Corey Heim headlines NASCAR Trucks at Kansas
Photo by Logan Riely/Getty Images
KANSAS CITY,, Kansas — Corey Heim took control of Saturday night’s Heart of America 200 in the final stage and charged to his second NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series victory of the season, despite fighting a loose handling condition in the closing stages.
Heim took the lead from Nick Sanchez on Lap 70 of 134 at Kansas Speedway and stayed out front the rest of the way, gaining time thorough a cycle of green-flag pit stops in the middle of the final stage.
Runner-up Zane Smith, the 2022 series champion running a part-time Truck Series schedule this season, closed on Heim over the final 10 laps but ran was still 1.088 seconds in arrears when Heim crossed the finish line.
The victory was Heim’s first at Kansas and the seventh of his career. The driver of the No. 11 TRICON Garage Toyota claimed his first victory of the season on March 23 at the Circuit of the Americas road course in Austin, Texas.
“I can’t say enough about these guys at TRICON Garage, man,” said Heim, who has finished in the top 10 in all eight Truck Series races this season. “Top to bottom, we executed so well today with the pit crew, everyone back at the shop…
“What a truck! It was free for most of the race, so I can’t say it was easy. Even with the balance I had, the truck had so much potential to get better. I’m kind of out of breath now—it was a handful those last 30 laps.”
Despite his second-place finish, Smith was disappointed with the result. After winning the second stage, Smith lost seven positions thanks to a slow stop under caution on pit road and couldn’t catch Heim to challenge for the win.
On Lap 104, following a cycle of green-flag pit stops, Smith trailed Heim by 3.743 seconds and cut all but roughly one second off that margin before the finish.
“You can’t lose (seven) spots on pit road,” said Smith, who was making his fourth start of the season in the No. 91 McAnally-Hilgemann Chevrolet. “That one got away there.”
Christian Eckes finished third, followed by Kaden Honeycutt, whose fourth-place run was a career-best.
Brett Moffitt, the 2018 series champion, came home fifth in his first start of the season. Sanchez was sixth after starting from the rear of the field after his No. 2 Chevrolet failed pre-race inspection three times.
Tanner Gray, Dean Thompson, Daniel Dye and Matt Crafton completed the top 10.
Heim holds the series lead by seven points over Eckes.
Both Heim and Smith will race in Sunday’s AdventHealth 400 NASCAR Cup Series race at Kansas, Heim as a substitute for injured Legacy Motor Club driver Erik Jones, and Smith in his full-time ride with Spire Motorsports.
NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series Race Number 8
Race Results for the Heart Of America 200 - Saturday, May 4, 2024
Kansas Speedway - Kansas City, KS - 1.5 - Mile Paved
Total Race Length - 134 Laps - 201. Miles
Provided by NASCAR Statistics - Saturday, 5/4/2024 @ 10:05 PM Eastern
Fin Str Trk Driver Team Laps Stage 1 Pos Stage 2 Pos Pts Status Tms Laps Playoff Pts
1 13 11 Corey Heim Safelite Toyota 134 1 2 59 Running 4 79 6
2 9 91 Zane Smith(i) Instacoat Premium Products Chevrolet 134 2 1 0 Running 3 29
3 10 19 Christian Eckes Adaptive One Calipers Chevrolet 134 3 3 50 Running 2 11
4 23 45 Kaden Honeycutt Niece Products of Kansas Chevrolet 134 5 4 46 Running 1 1
5 19 1 Brett Moffitt Concrete Supply Toyota 134 6 37 Running
6 31 2 Nick Sanchez Gainbridge Chevrolet 134 7 35 Running 1 1
7 18 15 Tanner Gray Dead On Tools Toyota 134 30 Running
8 22 5 Dean Thompson Thompson Pipe Group Toyota 134 29 Running
9 6 43 Daniel Dye Race to Stop Suicide Chevrolet 134 10 29 Running 1 4
10 14 88 Matt Crafton Serta/Menards Ford 134 27 Running
11 21 41 Bayley Currey AutoVentive/Precision Chevrolet 134 26 Running
12 16 9 Grant Enfinger Champion Power Equipment Chevrolet 134 25 Running
13 4 71 Rajah Caruth HendrickCars.com Chevrolet 134 8 27 Running
14 24 32 Bret Holmes Best Value Carriers Chevrolet 134 23 Running
15 3 25 Ty Dillon Rackley Roofing Chevrolet 133 9 24 Running
16 11 99 Ben Rhodes Bommarito Automotive Group Ford 133 6 10 27 Running
17 7 13 Jake Garcia Quanta Services Ford 133 20 Running
18 25 38 Layne Riggs # Love's RV Stops Ford 133 19 Running
19 20 66 Cam Waters TRADIE Ford 133 18 Running
20 12 18 Tyler Ankrum LiUNA! Chevrolet 133 8 20 Running
21 33 02 Mason Massey RANDCO Industries Chevrolet 133 16 Running 1 2
22 32 56 Timmy Hill Hill Motorsports Toyota 132 15 Running
23 15 42 Matt Mills J.F. Electric/Utilitra Chevrolet 132 14 Running
24 26 46 Thad Moffitt # Safety-Kleen Chevrolet 132 13 Running
25 8 52 Stewart Friesen Halmar International Toyota 132 12 Running
26 28 33 Lawless Alan AUTOParkit Ford 132 11 Running
27 17 17 Taylor Gray JBL Toyota 131 10 Running
28 1 77 Chase Purdy Bama Buggies Chevrolet 131 4 5 22 Running 1 7
29 29 22 Mason Maggio Professional AG Services Inc Ford 131 8 Running
30 5 7 Connor Mosack Pinnacle Racing Group Chevrolet 131 7 9 13 Running
31 27 76 Spencer Boyd FR8 Factory Chevrolet 129 6 Running
32 30 10 Jennifer Jo Cobb Driven2Honor.org Chevrolet 128 5 Running
33 2 98 Ty Majeski Road Ranger Ford 10 4 DVP
Time of Race: 1 Hrs, 30 Mins, 52 Secs. Average Speed: 132.722 MPH Margin of Victory: 1.088 Seconds
Stage 1 Top 10: 11, 91, 19, 77, 45, 99, 7, 18, 25, 43
Stage 2 Top 10: 91, 11, 19, 45, 77, 1, 2, 71, 7, 99
Caution Flags: 3 for 16 laps; Laps: 3-6 (No. 98 Incident Turn 1 [None]); 32-37 (Stage 1 Conclusion [22]); 62-67 (Stage 2 Conclusion [22]).
Lead Changes: 13 among 8 drivers; C. Purdy 1-7; Z. Smith(i) 8-11; C. Heim 12; Z. Smith(i) 13; C. Heim 14-33; C. Eckes 34-39; Z. Smith(i) 40-63; C. Eckes 64-68; N. Sanchez 69; C. Heim 70-94; K. Honeycutt 95; D. Dye 96-99; M. Massey 100-101; C. Heim 102-134.
(i) Ineligible for driver points in this series
Next Race: May 10, 2024 - Darlington Raceway
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