I t was action-packed racing for the first ever NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race at the Charlotte Roval, including a first lap wreck involving two Playoff contenders. Then, a caution came out with two laps remaining forcing a Green White Checkered finish that forced the leader to pit road.
When the dust settled, tire smoke cleared and crunched up Trucks took the checkered flag, it was points leader Corey Heim and the No. 11 Toyota team overcoming adversity and adversaries to claim their record 10th win of the season. With the victory, he unseats former NCTS champion Greg Biffle from his 1999 record of nine wins in a season.
Heim will also go into the record books as the first NCTS driver to win on the Charlotte Roval. With the win, he’s also locked into the championship finale at Phoenix Raceway.
Late Race Caution Helps Heim to Victory
After getting pushed into the outside wall on Lap 1 (see details below), Heim fell from the top-spot having to work his way back to the front after pitting several times for repairs. By lap 20, he was back into the top 10 and then top five by lap 31.
Ahead of him was Tricon Garage teammate Brent Crews in the No. 1 Toyota who held onto a commanding lead for 55 laps. That all came to an end when Tricon teammate Toni Breidinger’s No. 5 Toyota stopped on the track with two laps remaining.
The caution waved and Crews was called to pit road for tires and fuel, putting Heim back in first for the first time since Lap 1. As trucks raced two and three-wide behind him, Heim took off to claim victory by 1.33 seconds. Crews managed to race his way back to second place, for his best-career finish in eight starts.
“It was not easy, it was probably the toughest win of the year,” Heim said. “It just shows the reliance of this Tricon team. They fixed it up so good for me after the first lap incident. It was out of our control and I thought we were done.
“The right front completely folded when we hit the wall. I’m out of breath right now from screaming after we took the checkered flag.
“A record breaking 10 wins, that’s just phenomenal accomplishment.”
Pole Sitter Heim Wrecked on First Lap
After the initial green flag flew, pole sitter Heim was pushed into the wall in Turn 1. His No. 11 Toyota received heavy right front damage and developed a tire rub that required him to pit under green.
The wreck began when fellow Playoff contender Grant Enfinger, who started fourth in his No. 9 Chevrolet, ran into the back of outside pole sitter Layne Riggs. As a result, Riggs’ No. 34 Ford pushed up into Heim sending the points leader into the outside wall causing the damage.
A caution on Lap 2 for the spun No. 99 Ford of Ben Rhodes brought out the yellow flag, which allowed Heim, Riggs and Enfinger to pit and make repairs to continue racing.
“We were certainly not quite as good as we were in practice and qualifying after that damage,” Heim said. “My steering wheel was 45 degrees to the left and we came down pit road six times trying to get it back to at least somewhat what is was.
“We got it close, just not as good as practice.”
Honeycutt Hogs Stage Win Points
Kaden Honeycutt and the No. 52 Toyota made the best of valuable stage points by leading seven laps and winning the first and second segments. For their efforts, the Halmar Friesen Racing team picked up 20 points, 10 for each stage win, to help them in their quest to remain in the Playoffs.
In the closing laps while running in the top 10, Honeycutt was spun around costing him valuable positions and relegating him to a 14th place finish.
“Definitely sucks not having that good finish there, for sure,” Honeycutt said. “My guys gave me an amazing Truck today. This is probably the best preparation I’ve ever had going into a road course.
“It’s so hard to hold my tongue about this. I just don’t understand why stuff like this happens. I mean, we’ve ran good and have no results. It’s just something not of our doing. Thankfully, we’re only four points under right now.”
Heading to the NCTS race at Talladega Superspeedway on Oct. 17, Honeycutt sits eighth in points, just four markers below the cut line.
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