Saturday’s (June 28) NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race at Lime Rock Park could’ve been summarized in five words: “Corey Heim dominates. The end.”
Heim started on the pole, set the fastest lap, won both stages and led 99 of the 100 laps for his fifth victory of the 2025 season. He ran a perfect race and became the first driver in series history to win three consecutive races on road courses, following wins at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in 2023 and Circuit of the Americas in 2024.
Heim’s scored 16 Truck wins in 79 starts for a winning percentage of 20.2. He’s climbed to 10th on the series’ all-time win list, and he’s surpassed three-time series champion Matt Crafton (15 wins), who has been competing full-time in the series since before Heim was even born.
The No. 11 TRICON Garage team has been championship-caliber ever since Heim took the wheel in 2023, but 2025 is where his dominance has reached a whole new level.
In 15 races, Heim has:
- Won five times
- Won 14 of the 30 stages
- Scored 220 of a possible 300 stage points
- Accumulated a 144-point lead
- He could sit out the next two races and still lead, even if second place maxes out on points
- Led 988 laps for an average of 65.9 per race
- No one else has led more than 189.
- Led 42.6% (988 of 2,319) of the laps this season
- This is the highest percentage of laps led through the first 15 races in series history.
- Led the most laps in nine of the last 13 races
- Led double-digit laps in all 13 non-superspeedway races
- Led laps in all 15 races
The wildest part about his season is that he could easily have 10 wins if some luck went his way. A flat tire while leading at Pocono Raceway, a flat tire while leading at Martinsville Speedway, a late restart crash while running top five at Michigan International Speedway, an engine problem while leading at Homestead-Miami Speedway and a spin on the final lap while battling for the lead at North Wilkesboro Speedway have all befallen Heim this season. It’s all hypotheticals, but if those missed opportunities turned into wins, he’d potentially be looking at the greatest season in series history.
Actually, scratch that. The wildest part about his season is that he hasn’t locked up the championship and that he hasn’t secured a promotion for 2026.
Heim has historically run great at Phoenix Raceway, but all it takes is one Carson Hocevar shunt or one Ty Majeski beatdown to spoil a historic season.
Look no further than Christian Eckes last year. He led more than 1,000 laps, finished top 10 in all but one race and had an average finish of 5.4, only to finish third at Phoenix. Heim has racked up enough playoff points that he’s all but guaranteed to make the Championship 4, but all bets are off when an entire championship comes down to one final race.
The rest of the Truck Series grid is probably hoping that Heim earns a promotion for 2026, as he is straight up embarrassing the field. It’s an embarrassment that would only get worse if he has to run it back next season.
It would be a shame if the money and sponsorship keep him in Trucks yet another year, because he clearly has the talent to compete on Sundays eventually, if not immediately. At the moment, he’s a student with a 4.0 GPA who’s forced to redo the class over and over again.
The good news is that he’ll have another NASCAR Cup Series start with 23XI Racing this Sunday (July 6) on the Chicago street course. The best thing Heim can do for his future is make the most out of every racing opportunity he gets. So far, he has done just that and more.
Stephen Stumpf is the NASCAR Content Director for Frontstretch and is a three-year veteran of the site. His weekly column is “Stat Sheet,” and he formerly wrote "4 Burning Questions" for three years. He also writes commentaries, contributes to podcasts, edits articles and is frequently at the track for on-site coverage.
Find Stephen on Twitter @stephen_stumpf