Corey Heim shakes off strain to win NASCAR Truck Sequence title

AVONDALE, Ariz. — The very best man gained on Friday night time, nevertheless it was removed from a foregone conclusion.

The statistics would possibly counsel in any other case. In profitable the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Sequence Championship Race at Phoenix Raceway, Corey Heim swept the primary and second levels, led a race-high 100 of 161 laps and took the checkered flag 0.993 forward of defending sequence champion Ty Majeski in a second additional time.

On the restart for the primary try at additional time, nonetheless, Heim was buried in tenth place on the within lane, however with 4 recent tires from a pit cease below warning on Lap 150, he steered his No. 11 TRICON Storage Toyota to the underside of the monitor and ran wide-open by means of the dogleg as the sector unfold out seven-wide into Flip 1.

Charging to the within of Grant Enfinger’s Chevrolet, Heim emerged from Flip 2 in second place, on the bumper of Majeski’s Ford. Joe Shear Jr., Majeski’s crew chief, had opted for 2 tires on the Lap 150 pit cease — a transfer Majeski agreed was his solely probability to retain the championship.

As an alternative, Heim claimed the title that had eluded him for the earlier two seasons, and the burden of the world fell from his shoulders.

“I simply am so grateful to be the place I am at,” Heim mentioned. “So grateful for the TRICON Storage, Toyota taking an opportunity on me years in the past, (sponsors) Safelite, Mobil 1, Yahoo, Celsius, for each little bit of their assist.

“I used to be so stressed ever since we went to the (Charlotte) Roval (the place Heim gained from the pole Oct. 3 to advance to the Championship 4). I have been, like, so horrible to speak to as an individual, so stressed.

“That is simply such a reduction, to say the least. So grateful for everyone.”

Clearly, the strain had gotten to Heim as he approached a championship he was speculated to win. Coming to Phoenix, the 23-year-old from Marietta, Ga., had posted 11 victories in 24 races. On Friday, he added a twelfth, extending his sequence document.

When Heim took the lead from Chandler Smith on Lap 22, he accomplished an ideal document of main laps in all 25 Truck Sequence races, a novel accomplishment. Heim completed the season with a document 1,625 laps led, eclipsing the mark of 1,533 set by Mike Skinner in 1996.

“I do not care if I used to be on hundred-lap tires, no one was going to beat me tonight,” asserted Heim, who gained for the primary time at Phoenix and the twenty third time in his profession. “It wasn’t going to occur. We struggled all weekend in follow just a little bit. In qualifying we missed it just a little bit. You possibly can at all times belief (crew chief) Scott (Zipadelli) up on the field to do every thing he can to place me in place to win the race. That is what he did.

“Drove it in deep till I could not anymore. Drove away with it.”

Heim, nonetheless, wasn’t in place to win the race till Connor Mosack hit the Flip 4 wall with simply over two laps left in regulation to trigger the sixth warning and ship the race to additional time.

At that time, Scott Riggs was main Heim by lower than one second. Eradicated from the drivers’ playoff on a tiebreaker final weekend at Martinsville, Riggs remained eligible for the homeowners’ title, and had the race gone to conclusion in regulation, he and Heim probably would have cut up the 2 championships.

The warning modified every thing. Heim already was difficult Majeski for the lead within the first additional time when a four-car wreck in Flip 4 that included playoff driver Tyler Ankrum necessitated a second attempt at an additional interval.

After the restart on Lap 160, Heim cleared Majeski shortly and pulled away to win the race.

“Truthfully just a bit bit quick,” Majeski mentioned. “Yeah, very shut. Tonight, at parts of the run to the 11, I believed at occasions we had been truly higher than him. Total, he was simply too sturdy.

“I could not get a ok restart to reap the benefits of the place within the run my truck was higher.”

Playoff driver Kaden Honeycutt ran third, overcoming a first-lap penalty for altering lanes earlier than the stripe initially of the race.

Riggs got here house fourth, adopted by Rajah Caruth, Jake Garcia, Corey LaJoie, Smith, Tyler Reif (in his Truck Sequence debut) and Jack Wooden.

Matt Crafton, retiring from full-time NASCAR racing after this season, was thirteenth in his final journey within the No. 88 ThorSport Racing Ford.

NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Sequence Race — NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Sequence Championship Race

Phoenix Raceway

Avondale, Arizona

Friday, October 31, 2025

1. (6) Corey Heim (P), Toyota, 161.

2. (8) Ty Majeski (P), Ford, 161.

3. (5) Kaden Honeycutt (P), Toyota, 161.

4. (1) Layne Riggs (P), Ford, 161.

5. (7) Rajah Caruth, Chevrolet, 161.

6. (14) Jake Garcia, Ford, 161.

7. (12) Corey LaJoie, Chevrolet, 161.

8. (2) Chandler Smith, Ford, 161.

9. (13) Tyler Reif, Chevrolet, 161.

10. (15) Jack Wooden, Chevrolet, 161.

11. (33) Matt Mills, Chevrolet, 161.

12. (11) Stefan Parsons, Chevrolet, 161.

13. (25) Matt Crafton, Ford, 161.

14. (21) Tyler Ankrum (P), Chevrolet, 161.

15. (29) Nathan Byrd, Chevrolet, 161.

16. (24) Luke Baldwin, Ford, 160.

17. (27) Spencer Boyd, Chevrolet, 159.

18. (31) Greg Van Alst, Toyota, 159.

19. (28) Frankie Muniz #, Ford, 159.

20. (30) Clayton Inexperienced, Ford, 158.

21. (4) Tanner Grey, Toyota, 157.

22. (34) Caleb Costner, Chevrolet, 157.

23. (18) Cole Butcher, Toyota, Accident, 154.

24. (23) Grant Enfinger, Chevrolet, Accident, 154.

25. (26) Toni Breidinger #, Toyota, 153.

26. (20) Connor Mosack #, Chevrolet, Accident, 147.

27. (17) Bayley Currey, Chevrolet, Accident, 118.

28. (3) Brent Crews, Toyota, Axle, 117.

29. (10) Ben Rhodes, Ford, Accident, 117.

30. (16) Andres Perez De Lara #, Chevrolet, Accident, 117.

31. (9) Giovanni Ruggiero #, Toyota, Accident, 117.

32. (32) Mason Maggio, Ford, Engine, 107.

33. (19) Daniel Hemric, Chevrolet, Accident, 2.

34. (22) Dawson Sutton #, Chevrolet, Accident, 0.

Common Velocity of Race Winner: 87.434 mph.

Time of Race: 1 Hrs, 50 Minutes, 29 Secs. Margin of Victory: 0.993 Seconds.

Warning Flags: 7 for 42 laps.

Lead Modifications: 10 amongst 6 drivers.

Lap Leaders: C. Smith 1-21;C. Heim (P) 22-50;R. Caruth 51-53;C. Heim (P) 54-95;T. Majeski (P) 96-99;C. Heim (P) 100-126;L. Riggs (P) 127-150;S. Parsons 151-154;T. Majeski (P) 155-159;C. Heim (P) 160-161.

Leaders Abstract (Driver, Occasions Lead, Laps Led): Corey Heim (P) 4 occasions for 100 laps; Layne Riggs (P) 1 time for twenty-four laps; Chandler Smith 1 time for 21 laps; Ty Majeski (P) 2 occasions for 9 laps; Stefan Parsons 1 time for 4 laps; Rajah Caruth 1 time for 3 laps.

Stage #1 Prime Ten: 11,1,98,71,15,77,52,7,13,17

Stage #2 Prime Ten: 11,98,1,52,71,15,34,13,7,17

–By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service. Particular to Subject Stage Media.