Six-Pack For Heim Comes In Thrilling Fashion At Kansas

Corey Heim celebrates with a burnout after winning Friday night at Kansas Speedway. (HHP/Tom Copeland photo)

KANSAS CITY, Kan. – Though he had the fastest truck all night Friday at Kansas Speedway, Corey Heim’s sixth NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series win of the season carried plenty of flair for the dramatic.

Not only did Heim have to come through the field from the last row of the grid, after he scrubbed the wall in practice and was unable to qualify, he had to make a last-lap pass of polesitter Ty Majeski for the victory after Majeski ran out of fuel at the white flag.

Despite all that, Heim still led three times for a race-high 64 laps in the Kubota Tractor 200 for his 11th career Truck Series win and ninth since joining TRICON Garage at the start of last season.

It further cemented Heim as the overwhelming championship favorite as the opening round of the Truck Series playoffs concluded at the 1.5-mile Sunflower State oval.

“From the very beginning, I felt like we could do this,” said Heim, who completed a season sweep of the two Kansas Truck Series races. “Honestly, at the beginning of the week, knowing we were going to Kansas Speedway – my favorite place and our best track – I knew we had a good shot from the get go. Obviously, we had a tough issue in practice with the [cut] right front tire, but my guys scrapped all day to get this thing back in shape and [we] were able to come from the back.”

Perhaps most impressive was the fact that Heim came from the tail to third by the end of the first 30-lap stage – a testament to just how dominant his No. 11 Safelite Toyota Tundra TRD Pro was compared to the rest of the field.

“It was just unreal being able to pass 30 cars that fast,” Heim noted. “So thankful for Safelite, Toyota Racing, TRICON Garage. This was such an unbelievable truck.”

It didn’t mean Heim wasn’t nervous at the end, however, as Majeski made his final pit stop with 55 laps left during the third and final caution flag of the race and nearly made the economy run pay off.

“Just a deep sigh of relief,” said Heim of his emotions when Majeski’s truck slowed and dipped to the apron of the racetrack. “Thought I had it lost there with the 98 (Majeski) almost making it on fuel. He certainly kept me honest and did such a good job at making it almost to the end there. If [the race] was one lap shorter, he would’ve made it.

“It just shows my team made the right call.”

Attempting to become the first Truck Series driver in history to sweep a playoff round, non-championship contender Layne Riggs fell one spot short of his third straight win, crossing the finish line 7.638 seconds back of Heim after being on the same strategy in the closing laps.

Christian Eckes, Heim’s chief title rival to this point in the season, was third ahead of Kaden Honeycutt and 18-year-old Dawson Sutton, who was making just his third career Truck Series start.

Tanner Gray, Rajah Caruth, Bayley Currey, Grant Enfinger, and outside polesitter Connor Mosack closed the top 10.

Majeski was able to coast back to the checkered flag, but finished 15th as the last driver on the lead lap.

“Obviously we were trying to max save fuel, but also manage the gap to the 11 [Heim],” Majeski explained afterward. “I felt like I saved as much as I could and still put myself in position to win. The math just didn’t add up tonight. We had a good Ford F-150.

“I don't regret the call because that was our only shot to win,” added the Seymour, Wis., native, who locked into the second round of the playoffs at the end of stage one. “There were only three laps that mattered to us in this one – the end of stage one for a playoff point, the end of stage two for a playoff point, and the end of the race for five. We just went for the win, and it didn’t quite pan out.”

To that end, Majeski led 24 of the first 30 laps to win stage one, while Heim took the lead for the first time under green at lap 45 and easily won stage two after that juncture.

The only caution for incident in the 134-lap race came on lap 76, when Matt Mills drove too deep into turn three on the bottom of a three-wide situation, washed up and hooked Corey Day down from the far outside.

Day was bounced into the side of Taylor Gray’s truck as a result, which sent Day back the opposite direction and nose-first into the outside wall, ending his night after running as high as 11th in stage two.

Defending series champion Ben Rhodes – who tried to save fuel to the finish but ran out with a lap-and-a-half to go – and Daniel Dye were the two drivers eliminated from the playoffs Friday night.

Dye’s hopes to advance ended before the first stage break, after contact with the wall and two flat tires early in the race buried him off the lead lap and out of contention for any sort of a rally.

Rhodes finished 22nd as the last driver one lap down and Dye ended the night 27th, three laps off the pace.

The Round of 8 of the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series playoffs begins Friday, Oct. 4 at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway with the Love’s RV Stop 225. Brett Moffitt won last year’s race at the 2.66-mile oval.