NASCAR
Corey Heim Takes Kansas Truck Race as Competitors Run Out of Gas
KANSAS CITY, Kan. – It may have came down to the last lap, but the fastest man in Kansas City took the checkers on Friday night. After starting last, it only took Corey Heim 45 laps to find the lead. Alternate pit strategies did set the No. 11 Toyota back in the final stage, however. With rivals running out of gas at the white flag though, Heim had enough in the tank to take home his sixth victory of 2024.
By virtue of winning Stage 1 from the pole, Ty Majeski became the fourth man locked into the Round of 8 on points. Stage 1 also saw one driver’s Playoffs hopes end; Daniel Dye was forced to pit multiple times under green and trapped laps down.
Midway through Stage 2 saw Corey Heim take command after starting last. The No. 11 would go on to this win by over two seconds.
As laps ticked by in the final stage, lap 80 saw a caution flew just outside of everyone’s fuel window for the finish. Majeski was the highest running truck to pit here from a top-10 spot. The ThorSport team’s call was to try and save enough fuel. The No. 98 Ford had a several second lead on the competition as the green flag pit cycle unfolded, with Corey Heim coming in for his final fuel stop on lap 107.
Once Heim left pit road, he was quickly erasing chunks out of Majeski’s advantage lap by lap. At times the No. 11 was well over a second a lap faster than the 98, only to plateau inside the final five laps. With the white flag waving though, Majeski’s tank ran dry from the lead. This allowed Heim a stress-free cruise over the final lap to a very familiar Kansas victory lane.
“Just a deep sigh of relief,” Heim said. “We were the best truck all night, just a huge thank you to my TRICON Garage guys. This is my favorite track, I love coming here, I looked forward to this with a smile on my face all week. Just glad we could sweep the year here. It’s such an awesome place to come. Huge thanks to TRICON Garage, Safelite, and Toyota Racing. Certainly thought we had it lost there with the 98 almost making it on fuel, but it just shows my team made the right call.”
Also on the last lap, Ben Rhodes’ truck sputtered out of fuel too. This erased any shot the defending champion had at advancing onward in the Playoffs.
Behind Heim, Layne Riggs backs up his two-straight wins with another strong showing in second. The Front Row Motorsports driver came one spot shy of sweeping the Round of 10 as a non-Playoff driver. Christian Eckes, Kaden Honeycutt, and Dawson Sutton were all in the top-five. Tanner Gray, Rajah Caruth, Bayley Currey, Grant Enfinger, and Connor Mosack rounded out the top-10.
Enfinger was the last man to make the Round of 8 cut on points. Take a look at the reseeded Playoff standings below.
The Truckers will be back in action Friday from Talladega Superspeedway. The ultimate wildcard race begins their Round of 8, with a Championship 4 berth on the line. The Love’s RV Stop 225 goes green at 4:30 p.m. ET on FS1, MRN, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio. The annual Alabama trek is no stranger to seeing new faces in victory lane. Will the Playoff attention be stolen by a different driver taking the spotlight?
Written by Peter Stratta
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Photo Credit to Sean Gardner/Getty Images
