Corey Heim completes season sweep in NASCAR Trucks at Kansas Speedway
Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images
Kansas City, Kansas — Corey Heim won Friday night’s Kubota Tractor 200 in the fastest truck, but he needed help from fellow Playoff driver Ty Majeski to secure the victory in the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series Round of 10 elimination race at Kansas Speedway.
Majeski ran out of fuel approaching the white flag while leading, allowing Heim to surge past in his No. 11 TRICON Garage Toyota and claim his sixth victory of the season in a race that saw reigning series champion Ben Rhodes and Playoff rookie Daniel Dye eliminated from title contention.
Under the third and final caution on Lap 78 of the 134-lap race, Majeski came to pit road for tires and fuel, along with ThorSport Racing teammate Rhodes and eventual fourth-place finisher Kaden Honeycutt.
Heim, runner-up Layne Riggs and third-place finisher Christian Eckes stayed on track during the caution and made green-flag pit stops within the final 30 laps. Heim, who started the race from the rear of the field after hitting the outside wall and cutting a tire in practice earlier in the day, was chasing Majeski when the latter ran out of fuel.
Majeski, who had clinched a berth in the Round of 8 with his win in Stage 1, rolled home in 15th, the last driver on the lead lap.
“We were the best truck all night—it’s my favorite track, I love coming here,” said Heim, who won at the 1.5-mile speedway in the spring. “I look forward to this. I had a smile on my face all week coming to this place.
“I just thought we could sweep the year here. It’s an awesome place to come. I certainly thought we had it lost there to the 98 (Majeski), almost making it on fuel, but it just shows my team made the right call.”
The victory was Heim’s second at Kansas and the 11th of his career. He led a race-high 64 laps in an event that featured 10 lead changes among three drivers.
Heim, Eckes and Nick Sanchez had clinched spots in the Round of 8 in the second race of the Round of 10 at Bristol. Majeski, seventh-place finisher Rajah Caruth, ninth-place Grant Enfinger, 14th-place Tyler Ankrum and 18th-place Taylor Gray advanced on points Friday night.
In the closing laps, there was real suspense regarding the fortunes of two-time series champion Rhodes and Enfinger. Rhodes was on the same strategy as Majeski and ran as high as third as the race neared its conclusion.
But Enfinger gained positions as Rhodes lost them in the late going, and the die was cast when Rhodes ran out of fuel.
“We qualified fourth, and at the start of the race—massive changes with the truck,” said Rhodes, who won titles in 2021 and 2023. “We could not get it tightened up… Still kind of unacceptable. If we’d have gotten our stage points, it would have taken care of itself.”
Rhodes came home 22nd after running out of fuel and fell 25 points short of Enfinger for the final spot in the Round of 8.
“It was definitely a little bit stressful, definitely too close for comfort there,” Enfinger said. “This is a round we want to forget. We snuck through here, and now we’re looking forward to going to Talladega next week (for the first race in the Round of 8).”
Dye scraped the outside wall twice during the first stage and made multiple pit stops, falling three laps down. He finished 27th and, like Enfinger, was 25 points away from advancing to the next round.
Riggs, who didn’t qualify for the Playoffs in his rookie season, added the runner-up finish to his two victories in the previous two races.
Dawson Sutton ran fifth, followed by Tanner Gray, Caruth, Bayley Currey, Enfinger and Connor Mosack.
NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series Race Number 19
Race Results for the Kubota Tractor 200 - Friday, September 27, 2024
Kansas Speedway - Kansas City, KS - 1.5 - Mile Paved
Total Race Length - 134 Laps - 201. Miles
Provided by NASCAR Statistics - Friday, 9/27/2024 @ 10:38 PM Eastern
Fin Str Trk Driver Team Laps Stage 1 Pos Stage 2 Pos Pts Status Tms Laps Playoff Pts
1 33 11 Corey Heim (P) Safelite Toyota 134 3 1 58 Running 3 64 6
2 13 38 Layne Riggs # Infinity Communications Group Ford 134 5 2 50 Running
3 3 19 Christian Eckes (P) Gates Hydraulics Chevrolet 134 2 3 51 Running 4 19
4 6 45 Kaden Honeycutt (P) AutoVentive/Precision Chevrolet 134 4 8 43 Running
5 5 25 Dawson Sutton Rackley Roofing Chevrolet 134 32 Running
6 21 15 Tanner Gray Operation 300 Toyota 134 8 7 38 Running
7 16 71 Rajah Caruth (P) HendrickCars.com Chevrolet 134 10 31 Running
8 22 41 Bayley Currey Masked Owl Technologies Chevrolet 134 9 31 Running
9 19 9 Grant Enfinger (P) Champion Power Equipment Chevrolet 134 28 Running
10 2 7 Connor Mosack (P) MKS Pipe and Valve Chevrolet 134 10 28 Running
11 15 77 Chase Purdy Bama Buggies Chevrolet 134 26 Running
12 7 2 Nick Sanchez (P) Gainbridge Chevrolet 134 6 6 35 Running
13 11 5 Dean Thompson Thompson Pipe Group Toyota 134 24 Running
14 14 18 Tyler Ankrum (P) LiUNA! Chevrolet 134 23 Running
15 1 98 Ty Majeski (P) Soda Sense/Curb Records Ford 134 1 4 39 Running 3 51 1
16 20 32 Bret Holmes Beshears Tractor & Equipment Chevrolet 133 21 Running
17 29 44 Conor Daly(i) Polkadot Chevrolet 133 0 Running
18 17 17 Taylor Gray (P) Place of Hope Toyota 133 7 5 29 Running
19 32 02 Nathan Byrd(i) CleanCore Solutions Chevrolet 133 0 Running
20 23 1 Brenden Queen Best Repair Company Toyota 133 17 Running
21 9 13 Jake Garcia Quanta Services Ford 133 16 Running
22 4 99 Ben Rhodes (P) Kubota Ford 133 15 Running
23 30 56 Timmy Hill Coble Enterprises/UNITS Toyota 132 14 Running
24 8 52 Stewart Friesen Halmar International Toyota 132 9 15 Running
25 26 88 Matt Crafton Flex Seal/Menards Ford 132 12 Running
26 27 46 Justin Mondeik El Bandido Yankee Tequila Chevrolet 131 11 Running
27 10 43 Daniel Dye (P) NAPA Nightvision Chevrolet 131 10 Running
28 28 76 Spencer Boyd Sesh Nicotine Pouches Chevrolet 129 9 Running
29 31 22 Frankie Muniz Levrack Ford 129 8 Running
30 24 33 Lawless Alan AUTOChargit Ford 128 7 Running
31 34 10 Jennifer Jo Cobb Driven2Honor.org Chevrolet 89 6 Electrical
32 18 91 Corey Day HendrickCars.com Chevrolet 75 5 Accident
33 12 42 Matt Mills J.F. Electric/Utilitra Chevrolet 75 4 Accident
34 25 04 Marco Andretti Group 1001/CarQuest Chevrolet 43 3 Brakes
Time of Race: 1 Hrs, 35 Mins, 50 Secs. Average Speed: 125.843 MPH Margin of Victory: 7.638 Seconds
Stage 1 Top 10: 98, 19, 11, 45, 38, 2, 17, 15, 52, 7
Stage 2 Top 10: 11, 38, 19, 98, 17, 2, 15, 45, 41, 71
NOTE: Corey Heim won the Kubota Tractor 200 at Kansas Speedway, his 11th NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series victory. Prior to the start of the race the following truck dropped to the rear of the field under penalty for the reason indicated: #11 (unapproved adjustments)
Failed to Qualify: None.
Caution Flags: 3 for 20 laps; Laps: 32-37 (Stage 1 Conclusion [02]); 62-68 (Stage 2 Conclusion [56]); 77-83 (#42, 91 Incident Turn 3 [44]).
Lead Changes: 10 among 3 drivers; C. Eckes (P) 1; T. Majeski (P) 2; C. Eckes (P) 3-7; T. Majeski (P) 8-32; C. Heim (P) 33; C. Eckes (P) 34-44; C. Heim (P) 45-106; C. Eckes (P) 107-108; T. Majeski (P) 109-133; C. Heim (P) 134.
(i) Ineligible for driver points in this series
Next Race: October 4, 2024 - Talladega Superspeedway
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CURRENT CRASFTSMAN TRUCK SERIES STANDINGS
POS NO. DRIVER MFR +/-
1 19 Christian Eckes Chevrolet +95
2 11 Corey Heim Toyota +80
3 2 Nicholas Sanchez Chevrolet +63
4 98 Ty Majeski Ford +58
On The Bubble
5 71 Rajah Caruth Chevrolet +35
6 18 Tyler Ankrum Chevrolet +25
7 17 Taylor Gray Toyota +23
8 9 Grant Enfinger Chevrolet +7
9 43 Daniel Dye Chevrolet -7
10 99 Ben Rhodes Ford -12