For many playoff drivers, it was an anything but a smooth start to their championship run at Darlington Raceway. For Corey Heim, it was another day at the office.
After overcoming a threat of a tire going down and getting by Layne Riggs late, Heim’s eighth win of the season has advanced him into the next round of the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series playoffs.
Six playoff trucks ended in the top 10, with Daniel Hemric notching a runner-up finish, Grant Enfinger holding serve for third, Ty Majeski rallying to finish fourth, Tyler Ankrum holding steady in seventh, and Jake Garcia wrapping up in 10th.
Non playoff drivers also brought home good results. Trevor Bayne notched a top five and Timmy Hill earned an eighth place finish in their part time drives.
For numerous playoff drivers, it was a day full of adversity. Chandler Smith was leading early but made contact with the wall multiple times, resulting in unrepairable damage that ended his day on the first green flag run of the race. Riggs was up front all day, but had a right front tire go down with less than 20 laps remaining in the race. Riggs and Kaden Honeycutt would go on to finish in 17th and 18th, respectively, while Smith bore the brunt of the damage, concluding his day in 30th.
In stage one, several drivers had their days go sideways. Smith slapped the wall and Honeycutt pitted with a flat tire, along with Majeski with a similar issue. Heim and Riggs would go back and forth toward the end of stage one, but it was the TRICON Garage Toyota driver who would earn the stage win.
In stage two, Riggs challenged and passed Heim, setting sail for the stage win as drivers adjusted for the final run to the finish.
Honeycutt would run into more drama in the final stage, colliding with Andres Perez late after earning the free pass as Riggs had his tire going down. Heim would go on to win the race off pit road and didn’t look back as he took another checkered flag.
“So proud of these TRICON guys, it feels like a dream being with these guys and having eight wins”, Heim told FOX Sports after the race. “It’s a big blessing to be with a group like this, I couldn’t ask for more from them and I’ve loved every second of it.”
NASCAR Truck Series Results: Sober or Slammer 200 at Darlington
The Truck Series takes a week off before returning to the high banks of Bristol Motor Speedway in the round of 10 (Thursday, Sept. 11, 8 p.m. ET on FS1), with a tight battle beginning to take shape along the cut line.
Rajah Caruth holds the seventh spot in points, four above the cut line. Garcia sits two behind him while Smith and Honeycutt both have less than 10 points to make up if they want to advance to the next round.
Thomas is in his first year covering NASCAR at Frontstretch. A Bay Area NASCAR fan for over 15+ years, he found his love for the sport through Jeff Gordon.
Thomas has enjoyed several trips to Sonoma Raceway in his time and currently covers college football in the Bay Area, also writing about the California Golden Bears.