Corey Heim muscled his way to a third win this season in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, taming Texas Motor Speedway Friday night like it owed him money. He took command of the final stage, shrugged off a cluster of overtime attempts, and drove off into the Fort Worth dusk like the boss of the place.
His No. 11 Tricon Garage Toyota led 96 of the 174 laps in the SpeedyCash.com 250—because apparently, subtlety is for sedans. When the checkered flag dropped, Heim had a 0.279-second cushion and a fresh cowboy hat for his trouble. It’s his first win at this fast, slippery 1.5-mile bullring, and the 14th of his Truck Series career. Not bad for a guy still eligible for the youth menu at most restaurants.
Daniel Hemric started second, finished second, and probably spent the rest of the night wondering what more he had to do. Rajah Caruth was third, Tyler Ankrum fourth, and Tanner Gray rounded out the top five. Poor Ben Rhodes had the lead with one lap to go, but by Turn 4 he was sixth—because Texas doesn’t care about your plans.
Grant Enfinger and Heim split the stage wins, though Enfinger’s night turned to scrap metal with 13 laps remaining. Stewart Friesen got loose—because of course he did—and clipped Enfinger’s No. 9 Chevy while the two fought for second. The resulting mess sent both trucks into the wall and Chandler Smith’s No. 38 into the crash highlight reel. NASCAR threw the red flag with 11 laps to go, giving everyone just enough time to catch their breath and check if they still had all four wheels attached.
Heim first took the lead on Lap 52 and didn’t let go for long, calmly stacking laps like firewood and padding his points lead like a man planning to stay on top.
The series heads next to Kansas Speedway for the Heart of America 200 next Saturday, May 10 at 7:30 p.m. ET. Bring snacks—this season’s just getting warmed up.
RACE RESULTS
Greg is the author of "The Nuts and Bolts of NASCAR: The Definitive Viewers' Guide to Big-Time Stock Car Auto Racing" and has been published in major publications across the country including the Los Angeles Times, the Cleveland Plain Dealer and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. He was also a contributor to Chicken Soup for the NASCAR Soul, published in 2010, and the Christmas edition in 2016. He wrote as the NASCAR, Formula 1, Auto Reviews and National Veterans Affairs Examiner for Examiner.com and has appeared on Fox News. He holds a BS degree in communications, a Masters degree in psychology and is currently a PhD candidate majoring in psychology. He is currently the weekend Motorsports Editor for Autoweek.