Corey Heim Earns His 7th Win of the Season in the Truck Series Playoff Opener at Darlington

It was an early morning at Darlington Raceway, and the Craftsman Truck Series event felt no different, starting at noon. What was different, however, was the intensity. Darlington marks the first race of the 2025 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Playoffs. With 10 drivers looking to make a statement and punch their ticket into the next round, we were looking at a great race ahead.

After Friday’s qualifying session, Front Row Motorsports lived up to their name this weekend, as their two cars (#34 of Layne Riggs and #38 of Chandler Smith) swept the front row in qualifying. Plus, right behind, starting in the 3rd was none other than Corey Heim. Heim, driving for Tricon Garage, is easily the championship favorite, with an astonishing seven wins to his name just in the regular season.

As the race started up, there was a nice battle for the lead, with Smith taking the lead from Riggs after about 10 laps. Unfortunately for Smith, tire wear became a significant factor in this race, and he was one of the first victims. On lap 20, while leading, he lost a right front tire and slammed into the Turn 1 wall. This ended his race and will make the rest of the playoffs much harder for the #38 FRM team. Riggs ended up taking the lead back before falling back into the clutches of Heim not too long after. 

Smith wasn’t the only playoff driver to have trouble in stage 1. Kaden Honeycutt, now driving for Friesen-Halmar racing, had to pit due to a flat tire and lost a lap. Ty Majeski of Thorsport Racing had a similar issue and would need to work his way back to the front.

Stage 2 was relatively calm. The key takeaway was that this championship battle may come down to two drivers, Corey Heim and Layne Riggs. They’ve already had multiple on-track battles this season, and today was no exception. When it looked like Heim in his #11 truck started to take control, Riggs was right there to put pressure and eventually make the pass for the lead.

Initially, Stage 3 saw more of the same. However, another contender for the win emerged. That’d be none other than Grant Enfinger in the CR7 #9 truck. Enfinger, also in the playoffs, battled for the lead at certain points, but just didn’t have the speed on restarts to keep up with the top two.

With about 20 laps to go, Riggs had pulled away, but Heim was using lap traffic to reel himself back in the fight. Heim got past Riggs, but it seemed there was more going on, as Riggs ended up having a major issue with his right front. In a somewhat lucky outcome for him, the caution came out immediately after, as Kaden Honeycutt (who worked his way back on the lead lap) spun on the frontstretch. However, the #34 truck just had too much damage, and that, along with an incredibly long pit stop, derailed a promising day.

With Riggs out of the picture, this was Heim’s race to lose. After restarting with 15 to go, there was no looking back. Heim went on to win his 19th career race (7th all-time in the truck series) and his 8th win of the season (2nd to Greg Biffle’s 9 wins in 1999). Additionally, this locks Heim into the Round of 8 and continues to solidify his status as the one to beat.

Other notable results include: Ty Majeski (who rebounded to a 4th place finish after his early issues), Trevor Bayne (5th place finish in his first NASCAR National Series race in two years), and Timmy Hill (recorded his first top-ten of the season in 8th).

In particular, Bayne noted after the race how this was “probably the most nervous I’ve ever been going into a NASCAR race.” The 2011 Daytona 500 champion was satisfied with the result and was thankful for the opportunity to race with Tricon. It is unknown whether he will race again in 2025.

After the first race of the Round of 10, here’s how the playoff field stands:

1. Corey Heim (ADV)

2. Layne Riggs (+19)

3. Daniel Hemric (+19)

4. Ty Majeski (+16)

5. Grant Enfinger (+14)

6. Tyler Ankrum (+13)

7. Rajah Caruth (+3)

8. Jake Garcia (+2)

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9. Chandler Smith (-2)

10. Kaden Honeycutt (-3)

The Craftsman Truck Series will return in two weeks at Bristol Motor Speedway. Meanwhile, the  NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs will begin tomorrow night, August 31st, at 6:00 PM, here at Darlington Raceway for the 76th running of the CookOut Southern 500!