Corey Heim set the single-season record for wins in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series with his 10th victory at the Charlotte Motor Speedway ROVAL on Friday, Oct. 3.
Heim also claimed a spot in the Championship 4 for the third straight season as he looks to claim his first series championship at Phoenix Raceway.
“It was not easy today,” Heim said post-race. “I think this was probably the toughest one of the year so far. Just shows the resilience of this TRICON team. They fixed it up so good for me after that incident on the first lap. Just kind of out of our control.
“I thought we were done, honestly. The right front completely folded when I hit the wall over there. Kind of out of breath just from screaming after that one. That was awesome.
“Just shows the reliance. A record-breaking 10 wins is a phenomenal accomplishment.”
Brent Crews dominated, leading 56 laps, but wasn’t able to claim his first series victory in his eighth start. He finished second behind Heim.
TRICON Garage swept the top three with Gio Ruggerio taking third and playoff driver Rajah Caruth taking fourth for Spire Motorsports. Caruth’s teammate, Connor Zilisch, completed the top five.
Chaos ensued on lap 1 after Grant Enfinger hooked Layne Riggs, who was sent left into polesitter Heim. All three playoff trucks sustained major damage and were forced to pit.
Ben Rhodes spun into the tire barrier one lap later and sustained heavy damage. A caution was not immediate but eventually came a lap later to assess the incident.
On the lap 7 restart, Brent Crews assumed the lead amidst the chaos ahead of Ruggerio and Kaden Honeycutt.
Crews opened up a lead of seven seconds before pitting with three to go in stage one, along with many of the non-playoff trucks. This handed the lead to Honeycutt, who took the stage victory ahead of Ty Majeski.
Crews and Zilisch restarted up front, with Crews surging ahead in turn 1 and pulling away to over a second lead.
As the stage progressed, Heim made his way to third after a tough start and continued to set some of the fastest times on the track. Later, Heim closed within a second of Zilisch in second with his teammate Crews eight seconds ahead.
In the final laps of the stage, many leaders flipped the stage, handing the lead to Honeycutt for the second time. Honeycutt would capitalize, sweeping the stages and snagging 20 extra points in his pursuit of a spot in the Championship 4.
Crews held serve to start the final stage with Zilisch and Heim close behind. After a couple of laps, Crews opened up a one-second lead as the top three trucks put a big gap on the rest of the field.
With under 20 to go, Heim passed Zilisch to take second with Crews leading by three seconds.
With Crews and Heim swapping lap times, the gap stayed relatively the same as the field battled behind. Crews kept a steady lead over Heim until caution came with three laps left due to Toni Breidinger being stopped on the race track.
With Crews having issues with fuel, he pitted along with numerous other trucks behind. Heim stayed out along with Connor Mosack and two other trucks for the overtime restart. Zilisch, in fifth, was the first truck with four fresh tires, with Majeski and Crews behind.
Heim pulled away on the overtime restart as the battle for second got aggressive with multiple trucks making contact, causing Chandler Smith to spin.
Trucks continued to crash behind, but it was Heim who captured the checkered flag once again in the NASCAR Truck Series.
Truck Charlotte ROVAL Results
The Truck Series takes a weekend off before the second race in the Round of 8 at Talladega Superspeedway on Friday, Oct. 17. Coverage begins at 4 p.m. ET on FOX Sports 1.
