NASCAR
Corey Heim Takes Fifth Win of 2024 at Pocono, 10th Career Truck Triumph
LONG POND, Pa. – 2024’s standout Craftsman Truck Series driver found victory lane yet again in the Keystone State. Sweeping all three Stages, leading the most laps, and outlasting a rain delay all defined Corey Heim’s 10th career win. Put simply, the TRICON Garage team was a perfect 10 all around at Pocono. After losing this race on the last lap a year ago, the one that got away comes back to Heim.
Starting second to title rival Christian Eckes, Corey Heim took command late in Stage 1 and hardly ever looked back. The TRICON Garage No. 11 Toyota swept both stages, gunning for another max points afternoon.
Heim would restart sixth for Stage 3 after pitting, but after one lap held the lead again. Heim appeared to be walking off to a drama-free domination, until weather rolled in. Inside of the last 10 laps, trucks were halted twice for rain at Pocono. Once the track dried out though, Heim hammered away on the final restart and drove off to another lights out win. The TRICON Garage No. 11 Toyota now leads all drivers with five wins in 2024.
“Scott (Zipadelli, crew chief) and I have had such a close bond right from the beginning,” Heim said. “He just does such a phenomenal job giving me fast Safelite Toyota Tundras every week. This week wasn’t any different, this thing was badass. Got a badass crew too that we show week in and week out. So proud of these guys, can’t say enough about them. Five wins is something I never thought I’d achieve in a single season, but here we are. We got many more to go, so I’m pumped, it’s awesome.”
“You go out to win every race and just looking back at last season we could have had a lot more potential. We’re focused on 2024, we got all the potential in the world right now. Huge thank you to Safelite, Toyota Racing, TRICON Garage, just such a phenomenal day for us.”
Heim’s Truck Series stats both this season and across his career are simply otherworldly. He’s the 20th man to win 10 Truck Series races, only coming in 55 starts. His 2024 average finish is a blistering 7.0, with 11 top-10s in 13 starts. These are on par to trump his amazing 2023 numbers, one of the most consistent seasons in Truck Series history. Five wins is a new career high point, with the 11 now a common sight in victory lane.
Behind Heim at the finish were Grant Enfinger, title rival Christian Eckes, Taylor Gray, and Ross Chastain. Chase Purdy, Stewart Friesen, Matt Crafton, Dean Thompson, and Rajah Caruth were the top-10.
The Playoff cut line is as tight as ever with two regular season races left. Thanks to strong Stage runs in Pocono, Daniel Dye is now the last man in over Tanner Gray by one point. Take a look at the rest of the provisional Playoff grid below.
The Truckers return to action Friday night from Indianapolis Raceway Park. The TSport 200 goes green at 8:30 p.m. ET on FS1, MRN, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90. Can the fan favorite short track deliver a new winner in Playoff crunch time?
Written by Peter Stratta
Be sure to follow us on Twitter/X
Be sure to follow the writer on Twitter/X
Photo Credit to Peter Stratta/TSJSports
