teammate Kaden Honeycutt ran him down, setting up an incredible battle for the win. They were side-by-side on the final lap, and Honeycutt even surged ahead before Heim drove deep into the final corner, just barely hanging onto the lead.

“I didn’t feel like I was pushing any harder than the previous run, so I didn’t feel like I did any more damage to the right front, but all of sudden with about four to go, I had to turn more right on the straightaway to keep it straight,” said Heim, who now has 25 career NCTS wins. “It was clocked like 20 degrees to the right and it was chattering really bad in the corner. I was like ‘oh boy, here we go, we’re going to lose this one in the worst way possible.’ But we hung in there. Just had to use a couple of lapped car picks to defend. Respect to Kaden for racing clean. I did what I had to do there at the end.”

He won the first Triple Truck Challenge race at Darlington, netting a $50,000 bonus. Rockingham was the second, earning him an additional $100,000. If he wins the final Triple Truck Challenge race next weekend at Bristol, the prize money increases to $500,000 for sweeping all three races.

Behind Heim and Honeycutt, Layne Riggs finished third, Chandler Smith fourth, and Stewart Friesen fifth. Grant Enfinger, Tyler Ankrum, Corey Lajoie, Ty Majeski, and Jake Garcia filled out the remainder of the top ten.

Stage 1

Tanner Gray took the lead from pole-sitter Garcia at the very start, but it wasn’t long until Heim passed them both. 

Andres Perez got into the wall early, damaging the right-rear of his truck and falling back through the pack.

Heim went on to win Stage 1 over Majeski, Honeycutt, Riggs, Tan. Gray, Butcher, Garcia, Eatman, Ruggiero, and Lewis.

Stage 2

Ruggiero was sent to the rear of the field for speeding on pit road, and Hocevar entered a closed pit so the No. 77 Spire team could work on some issues with his truck.

Enfinger, who only took two fresh tires, actually moved into the lead on the restart with a helpful push from Majeski. It did not last long though, as Heim quickly regained control of the race.

Moments after the lead changed hands, the first natural caution of the race flew as Adam Andretti nosed his No. 5 truck into the inside wall on the backstretch.

On the ensuing restart, Brenden Queen — who was the top-running Ram driver at the time — smacked the wall and fell to the back of the pack.

Heim swept the stages, winning Stage 2 over Majeski, Honeycutt, Riggs, Enfinger, Tan. Gray, Friesen, Hemric, Butcher, and Garcia.

Stage 3

Heim continued to dominate throughout the final stage, as Hocevar fell out of the race with mechanical issues.

With just over 50 laps to go, a round of green-flag pit stops began. However, Heim waited a bit longer. 

It was a smart decision to wait as Michael Christopher Jr. got sent sideways, triggering a caution that trapped several trucks that had already pit. 

The green flag waved with 28 laps to go, and Heim once again drove away. However, it did not last, as he reported a possible tire issue in the final five laps. Honeycutt ran him down and almost got to his outside with three laps to go. Honeycutt caught a slower truck at a bad time, but quickly ran Heim back down.

At the white flag, Honeycutt got to Heim’s outside and the two teammates were side-by-side for most of the lap. At the exit of Turn 2, the lapped track of Tanner Gray — a teammate to both Honeycutt and Heim — was directly in Honeycutt’s path. He shoved him ahead, and nearly cleared Heim before reaching Turn 3.

However, Heim still had a fender there, so he drove it in deep and slid up in front of Honeycutt, who crossed the line glued to Heim’s back bumper. Just 0.090s separated the two drivers, with Honeycutt still searching for his first career win.

RACE

All Stats

1	C. Heim TRICON Garage	1		Toyota	200	1:45’59.330		5
2	K. Honeycutt TRICON Garage	11		Toyota	200	+0.090 1:45’59.420	0.090	6
3	L. Riggs Front Row Motorsports	34		Ford	200	+0.461 1:45’59.791	0.371	6
4	C. Smith Front Row Motorsports	38		Ford	200	+3.370 1:46’02.700	2.909	6
5	S. Friesen Halmar Friesen Racing	52		Toyota	200	+6.083 1:46’05.413	2.713	6
6	G. Enfinger CR7 Motorsports	9		Chevrolet	200	+9.130 1:46’08.460	3.047	6
7	T. Ankrum McAnally Hilgemann Racing	18		Chevrolet	200	+9.803 1:46’09.133	0.673	6
8	C. Lajoie Kaulig Racing	10		RAM	200	+16.142 1:46’15.472	6.339	6
9	T. Majeski ThorSport Racing	88		Ford	200	+22.893 1:46’22.223	6.751	6
10	J. Garcia ThorSport Racing	98		Ford	199	+1 Lap 1:46’09.778	1 Lap	6
11	C. Butcher ThorSport Racing	13		Ford	199	+1 Lap 1:46’13.169	3.391	6
12	S. Smith Spire Motorsports	7		Chevrolet	199	+1 Lap 1:46’13.948	0.779	6
13	J. Haley Kaulig Racing	16		RAM	199	+1 Lap 1:46’14.725	0.777	6
14	C. Eckes McAnally Hilgemann Racing	91		Chevrolet	199	+1 Lap 1:46’19.165	4.440	6
15	L. Lewis Niece Motorsports	45		Chevrolet	199	+1 Lap 1:46’21.792	2.627	6
16	D. Sutton Rackley W.A.R.	26		Chevrolet	199	+1 Lap 1:46’23.408	1.616	6
17	T. Gray TRICON Garage	15		Toyota	198	+2 Laps 1:45’59.748	1 Lap	6
18	G. Ruggiero TRICON Garage	17		Toyota	198	+2 Laps 1:46’00.173	0.425	6
19	B. Rhodes ThorSport Racing	99		Ford	198	+2 Laps 1:46’10.364	10.191	6
20	K. Wright McAnally Hilgemann Racing	81		Chevrolet	198	+2 Laps 1:46’14.177	3.813	6
21	C. Hall Niece Motorsports	4		Chevrolet	198	+2 Laps 1:46’15.122	0.945	7
22	L. Baldwin Reaume Brothers Racing	2		Ford	198	+2 Laps 1:46’16.778	1.656	6
23	T. Dillon Kaulig Racing	25		RAM	197	+3 Laps 1:46’02.280	1 Lap	7
24	M. Christopher Jr. Halmar Friesen Racing	62		Toyota	197	+3 Laps 1:46’15.953	13.673	6
25	D. Hemric McAnally Hilgemann Racing	19		Chevrolet	197	+3 Laps 1:46’21.407	5.454	7
26	M. Tyrrell Kaulig Racing	14		RAM	197	+3 Laps 1:46’21.461	0.054	7
27	P. Eatmon Niece Motorsports	42		Chevrolet	197	+3 Laps 1:46’22.918	1.457	7
28	B. Queen Kaulig Racing	12		RAM	196	+4 Laps 1:46’01.066	1 Lap	7
29	S. Boyd Freedom Racing Enterprises	76		Chevrolet	195	+5 Laps 1:46’15.738	1 Lap	7
30	C. Green Reaume Brothers Racing	22		Ford	195	+5 Laps 1:46’16.724	0.986	6
31	T. Hill Hill Motorsports	56		Toyota	194	+6 Laps 1:46’12.602	1 Lap	7
32	F. Muniz Reaume Brothers Racing	33		Ford	192	+8 Laps 1:46’11.082	2 Laps	7
33	A. Pérez de Lara Niece Motorsports	44		Chevrolet	187	+13 Laps 1:46’04.284	5 Laps	8
34	C. Costner Costner Motorsports	93		Chevrolet	187	+13 Laps 1:46’48.892	44.608	9
35	C. Hocevar Spire Motorsports	77		Chevrolet	116	+84 Laps 1:07’22.275	71 Laps	8		Retirement
36	A. Andretti TRICON Garage	5		Toyota	58	+142 Laps 31’06.275	58 Laps	3		Retirement

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