NASCAR
RIDGEWAY, Va. – After leading laps for the first time all season at Martinsville, Corey Heim never looked back. Heim took the top spot away from former boss Kyle Busch late in Stage 1. The TRICON Garage 11 would win both Stages and be out front when rain rolled in for good.
NASCAR history was made with the start, as the first 25 laps were ruled wet condition with rain tires. This marked the first competitive laps ever on an oval with rain tires. Amazingly, all of this first stint ran green. That would end under a competition caution, giving all teams to put racing slicks back on.
It was only after the switching back to slicks where Heim pounced on Busch. The 11 made the pass with seven laps left in the opening Stage.
After Stage 1, a 25-minute red flag was displayed for light rain. Despite much stopping-and-going in Stage 2, the race did reach the pivotal lap 100. Likewise this weird race was deemed official if more rain came.
A back-and-forth affair between Carson Hocevar and a few competitors would ensue. The 42 was subsequently held for two laps on pit road. Soon afterwards, more rain hit Martinsville early in the final Stage.
With 76 laps left, the field was brought down pit road and the race was called shy of its complete distance. Thanks to a dominant third career win, Corey Heim is now locked into the 2023 Playoffs.
“This race was cut short and that’s definitely unfortunate, I feel like we could have duked it out with Kyle (Busch) and Zane (Smith),” Heim said. Just a huge thank you to TRICON Garage, our Safelite TRD Pro was phenomenal today. I just can’t thank David Gilliland, Kevin Wray, Johnny Gray, the Gray family, for everything they do. It’s incredible, the amount of work they put in the past couple weeks. Just countless hours at the shop. My whole 11 crew, I couldn’t ask for a better group of guys. Just a huge thank you to everyone at the shop.”
“(Beating Kyle) means everything, I bring 100% to every race every week, to be able to have it pay off here is phenomenal. It was a cut-short race but that clock will tick the same in my living room.”
Behind Heim and Busch, the top-10 finishers were: Zane Smith, Ty Majeski, Tanner Gray, Ben Rhodes, Matt DiBenedetto, Taylor Gray, William Sawalich, and Chase Purdy.
Up next for the Craftsman Truck Series is Kansas Speedway, for the Heart of America 200. The green flag will fly in the Heartland May 6th at 8:00 p.m. ET on FS1, MRN, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90. Four Playoff spots are now taken; can a fifth driver follow the yellow-brick-road to victory lane?
Written by Peter Stratta
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Photo Credit to Peter Stratta/TSJSports
