Corey Heim Completes Dominant Season with Incredible Move in Double Overtime

Adam Tropper - Motorsports Today Reporter

Corey Heim climbs out of his Truck right after securing his first Craftsman Truck Series Championship

Avondale, A.Z. - It may have been Halloween night, but in order to win a NASCAR Craftsman 

Truck Series Championship, drivers need to be fearless. Despite some uncertainty, this ended up describing the driver by Corey Heim.

Although Heim was the heavy favorite to win it all heading into this weekend, surprisingly, no championship contender lived up to expectations in qualifying. Kaden Honeycutt started in the highest spot (5th), while Corey Heim qualified 6th in the final race of his historic campaign.

Something to note that makes this track special is “The Dogleg.” While most racetracks have a clear out-of-bounds line (usually grass), drivers can use this area as a shortcut. This leads to

chaotic restarts, with cars stretching out 4 and 5-wide into Turn 1. This came to fruition immediately, as on Lap 1, a wreck involving Daniel Hemric and Dawson Sutton halted the field. 

However, some members of the Championship 4 had some nerves to get over. Honeycutt, driving for the injured Stewart Friesen throughout the playoffs in the #52, was penalized from third place for changing lanes before crossing the star/finish line.

As things settled down during the remainder of Stage 1, Heim settled into the lead, achieving the feat of leading a lap in all 25 races this season. Additionally, Heim officially broke the record for the most laps led in a single truck series season, a number that hasn’t been reached since 1996. 

Chandler Smith, whom Heim took the lead, soon after had to pit due to a major vibration after leading the first 21 laps of the race. Meanwhile, Smiths’ teammate Layne Riggs was having an eventful day. Riggs qualified first in his #34 Front Row Motorsports truck, but had to start in the back of the field after failing post-race inspection twice. While RIggs was eliminated from championship contention last week at Martinsville, he was still eligible to deliver his team an Owners’ Championship. By Lap 40, Riggs had already moved up to the top 20. Heim went on to win Stage 1, his 22nd stage win of the year. Fellow Championship 4 drivers Ty Majeski, Honeycutt, and Tyler Ankrum finished 3rd, 7th, and 14th, respectively.

Stage 2 proved to be uneventful, with Heim continuing to dominate and ultimately sweep the stages. Majeski, looking for back-to-back championships with Thorsport Racing, moved up to 2nd place by the end of this stage. Honeycutt improved to 4th. However, Ankrum, driving for McAnally-Hillgeman Racing (MHR), has not been a factor, lacking overall speed in 17th.

The next round of pit stops was notable as Ty Majeski’s #98 beat the #11 of Corey Heim off pit road, allowing the reigning champ to control the following restart. Majeski couldn't hold off the dominant driver of the day, however, with Heim re-taking the lead in under a lap. Heim's Tricon Garage Toyota continued at a blistering pace, creating a gap of 1.5 seconds over 2nd place. 

On Lap 111, the entire race was turned on its head. A caution was thrown for Clayton Green just after reaching 50 laps to go. It was only the 2nd caution for incident thus far. Some pit strategy came into play, most notably with Layne Riggs coming down to pit. On the flip side, in an attempt to gain track position, Tyler Ankrum stayed out, allowing him to move up 10 places to 8th for the restart with 33 to go.

What remained of Andres Perez De Lara's truck after his violent wreck

On this next restart, Brent Crews, who restarted 2nd, immediately fell off the pace and moved away from the championship contenders. Right after, a major wreck occurred in turn 3, involving Andres Perez De Lara, Gio Ruggiero, Baylor Currey, and Ben Rhodes. Perez De Lara and Ruggiero suffered significant damage, and Perez De Lara’s #44 even went airborne for a brief moment. Everyone was able to get out of their vehicles under their own power. The race was red-flagged for track cleanup.

After the race started up again, Heim took control of the championship, but Layne Riggs came back to take the lead with 27 laps to go. It was looking as though Riggs would secure the Owners’ Championship for Front Row with Heim taking the Drivers’ Championship, until two laps to go.

Another caution came out, this time from Connor Mosack hitting the wall. Just like that, the title would be decided through an overtime finish. Everyone came down pit road, utilizing various strategies. The Tricon #11 crew had some trouble servicing Heim, demoting him to 10th on the following restart. However, he had four new tires compared to each of his championship adversaries, who had only two new right side tires.

The overtime restart saw something no NASCAR fan can say they’ve ever seen before. In Turn 1, the leaders were across the track in a mesmerizing 7-WIDE formation. Even crazier, the biggest beneficiary was none other than Heim, reaching 2nd place (behind Majeski) by the exit of Turn 2. Just as the leaders were about to take the white flag, one more caution came out. This time, a multicar wreck occurred in Turn 3. Tyler Ankrum was involved in this, which effectively ended any remaining hope he had of winning the title.

The final restart was much calmer, as similar to the start of Stage 3, Majeski couldn't hold off Heim and his tire advantage. When it was all said and done, Heim crossed the line first, redeeming his prior two unsuccessful Championship 4 appearances (2023 & 2024).

Corey Heim completed arguably the most dominant NASCAR season in modern history. In 25 starts, Heim notched 12 wins, 19 top 5 finishes, 23 stage wins, 7 poles, and over 1,600 laps led. "Even if we had no wins to our name, that [a championship] was the ultimate goal" Heim said. "To bring the best equipment every week is maybe overlooked... You don't see it where you can bring cutting-edge every week. It's a phenomenal feeling for me."

Up next, The NASCAR Xfinity Series will crown its champion tomorrow night, with the NASCAR Cup Series wrapping up its championship battle Sunday afternoon.