In A Nutshell
For a whopping 11th time this season, Corey Heim went to NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series victory lane.
This time, Heim did it in a Friday night (Oct. 25) showdown at Martinsville Speedway, leading the most laps and sweeping the stages en route to doing so.
While Heim had to work for the win despite his domination, he was far from the top story of the event, as seven drivers entered Martinsville looking to secure the final three spots in next week’s Championship 4 race alongside Heim.
The Top Truckers at Martinsville Speedway
Winner, Stage 1 and 2 Winner, Most Laps Led (77 of 203 laps): Corey Heim
Polesitter, Fastest Lap (20.002 seconds, 94.671 mph): Layne Riggs
Biggest Mover (started 21st, finished fourth), Rookie of the Race: Brent Crews
The Winning Move
While Heim was the dominant truck, he once again found himself challenging his rookie teammate Brent Crews for the victory.
Crews and Heim ran 1-2 late in the event when a late caution stacked the field back up. Heim held tough on the outside on the ensuing restart, ensuring that the No. 1 wasn’t going to get away cleanly. A quick caution came out after that, and NASCAR determined that Heim was the leader.
From there, Heim set sail on the final two restarts of the night, taking home his 11th victory of the season and setting himself up nicely for the championship race.
Playoff Rundown
The Championship 4 is set. Here are your four drivers vying for the 2025 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series championship next week:
- Corey Heim
- Ty Majeski
- Tyler Ankrum
- Kaden Honeycutt
For Layne Riggs, Grant Enfinger, Rajah Caruth and Daniel Hemric, their quest for a championship came to an end at The Paperclip. Hemric and Caruth were involved in crashes that caused them to fail to finish the race. Enfinger was in a must-win situation, but never had the speed to make that happen.
Riggs was the big surprise after being seemingly the only driver to challenge Heim all season. With four drivers within five points of each other all night battling for three spots, one driver was bound to be left brokenhearted. Riggs needed a point on the overtime restart to tie Honeycutt, and he would have advanced via the tiebreaker by having the best finish of the two throughout the Round of 8.
However, Honeycutt’s runner-up at Martinsville flipped the tiebreaker in the No. 52 team’s favor, giving him a ticket to the Championship 4, and leaving Riggs and the No. 34 to wonder “what if?”
Now, the attention turns to the championship. For the third straight year, Heim is looking to take home his rightful title. Majeski is looking to defend his title from last season and go back-to-back. Meanwhile, Ankrum and Honeycutt are both looking for the upset in their first appearances in the Championship 4.
Rookie Report
That first win is coming for Crews.
The 17-year-old again found himself out front late in the event, pacing the field for over 50 laps on a strategy play. Unfortunately, once again, his teammate in the No. 11 got the better of him. However, Crews still finished a strong fourth after starting 21st. That earns him the honor of not only being the race’s biggest mover, but this week’s Rookie of the Race as well.
No. 1 — Brent Crews (fourth)
No. 02 — Logan Bearden (25th)
No. 2 — Clayton Green (35th)
No. 5 — Toni Breidinger* (26th)
No. 7 — Brenden Queen (10th)
No. 17 — Gio Ruggiero* (11th)
No. 22 — AJ Waller (32nd)
No. 26 — Dawson Sutton* (19th)
No. 33 — Frankie Muniz* (23rd)
No. 44 — Andres Perez* (28th)
No. 69 — Casey Mears (24th)
No. 81 — Connor Mosack* (30th)
No. 84 — Patrick Staropoli (15th)
Talkin’ Truckers
Heim on the win:
Honeycutt (second) on the contact with Caruth and making the Championship 4 via a tiebreaker:
Riggs (third) describes the emotion of missing the Championship 4 and how he hated using the bumper on Crews to try to advance:
Crews (fourth) gives his side of the contact with Riggs amidst his stellar run:
Majeski (seventh) describes what it felt like to barely hang on to make the Championship 4 to try to defend his title:
Ankrum (ninth) talks about the elation of making his first career Championship 4:
Enfinger (12th), Casey Mears (24th) and Toni Breidinger (26th) break down their equally chaotic evenings:
Hemric (31st) succumbed to damage sustained early in the race and was eliminated from championship contention:
Caruth (34th) discusses his vantage point of both the restart stack-up and the contact with Honeycutt:
Paint Scheme of the Race
Breidinger has had a plethora of sponsors — therefore a plethora of paint schemes — in her rookie season.
But none of been brighter than the one she ran this weekend.
With brand new sponsorship from TelyRx, Breidinger’s No. 5 featured two eye-popping colors with a lime green and a rich royal blue mixed all over the truck, with a guest appearance from the color white here and there, including her number.
Even the firesuit Breidinger wore could catch people’s attention thanks to its vibrant blue and green.
Breidinger started 24th and finished 26th after a late crash in this hot rod.
Next Stop
Time to crown a champion.
The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series treks out to the desert for the season finale at Phoenix Raceway next Friday, Oct. 31, where the 2025 champion will be crowned.
Majeski is the defending winner of the race, as well as the defending champion.
Coverage for the Championship 150 (wow, what a great name) will begin at approximately 7:30 p.m. ET on Friday, Oct. 31. Television coverage can be found on FOX Sports 1, while the NASCAR Racing Network concludes its exclusive season-long radio coverage of the Truck Series.
Follow @AnthonyDamcott on X.
Anthony Damcott joined Frontstretch in March 2022. Currently, he is an editor and co-authors Fire on Fridays (Fridays); he is also the primary Truck Series reporter/writer and serves as an at-track reporter. He has also assisted with short track content and social media, among other duties he takes/has taken on for the site. In 2025, he became an official member of the National Motorsports Press Association. A proud West Virginia Wesleyan College alum from Akron, Ohio, Anthony is now a grad student. He is a theatre actor and fight coordinator in his free time.
You can keep up with Anthony by following @AnthonyDamcott on X.