Kligerman DQed, Heim Awarded Daytona Truck Victory

Corey Heim (11) was awarded Friday's NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series win at Daytona Int'l Speedway after initial winner Parker Kligerman (75) was disqualified in post-race inspection. (HHP/Chris Owens photo)

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – At first, Corey Heim stood on pit road after Friday’s NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series opener wondering what he could have done differently to end up in victory lane, but he ultimately got there anyway in an abrupt reversal of emotions.

Less than an hour after crossing the finish line second in the Fresh From Florida 250 at Daytona Int’l Speedway, Heim was awarded the trophy after initial winner Parker Kligerman’s truck was disqualified for failing post-race heights.

The No. 75 Henderson Motorsports Chevrolet was too low on both sides at the rear of the truck, dropping it to last in the 36-truck field and elevating Heim to his 12th career win.

Heim had never experienced a win where he wasn’t the first driver across the finish line until Friday night. He’d lost several in tech before, however, including a pair of late model stock car wins at South Boston (Va.) Speedway in 2018 and a super late model win at Richmond (Va.) Raceway in 2019.

“It’s my first time having this kind of scenario happening [in a positive manner], so certainly glad to be on the right side of it,” Heim told the media after learning the news. “It sucks for Parker (Kligerman) and those guys. It seemed like they put themselves in a position at the right time to win the race, but obviously, there is another level to it after the race. Grateful to be in the spot to take advantage of that.

“Huge props to everyone at TRICON Garage, Toyota, Safelite – this is first win under the Toyota Gazoo Racing banner, so that is cool. We will move to Atlanta and try to get another one.”

Originally, the emotion surrounding the World Center of Racing was electric, after Kligerman made a last-lap pass while pandemonium unfolded in the final mile of the Truck Series season opener.

The Westport, Conn., native was running 10th with five to go, as debuting rookie Gio Ruggiero led late hoping to drive to victory in his own right, but slowly and steadily began working his way up the inside lane as those to his right began scrambling for position and losing momentum.

Kligerman worked his way to two-time Truck Series champion Ben Rhodes’ bumper inside of four laps left, then pushed Rhodes past Bayley Currey coming to complete lap 97 as the duo took first and second.

From there, Kligerman moved high on the backstretch with two-and-a-half laps to go, picking up a run from Tanner Gray and becoming the leader of the outside file as Rhodes stayed glued to the double yellow line.

Rhodes led by a nose at the white flag, but Kligerman picked up a push from Johnny Sauter exiting turn two on the last lap, working clear of the pack before Rhodes washed up into Gray and spun to the inside.

That chaos left Kligerman alone out front coming to turn four, where Layne Riggs clipped the apron and spun up into the pack, sparking a multi-car melee a few hundred yards from the finish line.

Though Heim was chasing Kligerman and trying to build a run, the caution froze the field first, giving Kligerman what he called “the biggest win of my career” for all of about 45 minutes.

After going through the winner’s press conference and all the celebratory pomp and circumstance, Kligerman found out the bad news just after leaving the infield media center.

He quickly headed back to the garage to meet with Truck Series director Seth Kramlich about the situation, but declined to make any formal comments to the media after that.

“Nothing tonight, guys, sorry,” Kligerman said frankly before walking off into the night.

Ruggiero officially ended up second in his Truck Series debut, nearly becoming the sixth driver to win in his first career start, followed by defending series champion Ty Majeski and veteran Grant Enfinger.

NASCAR Cup Series regular Justin Haley completed the top five in a rare one-off start.

Sixth through 10th were Riggs, Daniel Hemric, Jason White, William Sawalich, and actor-turned-racer Frankie Muniz, who earned his first Truck Series top 10 for the small Reaume Brothers Racing team.

The proverbial ‘Big One’ happened on the backstretch with 18 laps left, after Rhodes washed into Jack Wood, pinching Wood into the outside wall and igniting a seven-truck crash that swept up Nathan Byrd, Michael McDowell, Matt Crafton, and saw Rajah Caruth pound the inside wall nose-first.

All drivers involved in incidents Friday night walked away uninjured.

Rhodes (stage one) and Crafton (stage two) swept the first two stages for ThorSport Racing.

The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series season continues Saturday, Feb. 22 at Atlanta (Ga.) Motor Speedway with the running of the Fr8 Racing 208. Kyle Busch won last year’s running of the event.