Truck Series: Corey Heim breaks a record at the Roval

Bailey Defoor
3 minutes ago
5 min read

Written by Bailey Defoor

Corey Heim went from pole to a first corner crash and came to finish in victory lane with a new record!

As it unfolded

Playoff contenders Heim and Layne Riggs lined up on the front row at the start. Right away, Riggs went sideways, and Heim hit the wall. Grant Enfinger got into the back of Heim and Riggs, and all three playoff drivers had to pit. The green stayed out as Brent Crews went up into the lead.

Ben Rhodes carried too much speed into a turn on the second lap, and a caution was brought out. The back swung out from behind Rhodes, and he hit the tyre barrier hard but was able to get going back to pit road.

Crews and Kaden Honeycutt led the way back to green on the seventh lap, and Gio Ruggiero immediately moved up to second, ahead of Honeycutt. Timmy Hill got tagged by Dawson Sutton and went around at Turn 17 one lap later. Everyone avoided Hill, and no caution was thrown.

On Lap 12, Connor Zilisch moved up to third place as Crews built a gap of five seconds to Ruggiero. In the closing laps of the stage, Heim was flying and knocking on the top 10. Chandler Smith lost the rear at Turn 17 but was able to keep going.

With three laps left in the stage, Zilisch opted to flip the stage, sparking a chain down pit road, including Heim. Crews came down to pit one lap later. Honeycutt cycled to the lead with Ty Majeski and Tyler Ankrum behind him.

Stage 1 Results:

No. 52 - Kaden Honeycutt (Halmar Friesen Racing) [PLAYOFFS]
No. 98 - Ty Majeski (ThorSport Racing) [PLAYOFFS]
No. 18 - Tyler Ankrum (McAnally Hilgemann Racing) [PLAYOFFS]
No. 19 - Daniel Hemric (McAnally Hilgemann Racing) [PLAYOFFS]
No. 1 - Brent Crews (TRICON Garage)
No. 7 - Connor Zilisch (Spire Motorsports)
No. 71 - Rajah Caruth (Spire Motorsports) [PLAYOFFS]
No. 77 - Corey LaJoie (Spire Motorsports)
No. 17 - Giovanni Ruggiero (TRICON Garage)
No. 34 - Layne Riggs (Front Row Motorsports) [PLAYOFFS]

After the cycle of pit stops, Crews and Zilisch cycled to the front row and led the way on Lap 25. Crews moved up to the lead. Jake Garcia went around at Turn 17 and waited for the drivers to get passed before going again.

On Lap 28, Sutton hit a sign, and Kris Wright got spun around. Neither incident caused a caution. On Lap 27, tyre debris was on the racing line, so some drivers pit, thinking a caution would be thrown. It was not, and the drivers who stayed out collected stage points.

Stage 2 Results:

No. 52 - Kaden Honeycutt (Halmar Friesen Racing) [PLAYOFFS]
No. 9 - Grant Enfinger (CR7 Motorsports) [PLAYOFFS]
No. 71 - Rajah Caruth (Spire Motorsports) [PLAYOFFS]
No. 19 - Daniel Hemric (McAnally Hilgemann Racing) [PLAYOFFS]
No. 1 - Brent Crews (TRICON Garage)
No. 18 - Tyler Ankrum (McAnally Hilgemann Racing) [PLAYOFFS]
No. 7 - Connor Zilisch (Spire Motorsports)
No. 11 - Corey Heim (TRICON Garage) [PLAYOFFS]
No. 42 - Matt Mills (Niece Motorsports)
No. 41 - Josh Bilicki (Niece Motorsports)

During the stage break, Will Rodgers radioed in that he felt sick and would attempt the restart. The team prepared Parker Kligerman, who was taken out of the race earlier, to take over.

Crews and Zilisch led the way on Lap 45, and Crews moved up to the lead. Zilisch came back to fight for the lead as Josh Bilicki went around at divebomb corner.

After battling for a few laps, Heim got ahead of Zilisch on Lap 49. With eight laps to go, Heim was on the move as Crews caught lapped traffic, and Heim closed the gap.

With three laps to go, Crews came over the radio to say he was running out of fuel. At the same time, Toni Breidinger stopped on the track, bringing out a last-minute caution. Only Heim, Connor Mosack, Riggs and Smith stayed out. Zilisch was the first one off pit road and restarted in fifth place.

Heim and Mosack led the rest for the overtime restart, and Heim cleared easily. Big spin from Riggs at the seventh turn that checked up a bunch of drivers. Garcia and Honeycutt also spun on track, but the race stayed green.

Corey Heim took the win, becoming the winningest driver in the Craftsman Truck Series history!

Provisional Results

No. 11 - Corey Heim (TRICON Garage) [PLAYOFFS]
No. 1 - Brent Crews (TRICON Garage) [FL]
No. 17 - Giovanni Ruggiero (TRICON Garage)
No. 71 - Rajah Caruth (Spire Motorsports) [PLAYOFFS]
No. 7 - Connor Zilisch (Spire Motorsports)
No. 41 - Josh Bilicki (Niece Motorsports)
No. 9 - Grant Enfinger (CR7 Motorsports) [PLAYOFFS]
No. 98 - Ty Majeski (ThorSport Racing) [PLAYOFFS]
No. 18 - Tyler Ankrum (McAnally Hilgemann Racing) [PLAYOFFS]
No. 81 - Connor Mosack (McAnally Hilgemann Racing)
No. 19 - Daniel Hemric (McAnally Hilgemann Racing) [PLAYOFFS]
No. 45 - Bayley Currey (Niece Motorsports)
No. 26 - Dawson Sutton (Rackley W.A.R.)
No. 52 - Kaden Honeycutt (Halmar Friesen Racing) [PLAYOFFS]
No. 20 - Will Rodgers (Young's Motorsports)
No. 56 - Timmy Hill (Hill Motorsports)
No. 42 - Matt Mills (Niece Motorsports)
No. 77 - Corey LaJoie (Spire Motorsports)
No. 38 - Chandler Smith (Front Row Motorsports)
No. 76 - Spencer Boyd (Freedom Racing Enterprises)
No. 34 - Layne Riggs (Front Row Motorsports) [PLAYOFFS]
No. 91 - Jack Wood (McAnally Hilgemann Racing)
No. 13 - Jake Garcia (ThorSport Racing)
No. 88 - Matt Crafton (ThorSport Racing) +1 lap
No. 02 - Ben Maier (Young's Motorsports) +1 lap
No. 16 - Kris Wright (McAnally Hilgemann Racing) +1 lap
No. 62 - Wesley Slimp (Halmar Friesen Racing) +1 lap
No. 33 - Mason Maggio (Reaume Brothers Racing) +1 lap
No. 69 - Tyler Tomassi (Motorsports Business Management) +1 lap
No. 5 - Toni Breidinger (TRICON Garage) +7 laps
No. 15 - Tanner Gray (TRICON Garage) [DNF]
No. 44 - Andrés Pérez (Niece Motorsports) +17 laps
No. 22 - Josh Reaume (Reaume Brothers Racing) [DNF]
No. 2 - Carter Fartuch (Reaume Brothers Racing) [DNF]
No. 75 - Parker Kligerman (Henderson Motorsports) [DNF]
No. 99 - Ben Rhodes (ThorSport Racing) [DNF]

The next race for the Craftsman Truck Series will be at Talladega Superspeedway after a week off. Tune in on Friday, October 17, at 16:00 EST (21:00 UK). Be there or be square.

Provisional Playoff Picture