Heim Time Makes It Five With Pocono Truck Win

LONG POND, Pa. – Though there was a brief concern about fuel mileage, nothing was going to stop Corey Heim from reaching victory lane Friday at Pocono Raceway.

After starting second once qualifying was rained out earlier in the afternoon, Heim drifted back as far as sixth in the early laps of the CRC Brakleen 175 before flexing his muscle against the rest of the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series field.

He passed rival Christian Eckes for the top spot on lap 12 and was never seriously challenged again, leading every green-flag lap from that point on en route to his series-leading fifth win of the year.

In total, Heim paced 55 of the 70 laps for his 10th series victory and first at the 2.5-mile ‘Tricky Triangle’.

The 22-year-old from Marietta, Ga., pitted during the second stage break and was in command despite having to save fuel when rain showers began falling just after 7 p.m. ET, leading to a 40-minute stoppage with eight laps left.

NASCAR’s first attempt to refire the trucks at 7:20 p.m. ET was premature, as sprinkles continued to fall around the three-turn racetrack, but drying efforts persisted, and the field was able to resume at 7:48 p.m. for what ended up being a three-lap shootout to the checkered flag.

None of that mattered to Heim, however, as he cruised to the finish line and earned the maximum 60 points for his efforts by sweeping the stages and going on to victory.

“From the very beginning, Scott [Zipadelli, crew chief] and I have had such a close bond that I trust what he gives me and he trusts me to go out and get the job done,” said Heim after climbing from his No. 11 Safelite Toyota Tundra TRD Pro.

“This thing was bad fast all day. I’m so proud of this team,” he added. “Five wins this season is something I couldn’t have imagined I’d achieve, but we’re here now and we want to carry this momentum forward because I think there are many more [wins] to come.”

Heim did admit, however, that his current success doesn’t soothe the sting of missing out on a Truck Series championship last November at Arizona’s Phoenix Raceway.

“You go out to win every race; that’s our mindset, and we weren’t able to do that when it counted most last year. The way that ended wasn’t what we wanted, obviously, but we’re focused on 2024 now and ready to go finish the job when it’s all said and done.”

Only one caution for incident waved all afternoon, when Rajah Caruth got loose underneath Connor Mosack entering turn one and spun at lap 35, pinching Mosack into the wall in the process.

Despite the contact, both drivers were able to continue.

From there, the only true drama was during the final restart, when NASCAR Cup Series regular Ross Chastain – driving a Niece Motorsports Chevrolet – got Eckes out of shape while trying to push the inside lane forward to challenge for the lead late.

That allowed Heim to build a massive lead, which he then managed to the end of the race, finishing .867 seconds ahead of runner-up Grant Enfinger.

Enfinger believed during the rain delay that he might have a shot to pounce in the closing laps, but just didn’t have the sheer pace that Heim did when it counted most.

“Man, our team as a whole has been clicking since North Wilkesboro and we’re happy, but not satisfied with a runner-up,” he noted. “We unloaded really strong again today, and this was definitely the best truck I’ve ever had at Pocono. I feel like [Heim] was a little better than we were through the tunnel [turn], but we were a little better than he was on the long runs and in turn one.

“Track position was big, though, even though before the rain we were going to be close on fuel,” he added. “Handling-wise I thought we were getting better on that last long run, but we just didn’t have enough laps at the end. I’m happy with our performance overall and glad we’re trending up right now.”

Even though he had a slow pit stop at the second stage break that put him back to 17th place, Eckes still charged through traffic to finish third and retain the regular season point lead by 32 over Heim.

“That didn’t end very well,” said Eckes, who started on the pole by virtue of the qualifying metric when showers scuttled time trials and led the first 11 laps Friday. “It was just a bad push, I guess.

“I’m proud of our team and our effort. To be back as far as we were and still get third out of it is good, but it’s not what we come here for and we’ll use this as motivation going into Indy.”

Taylor Gray and Chastain were fourth and fifth, respectively, followed by Chase Purdy, Stewart Friesen, three-time series champion Matt Crafton, and Dean Thompson.

Caruth rallied from his mid-race spin to close out the top 10, while Mosack ended up 15th in the 36-truck field.

Defending series champion Ben Rhodes was never a factor in the race and finished 19th.

Friday’s 175-mile distance was completed in two hours, six minutes, and two seconds at an average speed of 83.308 mph.

The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series season continues Friday, July 19 at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park, the .686-mile short track just across town from the legendary Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Broadcast coverage of the TSPORT 200 is slated for 8:30 p.m. ET, live on FS1, the Motor Racing Network, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, channel 90.