June 1, 2024 | By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service

Corey Heim rebounds with timely NASCAR Truck win at World Wide Technology Raceway

MADISON, Ill. — The early bird got the victory on Saturday afternoon at World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway.

In a long green-flag run to start the final stage of the Toyota 200 NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series race, Corey Heim brought his No. 11 TRICON Garage Tundra to pit road before any of the other top trucks made green-flag stops, and the move paid off with optimum track position.

Heim held the top spot for a restart on Lap 138 of 160 and led the rest of the way, beating runner-up Christian Eckes to the finish line by 1.854 seconds, earning a $50,000 bonus as the winner of the second leg of the Triple Truck Challenge.

The victory was a welcome turnaround after Heim’s truck was disqualified from second place May 24 at Charlotte for three lug nuts not safe and secure. Heim won for the fourth time this season—all within the last eight races—the second time at Gateway and the ninth time in 53 career starts.

“Total team effort today,” Heim asserted. “We struggled a bit yesterday (in practice and qualifying) and worked a bit overnight on it. I have to say the pit crew redeemed themselves. Last week we could have won the race, and they made some mistakes, but they redeemed themselves today, and that’s what it’s all about.”

Heim started ninth and finished fifth in the first two stages. After a quick pit stop at the Stage 2 break, Heim restarted third on Lap 78 and grabbed the lead before the end of the circuit. He held the top spot until he pitted on Lap 115, one lap earlier than pole winner Ty Majeski who was chasing him in second place.

Vicente Salas’ spin on Lap 129 interrupted the cycle of green-flag stops, but Heim regained the lead on Lap 134 when drivers who had not yet pitted brought their trucks to pit road under the caution. Heim battled Majeski on the Lap 138 restart and prevailed.

“Corey was a little bit better, and I knew it,” said Majeski, who swept the first two stages and led 43 laps to Heim’s race-high 65. “I thought if I could get track position on him, maybe I could hold him off. I threw it into Turn 1, and he cleared me off of 2, and I had a couple other opportunities.

“I got into him a little bit. Probably needed a little bit harder for me to get enough of a run to get side-by-side with him down the back. But, yeah, just a little bit short balance-wise. Sometimes when you’re the best truck in the beginning of the race, you’re gun-shy to make changes.”

Majeski faded to fourth in the final 23 laps, losing positions to Eckes and third-place finisher Nick Sanchez on lap 151.

Eckes lost track position with a slow pit stop in the second stage break, restarted 11th on Lap 78 and finished second at Gateway for the third straight year.

“I definitely feel like we let that one slip,” Eckes said. “Disappointing, for sure… It sucks. I thought we had the best truck here.”

Layne Riggs finished fifth, followed by Chase Purdy, reigning series champion Ben Rhodes and Stewart Friesen. Two drivers making their series debuts—Andrés Pérez de Lara and Luke Fenhaus—came home ninth and 10th, respectively.

Note: The start of the race was delayed for two-and-a-half hours by rain… The final Triple Truck Challenge race is scheduled for June 28 at Nashville Superspeedway. Heim and Sanchez, last week’s Charlotte winner, could collect an additional $100,000 as the winners of two of three events in “The Trip.” A $50,000 bonus is available to all other drivers.



NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series Race Number 12
Race Results for the Toyota 200 - Saturday, June 1, 2024
World Wide Technology Raceway - Madison, IL - 1.25 - Mile Paved

Total Race Length - 160 Laps - 200. Miles

Provided by NASCAR Statistics - Saturday, 6/1/2024 @ 06:50 PM Eastern

Fin Str Trk Driver Team Laps Stage 1 Pos Stage 2 Pos Pts Status Tms Laps Playoff Pts
1 9 11 Corey Heim Safelite Toyota 160 5 5 52 Running 2 65 5
2 2 19 Christian Eckes Gates Hydraulics Chevrolet 160 2 2 53 Running 1 2
3 3 2 Nick Sanchez Gainbridge Chevrolet 160 3 3 50 Running 1 10
4 1 98 Ty Majeski Road Ranger/ Bucked Up Ford 160 1 1 53 Running 4 43 2
5 17 38 Layne Riggs # Infinity Communications Group Ford 160   32 Running  
6 11 77 Chase Purdy Bama Buggies Chevrolet 160  9 33 Running 1 5
7 8 99 Ben Rhodes Bommarito Automotive Group Ford 160 8 4 40 Running 1 11
8 6 52 Stewart Friesen Halmar International Toyota 160 4  36 Running  
9 16 7 Andres Perez de Lara Wholly Guacamole/Herdez Chevrolet 160   28 Running  
10 27 66 Luke Fenhaus Soda Sense Ford 160   27 Running  
11 5 15 Tanner Gray Dead On Tools Toyota 160  7 30 Running 2 19
12 14 43 Daniel Dye Hamlin & Associates Chevrolet 160 9  27 Running  
13 22 25 Ty Dillon Rackley Roofing Chevrolet 160  10 25 Running  
14 4 5 Dean Thompson Thompson Pipe Group Toyota 160 6  28 Running  
15 12 18 Tyler Ankrum LiUNA! Chevrolet 160   22 Running 1 4
16 13 71 Rajah Caruth HendrickCars.com Chevrolet 160   21 Running  
17 10 9 Grant Enfinger Champion Power Equipment Chevrolet 160 7 6 29 Running  
18 28 56 Timmy Hill Coble Enterprises/UNITS Toyota 160   19 Running  
19 24 33 Lawless Alan AUTOChargit Ford 160   18 Running  
20 19 88 Matt Crafton Ideal Door/Menards Ford 160   17 Running  
21 32 32 Bret Holmes Skuttle Tight Chevrolet 159   16 Running  
22 18 45 Connor Mosack Chevy Accessories Chevrolet 159   15 Running  
23 26 42 Matt Mills J.F. Electric/Utilitra Chevrolet 159   14 Running  
24 15 13 Jake Garcia Quanta Services Ford 159   13 Running  
25 20 91 Vicente Salas SERVPRO/Pape Material Handling Chevrolet 157   12 Running  
26 29 76 Spencer Boyd ARS Construction & Record Rack Chevrolet 156   11 Running  
27 30 22 Keith McGee More Core Diamond Drilling Ford 156   10 Running 1 1
28 31 46 Thad Moffitt # Induction Innovations Chevrolet 155   9 Running  
29 25 41 Bayley Currey DQS Chevrolet 153   8 Running  
30 7 17 Taylor Gray Place of Hope Toyota 152 10 8 11 Running  
31 21 02 Mason Massey BRUNT Chevrolet 126   6 Engine  
32 23 1 Colby Howard Coastal Sports Cards Toyota 46   5 Accident  

Time of Race: 2 Hrs, 1 Mins, 27 Secs. Average Speed: 98.806 MPH Margin of Victory: 1.854 Seconds

Stage 1 Top 10: 98, 19, 2, 52, 11, 5, 9, 99, 43, 17
Stage 2 Top 10: 98, 19, 2, 99, 11, 9, 15, 17, 77, 25

Caution Flags: 5 for 32 laps; Laps: 11-15 (No. 66 Spin Turn 1 [None]); 37-41 (Stage 1 Conclusion [66]); 47-54 (No. 1 Incident Turn 3  [None]); 72-77 (Stage 2 Conclusion [None]); 130-137 (No. 91 Incident Turn 4 [43]).

Lead Changes: 13 among 9 drivers; T. Majeski 1-15; C. Eckes 16-17; T. Majeski 18-37; T. Gray 38-54; B. Rhodes 55-65; T. Majeski 66-72; K. McGee 73; T. Ankrum 74-77; C. Heim 78-115; T. Majeski 116; N. Sanchez 117-126; T. Gray 127-128; C. Purdy 129-133; C. Heim 134-160.

(i) Ineligible for driver points in this series

Next Race: June 28, 2024 - Nashville Superspeedway

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