Heim Earns 7th Win To Close Out Regular Season at Richmond

Photo Credit: Riley Ogle (Motorsports Today , Kansas 2024)

RICHMOND, V.A.  – The Craftsman Truck Series returned to an oval at Richmond Raceway to round out its regular season, Friday, August 15, for the Eero 250. TRICON Garage driver Corey Heim showed up to Richmond fast, earning his 5th pole of 2025. Back in Indianapolis at Lucas Oil Raceway Park, Heim sealed the deal, winning the regular season championship. Despite not having much to race for, other than more playoff points, Heim was determined to earn his first win at Richmond, as he prevailed late in the race, earning his 7th win.

Setting the Grid:

On Thursday, it was officially announced that Halmar Friesen Racing owner Stewart Friesen would not return to racing this season after suffering fractures in his pelvis and right leg in a dirt modified crash on July 28th. Due to this, it opened the playoff window mightily.

Coming into the race, three drivers now had opportunities to clinch the 10th and final playoff spot on points. Thorsport Racing driver Jake Garcia entered the race +11 points above the cut, while teammate Ben Rhodes was the first car out.

Also in the mix was TRICON’s Gio Ruggiero, who came in -21 points to the cutoff. In practice, Ruggiero suffered issues with his right rear hub, requiring him to start the race in the rear and needing a miracle run. Anyone else beyond Ruggiero needed a win to get in, starting with his teammate Tanner Gray.

STAGE 1:

Immediately off the drop of the green flag, Heim fired off with the lead, but challenges immediately became apparent for some drivers as the field scrambled around four wide at points of the track.

The first driver to have a challenge was McAnally-Hilgemann driver Daniel Hemric, whose playoff fate was already sealed with a win at Martinsville in March. Hemric’s car began sparking as he seemingly had pressure issues, dropping to the tail end of the lead lap immediately.

On lap 11, Hemric went a lap down and then cut down a tire moments later. Hemric finally hit the pits and then went to the garage. Despite the incident, the race remained green.

On lap 17, the first lead change of the day occurred, as Thorsport’s Ty Majeski powered around Heim with ease on the outside. Behind, another challenger in the making was also developing, as Front Row Motorsports driver Layne Riggs rebounded back to 3rd, showing strong long run speed.

Lap traffic played a crucial factor in the outcome of the remainder of the stage, as halfway into the first stage on lap 35, Majeski opened up the lead to 1.799 seconds over Heim. Riggs sat just over three seconds behind, but those were the only two cars within ten seconds of the lead.

On lap 45, Majeski lapped Gio Ruggiero, who ran 19th after starting at the tail end of the field to start off the race. Unfortunately for Ruggiero, he was not the last one to go a lap down as Majeski was simply on rails, causing him to race harder for the lucky dog position.

Behind, a great battle for 2nd as Layne Riggs finally prevailed, as he passed Corey Heim on the outside on lap 49. Both drivers got physical for a few laps, but Riggs simply was the better truck, putting him in the bridesmaid position for the remainder of the stage.

Things stayed quiet for the remainder of stage one, as on lap 70 at the stage's end, Ty Majseki sealed the deal, lapping up to 12th, earning his 2nd stage win of the season. As Ruggiero mentioned earlier, he closed out the stage in 18th, not near the position to get back on the lead lap. Tyler Ankrum earned the lucky dog.

STAGE 2:

In the pits, Corey Heim won the battle out of the pits, taking the lead back. On the restart, similar to the first stage, he fired out to lead with ease, leading the opening laps. The only difference this time though, is that Majeski did not get the immediate chance to counter.

On lap 90, the caution came out for the first incident of the day, as Majeski’s teammate Luke Fenhaus made contact with Freedom Racing’s Spencer Boyd, sending them both for a spin.

On lap 95, the race went back green, with Heim this time restarting on the outside, getting clear of Majeski again with ease. On lap 103, Majeski took the lead again, similar to stage one.

However, it was short-lived.  Just five laps later, the caution came out again, as Rackley W.A.R. driver Dawson Sutton’s car came to a stop against the inside wall at the pit lane entry, restacking things up for the final 23 laps of the stage.

Under the caution, Majeski opted to pit, putting himself back in 8th. As for the playoff battle, teammate Ben Rhodes took tires after the first caution, grinding himself to the third position for the restart. At the time of the green flag, teammate Jake Garcia also pitted, lining him up in 11th.

As the field restarted, Heim again cleared the field, while Rhodes jumped to 2nd, putting the pressure on Heim. Two laps later, Majeski climbed to 3rd, as he passed Riggs with ease. Then, one lap later, Majeski’s tires would not be denied as he not only passed his teammate Ben Rhodes, but also Corey Heim for the lead.

Behind, the field raced three wide for multiple laps, attempting to sort out the battle for the 5th position. Jake Garcia was patient, and he was ultimately rewarded for it as he climbed to the spot, putting him just two spots behind his teammate.

Then, with ten laps to go in the stage, Garcia passed Rhodes and Eckes, moving him to 3rd. Garcia ultimately finished the stage in the 2nd spot, while Rhodes finished 7th. Ty Majeski swept the stages, while the points gap for the cutoff spot was eighteen heading into the final stage.

All or Nothing to the End:

During the stage break, every driver opted to come down and take a set of tires, with Majeski exiting pit road with the lead. Garcia, unfortunately, had a bad stop, as he lost five spots restarting 7th. To Majeski’s outside was Heim as things got three-wide immediately when the race went green.

On the bottom, Friesen’s replacement and playoff contender Kaden Honeycutt made it three wide, but did not prevail to the point. Instead, it was Heim who again fired off well to take the lead, holding off Majeski.

The lead for Heim only lasted four laps, as on lap 156, Majeski passed him back, marking the 11th lead change of the race. Just five laps later, Majeski was checked out, as he opened up his lead to Heim by a total of 1.959 seconds.

Thirty laps later on lap 186, Majeski’s gap opened to 2.833 seconds. Behind, CR7 Motorsports driver Grant Enfinger was the first driver to start off the pit cycle, as he pitted from the 15th position as the last truck on the lead lap. Six laps later, Thorsport’s Matt Crafton became the first car to pit, running 10th, and this opened the floodgates. Corey Heim, a lap later, pitted, while nearly every driver behind also pitted over the next few laps. Majeski stayed out, and it turned out to be a temporarily unlucky decision.

Why, you may ask? The race took a dramatic twist with 51 laps to go, as Crafton, on fresh tires, lost his nose going into turn three under Majeski. Crafton proceeded to snap up the track after running over oil, spinning Majeski, bringing out the caution. Majeski backed the truck into the inside wall, leaving the incident with minimal damage.

Leaving the crash, Sammy Smith, who was making a slot start for Spire Motorsports, inherited the lead as he was one of four trucks that had stayed out before the caution. With Smith was Majeski, who resumed in 2nd, Ruggiero, who was in a practical must-win situation in 3rd, and Corey Lajoie, who was another Spire truck that benefited.

As for those who pit, Corey Heim and Layne Riggs were the only trucks that got scored on the lead lap. Jake Garcia got the lucky dog, making seven cars on the lead lap, while every other car had to take the wave around to get back on the lead lap.

Sammy Smith won the battle out of pit road, while every truck amongst the leaders opted to take a fresh set of tires. Behind, Majeski came out 2nd, Ruggiero 3rd, Heim 4th, Lajoie 5th, marking the top five.

On lap 216, the race went back green with 35 laps to go. On the restart, Majeski battled door to door with Smith, but the game of bumper tag began. Ruggiero first moved Majeski in an effort of grabbing 2nd, as he took the position, but was challenged by his teammate, Heim, on the outside. Majeski eventually rebounded to 3rd after Ruggiero began to fade with 28 laps to go, as he fell to 5th, desperately needing a caution.

To everyone's surprise, the caution did not come out again, but the battle for the lead was briefly intense.

With 20 laps to go, Heim got to the outside of Smith and took the lead away.  Two laps later, Majeski grabbed 2nd while Layne Riggs took 3rd from Smith. But once Heim got the lead, he checked out as he managed the one-second gap to Majeski, earning his 7th win of the season.

As for the bubble battle, Jake Garcia’s 7th-place finish was enough to advance him into the playoffs as he bested teammate Ben Rhodes by 19 points. Despite a 6th-place finish for Gio Ruggiero, he missed by a total of 31.

After the race, talking about the playoffs, Garcia said, “I think New Hampshire will be a Wildcard.” when talking about the tracks that present the biggest challenge in the first round. When things start off at Darlington in two weeks, Garcia will start only three points outside the playoff cutoff with much opportunity to capitalize.

Other drivers said similar to Garcia, that they too think New Hampshire will be the biggest wild card. However, outside of the winner Corey Heim, no one else left Richmond more confident than Layne Riggs, who said, “The way I look at today, the top three finishers today are gonna be probably the top three guys at Phoenix. The 34’s gonna be the one in P1 next time.”

As for Heim, he earned his career high 7th win of the season. In the press conference, Heim was humble, saying that he believed he’s got the best team and group, but anyone can win at Phoenix, and he simply needs to be the best if he wants to win the championship.

What's the best recipe for success for Heim? Simply put, winning races. Heim is having a sensational year that few in Craftsman Truck Series history have had, and hopefully for Corey, it ends with a trophy at Phoenix.

UP NEXT:

The Craftsman Truck Series has a week off to prepare for its first race of the playoffs at Darlington on Saturday, August 30th, at 12:00 PM ET. That race can be found on FS1. As for the rest of the weekend, the NASCAR Cup Series will close out the weekend tomorrow night under the lights at 7:30 PM. Roush Fenway Keselowski’s Ryan Preece, who currently sits as the first car outside the playoff cutline, starts on pole.

Two other drivers that are looking for their first win of  the season are 23XI’s Tyler Reddick and Kaulig Racing’s AJ Allmendinger, who start 2nd and 3rd. Additionally, for Allmendinger, this race marks the 100th Cup Series race he’s run with Kaulig, so a win would be huge. As the end of last year's race proved, anything can and will happen at Richmond, and that race can be found on USA.