After an eventful overtime restart at North Wilkesboro, Chandler Smith capitalized on contact between Layne Riggs and Corey Heim to win his second race of the 2025 Craftsman Truck Series season.
Smith was third on the white-flag lap when Riggs attempted a slide job on Heim, spinning him out as the caution came out with Smith out front.
“We fought and clawed today,” Smith told FOX Sports. “First coming from the back [and] to come back twice said a lot about how good we were today.”
Riggs ended up finishing second, with Heim falling to 17th. Tyler Ankrum finished third, with Daniel Hemric crossing the line in fourth. Grant Enfinger rounded out the top five.
“Just ‘why?’” Corey Heim said to FOX Sports reporters, when asked what he wanted to say to Riggs. “Mission accomplished for [Riggs] again this week. I struggled being very loose on the short runs, and he had the opportunity and he wrecked me.”
The remainder of the top 10 saw Ty Majeski finish sixth, Gio Ruggiero seventh, Kaden Honeycutt eighth, Kyle Busch ninth and Sammy Smith 10th.
“I had a huge run, and I went bottom,” Riggs said to FOX Sports. “I didn’t fence him and gave him one lane there. We’re at North Wilkesboro on the last lap for a truck win — I feel like I didn’t do anything wrong there.”
When the green flag flew, Heim wasted no time, pulling out to the lead down the backstretch and utilizing the top lane through turns one and two. By lap 10, Heim’s lead was already over two seconds over Busch and Ruggiero.
The initial green-flag run of the race became a lengthy one, with Heim working his way through lapped traffic from the lead without any complications. Riggs, who started at the rear after unapproved adjustments, worked his way to the top 15 by lap 30, showing the strength of his Front Row Motorsports truck.
Just when it appeared as if the opening stage would go flag-to-flag, the caution flew on lap 47. Tyler Tomassi’s truck lost power, coming to a rest on the apron of the exit of turn 2. Heim’s lead of nearly six seconds was gone, setting up for a restart with under 20 laps to go in stage one.
Differing pit strategy jumbled up the lineup for the restart with 16 laps to go in the stage, with Heim, Busch and others who were inside of the top 10 coming down pit road. That left the front row to Ruggiero and Stewart Friesen, with Ruggiero pulling out to the lead down the backstretch after brief contact with the No. 52.
Though it seemed likely that fresher tires would prevail throughout the last 20 laps of the stage, Ruggiero was able to hold on to take the green-checkered flag. Heim, who was the first off of pit road of those who pit, worked his way back up to second, and cycled back to the lead for the start of stage two.
Heim again picked the top lane to begin stage two, with the hard-charging Riggs starting on his inside. Chaos ensued in turn 1, however. Riggs washed up the track below Heim, making contact with the No. 11, putting both drivers into the wall. Enfinger was able to capitalize to the lead, and a brief moment of five-wide occurred at the exit of turn 2 with the stack up. Heim was able to retain his presence inside of the top three, and Riggs stayed inside the top 10.
Despite the gift and a lengthy green-flag run, Enfinger wasn’t ever able to jump out to the lead Heim had on the initial start of the race. His lead was capped at just over two seconds, and after a very clean stage, Heim caught the No. 9 with five laps to go until the caution. Enfinger was dealing with a loose truck, and Heim nearly capitalized, but his rally ended prematurely after Conner Jones found the outside wall, bringing the caution out a few laps earlier, awarding Enfinger the stage two win.
To begin stage three, Enfinger’s crew was able to get him off of pit road first, retaining control of the restart with Heim starting on his inside. Heim was able to get a better run off of the bottom of turns 1 and 2, getting around Enfinger for the lead. Smith was able to get around Enfinger off of the exit of turn 4 on the opening lap of the stage, setting up a battle for the lead between Heim and Smith. Heim was able to keep the lead after a few laps of side by side, by Smith didn’t fall far behind.
Smith tried to make the bottom lane work for a handful of laps after, but being the non-dominant lane, Heim prevailed with the lead once again and began to pull away. By the time the leaders took lap 200, Heim had a lead that was approaching two seconds.
Just as it seemed like Heim would settle in and win with relative ease, the caution flew as Tomassi lost a tire going into turn 1 on lap 212.
Another split pit strategy left Heim in control of the race, with Riggs, Ruggiero and Brent Crews staying out with him. Smith and Jake Garcia led the way of those who pit, restarting fifth and sixth respectively.
On the subsequent restart, Heim and Riggs lined up side by side once again, though the second iteration was much cleaner than the first. Heim pulled away down the backstretch, and a few laps later, it was once again Heim and Smith first and second with under 30 laps to go.
By 20 laps to go, the battle for the win was on. Heim, on much older tires, rolled the top lane, with Smith on newer tires wrapping the bottom. The No. 11 was able to pull away for a few laps, but Smith was brought back into battle after lapped traffic impeded Heim. Just as the two leaders made contact for the lead and the win, Ben Rhodes and Crews made contact, spinning both trucks out, creating a yellow.
The overtime restart represented the final one of the race, and it was a chaotic one. Heim controlled the race until the field took the white flag, with Riggs taking second from his Front Row Motorsports teammate out of turn four. Riggs attempted a slide job into turn 2 on the white flag, making contact with Heim and spinning him for the second time in the race. The caution flew after Rajah Caruth made contact with Heim on the back, giving the win to Smith.
The busy month of May for the Craftsman Truck Series continues next week, though the teams will remain in the state of North Carolina. The NC Education Lottery 200 from the Charlotte Motor Speedway is scheduled for Friday, May 23 with the green flag set to fly at 8:30 p.m. ET. The race will be broadcasted live on Fox Sports 1.
Josh joined Frontstretch in 2023 and currently covers the ARCA Menards Series. Born and raised in Missouri, Josh has been watching motorsports since 2005. He currently is studying for a Mass Communication degree at Lindenwood University