It’s Heim Time In Truck Series Qualifying At The Glen

Corey Heim celebrates his NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series pole at Watkins Glen Int'l. (David Rosenblum/Nigel Kinrade Photography)

WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. – No matter where the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series heads to, Corey Heim makes sure it’s Heim Time.

Friday afternoon at Watkins Glen Int’l was no different, as Heim knocked off NASCAR Cup Series star Christopher Bell to pick up yet another pole at NASCAR’s third-highest level.

Heim saved his best to the very end of the session, but putting down a one minute, 10.953 seconds ensured that the No. 11 Mobil 1 Toyota Tundra TRD Pro will start out front for the Mission 176 at the Glen later Friday evening.

It’s the third race in a row where Heim will starting first in the Truck Series, and marks his 11th career pole and fourth of the season.

This is Heim’s second trip to Watkins Glen in the Truck Series, and his first as a full-time driver. Heim made a start at the 2.45-mile, seven-turn course in 2021 with Kyle Busch Motorsports in their No. 51.

“I think the bus stop [chicane], for the most part, is where we picked up a lot of our speed on the second run,” explained Heim afterward. “I’d been struggling to get into a rhythm through there, because it’s such a technical area, and just wasn’t carrying enough speed through that part of the racetrack at first.

“I can’t believe how much grip we picked up in qualifying, and really everyone across the board did, I think,” he added. “I just had to adjust my speed … sort of missed turn one a bit, but maintained well and got through the bus stop to put together a great back half of the lap. It shows the speed of our Mobil 1 Toyota Tundra and we want to keep it rolling, because we’ve had good road course success in the past.”

Starting to Heim’s outside will be fellow Toyota driver Bell, who is standing in for the injured Stewart Friesen after Friesen was injured in a Super DIRTcar Series big-block modified event.

Watkins Glen is Bell’s first Truck Series start since Las Vegas (Nev.) Motor Speedway in March of 2024. Kaden Honeycutt will drive Friesen’s No. 52 for the rest of the year following Watkins Glen.

NASCAR Xfinity Series regular Sammy Smith kicks off row two, with Andres Perez de Lara recording his best career qualifying result in fourth. Row three is the first row of Truck Series full-timers, consisting of Layne Riggs and Gio Ruggiero.

Row four holds yet another Cup Series driver in Ross Chastain, and Chandler Smith starts alongside the Floridian. Ben Rhodes and Connor Mosack closed out the top 10 starters.

Notably, Connor Zilisch rolls off 14th after experiencing a fuel pickup issue during his run, despite going fastest in practice. Defending Watkins Glen Cup Series winner Chris Buescher starts 21st in his Truck Series debut with ThorSport Racing after experiencing fuel pump issues in practice.

All 36 trucks entered will take to the 2.45-mile, seven-turn circuit, with a full field but no drivers that failed to qualify for the penultimate race of the regular season.

Truck Series broadcast coverage airs at 5 p.m. ET, live on FS1, the NASCAR Racing Network, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, channel 90.