NASCAR
Corey Heim Still Man to Beat in Trucks with Eighth Victory from Darlington
DARLINGTON, S.C. – The dominant season remains in full swing for Corey Heim and TRICON Garage. In the Playoff opening race from Darlington, the No. 11 Toyota had its tail in the wind for 65 laps, picking up a third-straight victory. Heim’s favor certainly took a swing in the closing laps, as leader Layne Riggs ran into issues ahead of him. This allowed the regular season champion to cruise nearly unchallenged to another win.
Stage 1 was extra chaotic for a few Playoff contenders, with tire issues aplenty. Chandler Smith was the first one to cut a tire from the lead on lap 10. This was followed in quick succession by similar problems for Kaden Honeycutt and Ty Majeski. When the first checkered flag waved it was Corey Heim picking up another Stage win. The second Stage likewise went to Layne Riggs, after he made a clutch pass over the 11. Heim would nurse a cut tire himself here to this stage end as well.
Despite Heim being unbeaten on pit road and restarts all day, Riggs made what appeared to be the winning pass with 36 laps left. The No. 34 Ford remained constant out front and began to drive off from Heim’s bumper, until slowing with 20 laps left. The No. 34 kissed the outside wall a bit too hard, incurring damage that led to an extended stay on pit road.
On the flip side, a lightning-fast stop from the 11 team gave Heim the top spot for a 14-lap sprint to the finish. Heim was perfect on this restart shooting out of a cannon, and drove off to a big lead. Heim ultimately took career win number 19 by three quarters of a second over Daniel Hemric. This eighth 2025 victory punched Heim’s ticket onto the Round of 8.
“That tire got down at the end of Stage 2, and I felt it swing tight on me pretty quick,” Heim said. “It wasn’t a complete blowout or else we’d have been in trouble. Held with it. I felt like the 34 and 38 were pretty good all day. I could make a little bit of speed on the wall, but it was such a high-risk play. If you scrub it, you saw so many people have those right front issues. As much as just scrubbing the wall would be in bad shape. Put a little pressure on the 34 and he got into it, and we were able to take advantage of it. So proud of these TRICON guys, it feels like I’m in a dream. Eight wins this year is just phenomenal. Crazy to look back on but we also have so much to look forward to. Just really speechless as far as the effort from them, Safelite, Toyota, it’s been an awesome ride and let’s keep it going.”
“It’s just a big blessing to be with a group like this. I think it’s every racer’s dream to be able to compete at a high level but also have a team that’s capable to give you fast Tundras every weekend. I couldn’t ask for more out of this group, they made great adjustments all day. Frankly, my whole full-time Truck career has been with these guys and I’ve loved every second of it.”
Behind Heim and Hemric, the top-five were rounded out by: Grant Enfinger, Ty Majeski, and Trevor Bayne in a rare one-off start. The rest of the top-10 were: Tanner Gray, Tyler Ankrum, Timmy Hill, Corey Day, and Jake Garcia. Hear from a few of these drivers below.
Heim is now a lock for the semifinal round of the Truck Series Playoffs. The No. 11 will simply be chasing checkered flags over the next two races. The rest of the standings remain ultra-close with so many contenders running into issues at Darlington.
In two weeks Craftsman Truck Series competitors return to action from The Last Great Colosseum at Bristol. The Tennessee short track throwdown goes green Thursday, September 11 at 8 p.m. ET on FS1, NRN, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio. The UNOH 200 will have the chance to put another championship hopeful on par with Heim in the Round of 8. Should Heim win this race, however, it would tie the winningest-ever season in Trucks.
Written by Peter Stratta
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