February 14, 2025 | By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service

Corey Heim wins Truck Series opener at Daytona after Parker Kligerman DQ

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — When the caution flag flew on the final lap of Friday night’s Fresh from Florida 250 at Daytona International Speedway, Corey Heim thought he had finished second in the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series season opener.

Roughly an hour later, Heim was declared the winner of the superspeedway race after the No. 75 Chevrolet of apparent winner Parker Kligerman was disqualified when its ride height was measured as too low.

Surging into the lead in the closing laps of Friday night’s Fresh from Florida 250 at Daytona International Speedway, Kligerman held the top spot on the final circuit when a multicar wreck in Turn 4 forced NASCAR to call the eighth caution of the evening.

But Kligerman’s victory celebration was short-lived when his truck failed inspection. The disqualification gave Heim his first victory at Daytona and the 12th of his career.

“Nothing short of crazy there the last 20 laps,” Heim said. “Honestly, pretty impressed with everyone that we kept it straight for as long as we did. They piled it up a little bit on the last lap. Compared to last year, it was such a big upgrade as far as the quality of racing.

“Definitely was out of control there at the end, being three-wide middle on old tires, being free.”

Heim was thankful for the victory but expressed sympathy for Kligerman’s misfortune.

“Well, it’s my first time having this kind of scenario happening either way, so certainly glad to be on the right side of it,” Heim said. “It sucks for Parker and those guys.

“It seemed like they put themselves in a position at the right time to win the race, but obviously, there is another level to it after the race. Grateful to be in the spot to take advantage of that.”

Kligerman’s disqualification promoted Sunoco rookie of the year contender Giovanni Ruggiero to a runner-up finish in his Truck Series debut.

“This is my first time on a superspeedway in anything, so it was a lot of stuff for me to take in tonight, said Ruggiero, who led 11 of the 100 laps. “Drafting in the pack, side-drafting and leading the pack as well, so I definitely learned a lot for Atlanta.”

Reigning series champion Ty Majeski was third, followed by Grant Enfinger, who recovered from significant damage to the rear of his No. 9 Chevrolet as well as a pit road speeding penalty.

“We made a lot of leaps today as a team,” Majeski said. “This has been a type of racing that has been outside of my comfort zone, so it was good to put some good stages together. We went from the back to the front multiple times, something that we’ve not been able to do in the past.

“I’m excited about that and I had fun out there for the first time in a speedway race. It’s a good way to start defending the championship and a good start to our 2025 season.”

Chandler Smith led a race-high 38 laps but was shuffled back in the late going and finished sixth behind Justin Haley. Pole winner Ben Rhodes led 22 circuits but came home 20th after suffering damage in a Lap 83 wreck that caused the seventh caution.

Actor-turned-full-time driver Frankie Muniz posted a career-best 10th-place finish in his fifth Truck Series start.

“It was intense,” Muniz said of the final two laps. “When I caught them (the lead pack in the draft), you saw everyone moving around, but I was still half throttle. I went to the top; I was trying to push the top, but then I went to the middle, and then the bottom had a run so I went there.

“And thankfully I did, because it helped us get through (the last-lap wreck). The thing about Daytona, I’m not calling it luck, but you don’t know what the right move is. I’m just so happy, especially after the year we had last year, when it felt like getting punched in the gut. I feel really good. I am just so ready for next week.”

Behind Smith, Daniel Hemric, Jason White, William Sawalich and Muniz completed the top 10. NASCAR Cup Series driver Michael McDowell finished 26th in his first Truck Series start since 2009.


UPDATED: No. 75 DQ
NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series Race Number 1
Race Results for the Fresh From Florida 250 - Friday, February 14, 2025
Daytona International Speedway - Daytona Beach, FL - 2.5 - Mile Paved

Total Race Length - 100 Laps - 250. Miles

Provided by NASCAR Statistics - Saturday, 2/15/2025 @ 12:13 AM Eastern

Fin Str Trk Driver Team Laps Stage 1 Pos Stage 2 Pos Pts Status Tms Laps Playoff Pts
1 3 11 Corey Heim Safelite Toyota 100 5 8 49 Running 1 2 5
2 34 17 Giovanni Ruggiero # JBL Toyota 100 10  36 Running 3 11
3 2 98 Ty Majeski Soda Sense/Curb Records Ford 100 7 3 46 Running  
4 4 9 Grant Enfinger Grant County Mulch Chevrolet 100 3  41 Running 5 7
5 17 7 Justin Haley(i) Gainbridge Chevrolet 100   0 Running 1 2
6 6 38 Chandler Smith Long John Silver's Ford 100 4 4 45 Running 5 34
7 15 19 Daniel Hemric NAPA Auto Care Chevrolet 100 8 7 37 Running 3 7
8 29 22 Jason White United Association Ford 100   29 Running  
9 26 1 William Sawalich(i) Soundgear Toyota 100  10 0 Running  
10 14 33 Frankie Muniz # The Electric State Ford 100   27 Running  
11 33 56 Timmy Hill Coble Enterprises/UNITS Toyota 100   26 Running  
12 5 13 Jake Garcia Quanta Services Ford 100   25 Running  
13 27 34 Layne Riggs Loves RV Stop Ford 100   25 Running  
14 18 77 Andres Perez de Lara # Telcel Chevrolet 100 9  25 Running  
15 20 4 Mason Maggio(i) Tantillo Auto Group Chevrolet 100   0 Running  
16 22 6 Norm Benning MDIA/Pennsylvania Speedway Chevrolet 100   21 Running  
17 10 66 Johnny Sauter TSPORT Ford 100 2  29 Running  
18 32 2 Josh Reaume Levrack Ford 100   19 Running 1 1
19 16 76 Spencer Boyd Tibbetts Lumber Chevrolet 100   18 Running  
20 1 99 Ben Rhodes Clark's/Santa Hill Ranch/Toyon Ranch/TK21 Ford 100 1 2 36 Running 7 22 1
21 19 44 Bayley Currey Masked Owl Technologies/DQS Chevrolet 100   16 Running  
22 12 15 Tanner Gray Place of Hope Toyota 100 6  20 Running 1 2
23 35 52 Stewart Friesen Halmar International Toyota 99  6 19 Running  
24 21 91 Jack Wood Adaptive One Calipers Chevrolet 99  5 19 Running  
25 7 26 Dawson Sutton # Rackley Roofing Chevrolet 98   12 Running  
26 31 07 Michael McDowell(i) Go Bowling Chevrolet 98   0 Running 1 1
27 11 88 Matt Crafton Ideal Door/Menards Ford 98  1 20 Running 1 9 1
28 28 5 Toni Breidinger # Raising Cane's Toyota 96   9 Running  
29 24 42 Matt Mills J.F. Electric/Utilitra Chevrolet 95   8 Running  
30 13 71 Rajah Caruth HendrickCars.com Chevrolet 82  9 9 Accident  
31 25 02 Nathan Byrd Sonesta International Hotels Chevrolet 82   6 Accident  
32 30 81 Connor Mosack # Friends of Jaclyn Foundation Chevrolet 79   5 Running  
33 9 95 Clay Greenfield Backyard Blues Pools Chevrolet 68   4 Accident  
34 36 18 Tyler Ankrum LiUNA! Chevrolet 48   3 Engine  
35 8 45 Kaden Honeycutt AutoVentive/Precision Chevrolet 3   2 Accident  
36 23 75 Parker Kligerman Spiked Coolers Chevrolet 100   1 Running 2 2

Time of Race: 2 Hrs, 9 Mins, 7 Secs. Average Speed: 116.174 MPH Margin of Victory: Under Caution

Stage 1 Top 10: 99, 66, 9, 38, 11, 15, 98, 19, 77, 17
Stage 2 Top 10: 88, 99, 98, 38, 91, 52, 19, 11, 71, 1

Race Comments: Corey Heim has won the Fresh From Florida 250 at Daytona International Speedway, his 12th victory in the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series. Prior to the start of the race, the following vehicle(s) dropped to the rear of the field under penalty for the reason(s) indicated: Nos. 17, 81 (unapproved adjustments).

Failed to Qualify: (2) 90 Justin Carroll, 28 Bryan Dauzat.

Caution Flags: 8 for 33 laps; Laps: 5-9 (#45, 38 Incident Frontstretch [None]); 17-19 (#5, 17 Incident Frontstretch [None]); 22-25 (Stage 1 Conclusion [88]); 42-45 (Stage 2 Conclusion [6]); 50-55 (#26 Spin Turn 1 [5]); 71-75 (#95 Incident Frontstretch [6]); 84-88 (#02, 07, 5, 71, 88, 91, 99 Incident Backstretch [9]); 100-100 (#34, 15, 19, 7, 13, 44, 38 Incident Turn 4 [None]).

Lead Changes: 30 among 12 drivers; B. Rhodes 0; B. Rhodes 1-2; C. Smith 3; B. Rhodes 4-10; T. Gray 11-12; B. Rhodes 13; G. Enfinger 14; B. Rhodes 15-21; G. Enfinger 22; D. Hemric 23-25; J. Haley(i) 26-27; P. Kligerman 28; G. Enfinger 29-31; B. Rhodes 32; G. Enfinger 33; M. Crafton 34-42; B. Rhodes 43; C. Heim 44-45; D. Hemric 46-48; C. Smith 49-57; D. Hemric 58; C. Smith 59-71; M. McDowell(i) 72; J. Reaume 73; G. Ruggiero # 74-76; C. Smith 77; G. Ruggiero # 78; C. Smith 79-88; G. Ruggiero # 89-95; G. Enfinger 96; B. Rhodes 97-99; P. Kligerman 100.

(i) Ineligible for driver points in this series

Next Race: February 22, 2025 - Atlanta Motor Speedway

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