July 8, 2023 | By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service

Corey Heim triumphs in wild NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series race at Mid-Ohio

Corey Heim started on the pole and finished with his second victory of the year in Saturday’s O’Reilly Auto Parts 150 NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series race at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course.

What happened between the green flag and checkered flag was pure chaos.

In a race that started in a deluge and ended in bright sunshine, cars were spinning like tops on a skittles board and landing in gravel traps that required tow trucks to pull them to freedom.

Teammates collided at the front of the field, and frequent contact between trucks produced 10 cautions for 23 of the 67 laps and stretched the race from a projected 2 hours 17 minutes to nearly four hours.

But in the end, the best truck won. Heim powered his No. 11 TRICON Garage Toyota past Ty Majeski on Lap 42 and held the top spot for the final 26 laps to claim his first-ever road course victory at the 2.258-mile, 13-turn circuit.

Heim beat reigning series champion Zane Smith to the finish line by .947 seconds, as Smith had to settle for the runner-up spot for the second straight year.

“It’s just unbelievable,” Heim said. “We came here with high expectations. I felt like I did a good job last year of staying up front, but I put in the work to go from being a third-place truck to a winning truck…

“This thing was good ever since we unloaded. I felt like we were the fastest truck in practice, qualified on the pole, of course, and came here and won the race. It’s just awesome. Hats off to everybody.”

Smith had to start from rear of the field after his team made repairs to the transmission in his No. 38 Ford. He sustained minor damage to the truck while charging forward through heavy traffic.

“Yeah, brutal to finish second here again,” Smith said. “Such a fun road course. Our (truck) lacked turn, especially on the right-handers, all day long and struggled in first gear. Some things to improve on, but I just felt like we needed a little bit more.

“I don’t know how much our damage here was slowing us down, but those things happen when you start in the back. Frustrating to finish second again, but our road course program has been outstanding.”

Winless drivers immediately above and below the Playoff bubble remained closely bunched, with Stewart Friesen finishing fourth, Matt Crafton sixth, Matt DiBenedetto eighth and Nick Sanchez ninth.

Two races remain before the Truck Series Playoff field is set at Richmond.Ben Rhodes won the first stage, and ThorSport Racing teammate Majeski took the second, but their two Fords collided and slid off-course on Lap 43 while running second and third behind Heim. Rhodes recovered to finish fifth, and Majeski salvaged a seventh-place result.

Christian Eckes, a two-time winner this year, ran a solid race an came home third behind Smith.

NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series Race Number 14
Race Results for the O'Reilly Auto Parts 150 at Mid-Ohio - Saturday, July 8, 2023
Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course - Lexington, OH - 2.258 - Mile Paved

Total Race Length - 67 Laps - 151.286 Miles

Provided by NASCAR Statistics - Saturday, 7/8/2023 @ 05:33 PM Eastern
Fin Str Trk Driver Team Laps Stage 1 Pos Stage 2 Pos Pts Status Tms Laps Playoff Pts
1 1 11 Corey Heim Safelite Toyota 67 4 2 56 Running 2 30 5
2 10 38 Zane Smith Tipico Sportsbook Ford 67 7 4 46 Running
3 4 19 Christian Eckes NAPA Auto Care Chevrolet 67 5 5 46 Running
4 35 52 Stewart Friesen Halmar International Toyota 67 9 6 40 Running
5 12 99 Ben Rhodes Farm Paint Ford 67 1 3 50 Running 2 19 1
6 25 88 Matt Crafton Ideal Door/Menards Ford 67 31 Running 1 1
7 2 98 Ty Majeski Cincinnati/Curb Records Ford 67 2 1 49 Running 2 17 1
8 14 25 Matt DiBenedetto Rackley Roofing Chevrolet 67 9 31 Running
9 3 2 Nick Sanchez # Gainbridge Chevrolet 67 3 36 Running
10 13 16 Tyler Ankrum Ullico/LiUNA! Toyota 67 7 31 Running
11 5 23 Grant Enfinger Sunseeker Resorts Chevrolet 67 26 Running
12 11 42 Carson Hocevar Worldwide Express Chevrolet 67 25 Running
13 24 4 Chase Purdy Bama Buggies Chevrolet 67 10 25 Running
14 17 43 Daniel Dye # Giuseppe's Steel City Pizza Chevrolet 67 23 Running
15 15 17 Taylor Gray # Dead On Tools Toyota 67 22 Running
16 23 35 Jake Garcia # Quanta Chevrolet 67 21 Running
17 21 45 Lawless Alan IEDA Chevrolet 67 10 21 Running
18 18 41 Conor Daly Unishippers Chevrolet 67 19 Running
19 7 7 Marco Andretti Group1001 Chevrolet 67 18 Running
20 6 15 Tanner Gray JBL Toyota 67 17 Running
21 33 56 Timmy Hill ShopHillMotorsports.com Toyota 67 16 Running
22 30 20 Matt Mills Thompson Electric Inc. Chevrolet 67 15 Running
23 29 30 Ryan Vargas Critical Path Security Toyota 67 14 Running
24 22 04 Landen Lewis CarQuest Chevrolet 67 13 Running
25 34 12 Spencer Boyd YostBarns.com Chevrolet 67 12 Running
26 26 13 Hailie Deegan Ford Performance Ford 67 11 Running
27 8 1 William Sawalich Starkey/Soundgear Toyota 67 10 Running
28 31 66 Conner Jones TSPORT Ford 66 9 Brakes
29 19 24 Rajah Caruth # Wendell Scott Foundation Chevrolet 66 8 11 Running
30 27 22 Austin Wayne Self AIRBOX Air Purifiers Ford 66 8 10 Running
31 9 51 Jack Wood Rowdy Manufacturing Chevrolet 65 6 Running
32 32 32 Bret Holmes # Bret Holmes Racing Chevrolet 65 5 Running
33 20 5 Dean Thompson Thompson Pipe Group Toyota 59 4 Accident
34 16 02 Will Rodgers RANDCO Industries Chevrolet 54 6 8 Accident
35 28 46 Dale Quarterley Van Dyk Recycling/Motul Toyota 35 2 Overheating
36 36 9 Colby Howard Grant County Mulch Chevrolet 21 1 Transmission

 Time of Race: 2 Hrs, 46 Mins, 44 Secs. Average Speed: 54.441 MPH Margin of Victory: 0.947 Seconds

Stage 1 Top 10: 99, 98, 2, 11, 19, 02, 38, 22, 52, 45
Stage 2 Top 10: 98, 11, 99, 38, 19, 52, 16, 24, 25, 4
 
 Failed to Qualify: (2) 33 Josh Reaume, 34 Caleb Costner.
 
Caution Flags: 10 for 23 laps; Laps: 2-3 (Debris in Turn 2 [None]); 9-11 (Incident No. 15 Turn 9 [None]); 15-16 (Incident Nos. 42 and 9 Turn 2 [None]); 19-21 (Incident Nos. 66 and 12 Turn 10 [15]); 25-27 (Incident No. 45 Turn 2 [17]); 41-41 (Stage 2 Conclusion [45]); 47-48 (Incident No. 51 Turn 8 [42]); 51-52 (Incident No. 32 Turn 9 [02]); 57-58 (Accident Nos. 02 22 Turn 12 [66]); 60-62 (Incident No. 32 Turn 1 [12]).
 
Lead Changes: 6 among 4 drivers; C. Heim 1-4; T. Majeski 5-11; B. Rhodes 12-20; M. Crafton 21; B. Rhodes 22-31; T. Majeski 32-41; C. Heim 42-67.

(i) Ineligible for driver points in this series