Corey Heim dominates rain-delayed NASCAR Truck race at North Wilkesboro
Photo by Sean Gardner/Getty Images
NORTH WILKSBORO, N.C. — Corey Heim dominated Saturday’s weather-delayed Wright Brand 250 at North Wilkesboro Speedway, but the driver of the No. 11 TRICON Garage Toyota had to share the spotlight with his teammate, Brenden “Butterbean” Queen, who finished fourth in his NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series debut.
Heim grabbed the lead from Jake Garcia after a restart on Lap 186 of 250 and held it the rest of the way to win for the third time this season, the first time at North Wilkesboro and the eighth time in his career.
Crossing the finish line 2.474 seconds ahead of runner-up Grant Enfinger, Heim trimmed the series lead of sixth-place finisher Christian Eckes to four points in a race that was halted on Saturday by extreme weather after 81 laps and resumed on Sunday after a red-flag period of 21 hours, six minutes, 14 seconds.
When five inches of rain fell during a 90-minute stretch on Saturday, Heim’s truck was all but submerged at the legendary short track, which experienced drainage issues during the deluge.
“Of course, we hoped for no water damage,” Heim said. “The truck was submerged in almost three feet of water—we picked probably the worst pit box in that scenario, but obviously you can never really intend on something like that happening.
“I’ve never seen so much rain come down in an hour in my life. That was crazy, but eventually we were able to wipe it down and make sure there was no damage, and I was able to recover from that, for sure.”
Layne Riggs came home third, holding off Queen in the late going, but Queen enjoyed the raucous support of “Bean Nation” as soon as he climbed from his No. 1 Toyota. To finish fourth, Queen had to overcome a pit road speeding penalty incurred under caution on Lap 118.
“Oh, man, I can’t believe it,” said Queen, who restarted 26th on Lap 124 and worked his way back through the field. “We got that speeding penalty. I thought I was conservative on the lights, and it just got us—rookie mistake.
“But I told the team I was going to get ‘em back in position, and we did.”
The season-best second-place finish was a welcome result for Enfinger, who leaves the 0.625-mile short track eighth in the series standings, 170 points behind Eckes.
“We haven’t been performing to our ability or our standards,” said Enfinger. “I feel like last week at Darlington was the turning point in our season (despite a 16th-place finish). I’m standing by that.
“Very, very proud of this truck. Proud of our pit crew all year long. Finally, we have a little bit of a result to show for it.”
Riggs got his first top five of the season in the No. 38 Front Row Motorsports Ford.
“We really, really needed this finish,” Riggs said. “It was a great day for us, and I hope we can continue to build on this momentum.”
Varying pit strategies produced considerable movement with the field throughout the race. Heim restarted 13th on lap 124 but methodically worked his way up the running order. On Lap 175 he passed Riggs for second place, and after Conner Jones spun in Turn 4 to cause the sixth of seven cautions on Lap 177, Heim shot past Garcia on the Lap 186 restart.
Staying out on older tires, Ty Majeski won the first stage of the race. Using the same strategy, Tyler Ankrum triumphed in Stage 2. But Heim had the fastest truck and quickly proved it after the second stage break.
Moonlighting from the NASCAR Xfinity Series, Sammy Smith finished fifth, followed by Eckes, Nick Sanchez, Ankrum, Daniel Dye and Stewart Friesen.
NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series Race Number 10
Race Results for the Wright Brand 250 - Saturday, May 18, 2024
North Wilkesboro Speedway - North Wilkesboro, NC - 0.625 - Mile Paved
Total Race Length - 250 Laps - 156.25 Miles
Provided by NASCAR Statistics - Sunday, 5/19/2024 @ 01:02 PM Eastern
Fin Str Trk Driver Team Laps Stage 1 Pos Stage 2 Pos Pts Status Tms Laps Playoff Pts
1 12 11 Corey Heim Safelite Toyota 250 5 8 49 Running 2 66 5
2 9 9 Grant Enfinger Champion Power Equipment Chevrolet 250 10 36 Running
3 23 38 Layne Riggs # Infinity Communications Group Ford 250 5 40 Running
4 26 1 Brenden Queen Best Repair Company Toyota 250 33 Running
5 31 7 Sammy Smith(i) Pilot Flying J Chevrolet 250 0 Running
6 1 19 Christian Eckes Instacoat Premium Products Chevrolet 250 7 7 39 Running 1 62
7 2 2 Nick Sanchez Gainbridge/NASCAR Foundation Chevrolet 250 30 Running
8 21 18 Tyler Ankrum LiUNA! Chevrolet 250 10 1 40 Running 1 26 1
9 18 43 Daniel Dye Champion Container Chevrolet 250 9 30 Running
10 11 52 Stewart Friesen Halmar International Toyota 250 3 35 Running
11 4 98 Ty Majeski Road Ranger Ford 250 1 36 Running 2 50 1
12 17 91 Jack Wood Cometic Gasket/Klotz Chevrolet 250 9 4 34 Running
13 5 17 Taylor Gray SEM Products Toyota 250 4 31 Running
14 24 71 Rajah Caruth HendrickCars.com Chevrolet 250 3 31 Running 1 6
15 3 45 Ross Chastain(i) NC Governor's Hwy Safety Program Chevrolet 250 0 Running
16 8 15 Tanner Gray Dead On Tools Toyota 250 8 24 Running
17 33 75 Stefan Parsons Food Country USA Chevrolet 250 20 Running
18 15 42 Matt Mills J.F. Electric/Utilitra Chevrolet 250 19 Running
19 19 41 Bayley Currey AutoVentive/Precision Chevrolet 250 18 Running
20 25 88 Matt Crafton Jack Links/Menards Ford 250 17 Running
21 14 13 Jake Garcia Quanta Services Ford 250 2 25 Running 1 40
22 6 99 Ben Rhodes Campers Inn RV Ford 250 2 6 29 Running
23 22 02 Mason Massey RANDCO Industries Chevrolet 250 14 Running
24 7 77 Chase Purdy Bama Buggies Chevrolet 250 13 Running
25 10 25 Ty Dillon Rackley Roofing Chevrolet 250 6 17 Running
26 13 56 Timmy Hill Coble Enterprises/UNITS Toyota 250 11 Running
27 28 5 Dean Thompson Thompson Pipe Group Toyota 249 10 Running
28 36 26 Dawson Sutton Rackley Roofing Chevrolet 248 9 Running
29 20 32 Bret Holmes Best Value Carriers Chevrolet 247 8 Running
30 16 33 Lawless Alan AUTOChargit Ford 246 7 Running
31 29 46 Thad Moffitt # Window World Chevrolet 245 6 Running
32 27 76 Spencer Boyd Latitude Aero Chevrolet 245 5 Running
33 32 22 Josh Reaume Matrix CAD Design Ford 245 4 Running
34 34 04 Clayton Green CarQuest Chevrolet 245 3 Running
35 30 66 Conner Jones # Farm Paint Ford 179 2 Accident
36 35 14 Trey Hutchens Quality Roof Seamers Chevrolet 128 1 Transmission
Time of Race: 1 Hrs, 53 Mins, 2 Secs. Average Speed: 82.94 MPH Margin of Victory: 2.474 Seconds
Stage 1 Top 10: 98, 99, 71, 17, 11, 25, 19, 15, 91, 18
Stage 2 Top 10: 18, 13, 52, 91, 38, 99, 19, 11, 43, 9
Failed to Qualify: (1) 16 Aric Almirola(i).
Caution Flags: 7 for 58 laps; Laps: 59-67 (Precipitation [02]); 72-86 (Stage 1 Conclusion [Red Flag 21:06:14] [7]); 93-98 (#71, 98 Incident Turn 2 [75]); 117-123 (#33 Incident Turn 2 [56]); 140-146 (#32 Incident Turn 2 / Stage 2 Conclusion [2]); 178-185 (#66 Incident Turn 4 [26]); 213-218 (#2, 5 Incident Turn 2 [25]).
Lead Changes: 7 among 6 drivers; C. Eckes 1-62; T. Majeski 63-85; R. Caruth 86-91; T. Majeski 92-118; C. Heim 119; T. Ankrum 120-145; J. Garcia 146-185; C. Heim 186-250.
(i) Ineligible for driver points in this series
Next Race: May 24, 2024 - Charlotte Motor Speedway
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