It’s Heim Time Again In Triple OT Battle At The Glen

Corey Heim celebrates with a burnout Friday at Watkins Glen Int'l. (Danny Hansen/Nigel Kinrade Photography)

NEW YORK, N.Y. – Friday’s NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race at Watkins Glen Int’l was a marathon to complete, but after a two-and-a-half hour slugfest that included three overtimes and a near-time-limit finish, it was still ‘Heim Time’ in the end.

Corey Heim started from pole and led 44 of the 81 laps in his No. 11 Mobil 1 Toyota Tundra TRD Pro, topping stage one en route to his sixth Truck Series victory of the season, which matches his win total from one year ago.

The Mission 176 at the Glen marked Heim’s 17th career win in just his third full time season. He also set a record Friday with his fourth straight road-course triumph at NASCAR’s third-highest level.

Heim retook the lead in the first overtime attempt of the race, jumping NASCAR Cup Series star Christopher Bell around the outside in the first corner.

A quick caution for carnage in the bus stop ensued, forcing Heim to endure two more overtime attempts. He did so successfully and held off a hard-charging Daniel Hemric on the final restart to secure the top honors.

“Yeah, that was just about never giving up,” said Heim, who restarted 11th to begin the final stage of the race. “I got behind in that last stage. I was scratching and clawing trying to get back through the field. I had my brakes pretty much go out on me on that long green flag [run]. I was beating them up trying get back through the field. Blew the bus stop [chicane] and made a lot of mistakes myself. But we rallied.

“I feel like we’ve had a lot of them get away from us this year with cautions or part failures, but we finally had one go our way,” he added. “We had some opportunities to finish it off, and a couple more at the end for good measure. Huge thank you to TRICON Garage. This Mobil 1 Tundra was phenomenal.

“This helps us with the championship [fight] and that is our goal this year.”

It was a race-long duel between the Toyota drivers of Heim and Bell, who led 30 laps in his own right, but ultimately the overtime laps proved too much for Bell after he had to pit for fuel following the first extra period.

Hemric put up a good fight with Heim, staying with him all the way to the end after the restart and losing out by just two tenths of a second at the checkered flag.

The longtime veteran and past Xfinity Series champion chose the high road and did not make contact with Heim despite being inches from him on the final lap, a respectable move in which he showed his experience.

Afterward, however, Hemric began second-guessing playing it so clean, particularly in the final corners.

“I probably would have done a lot differently, if I could go back and redo things. I truly thought with the tire advantage, it would be enough to overcome the struggles I had all day,” lamented Hemric. “Everybody works so hard here at [McAnally-Hilgemann Racing] and I wanted to get NAPA Nightvision, Gates Hydraulics, South Point Hotel & Casino, Poppy Bank, and everyone who supports us in victory lane. To be honest, I was surprised with how much potential [Heim] still had left. He did an absolute incredible job of managing what he had going on.

“We have to race these guys the rest of the season, though, right? The playoffs are about to fire off here. I could have run over him and used him up, but at the end of the day we have to race these guys for a championship,” Hemric noted. “Hopefully we made some [respect] deposits there, and when it’s time to make some withdrawals we’ve got some left.”

An impressive third-place finish for Gio Ruggiero tied his best finish of the season, matching his result from Connecticut’s Lime Rock Park in June, the other road-course race that’s been run in the Truck Series so far.

Bell rallied back to fourth after his late stop for fuel, and Tyler Ankrum capped off a quiet day with a top five.

Sammy Smith avoided the carnage and finished in sixth, with defending series champion Ty Majeski not far behind him in seventh.

Niece Motorsports’ Connor Zilisch crossed the line in eighth despite showing serious speed early on, with his teammate Matt Mills right behind him in ninth. Layne Riggs rounded out the top 10 after battling mechanical issues at the beginning of the race.

The chaos that plagued the race resulted in 11 DNF’s and several more damaged trucks. Friday’s event also ran the risk of hitting the time limit, with just a few minutes before the predetermined conclusion threshold when the checkered flag waved.

Next week the Craftsman Truck Series heads south to Richmond (Va.) Raceway, the final race before the playoffs begin.

Broadcast coverage airs Friday night, Aug. 15 at 7:30 p.m. ET, live on FS1, the NASCAR Racing Network, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, channel 90.