It's hard to bet against Corey Heim for the 2025 NASCAR Truck Series title, as the Tricon driver will enter the finale with a historic eleven victories after 24 races this year. He earned yet another win at Martinsville, but all eyes were on the battle to make the Championship 4.
"I don't want to jump to any conclusions yet," said Heim about being the title favorite. "We got a big race next week ... It was definitely a rocky race. We got behind on track position, but we wanted to capitalize on our day and make the most of it. We really didn't think we had the truck we had in the spring, but once we got out front, it showed we had a lot to work with. Just so grateful."
There was almost nothing between reigning series champion Ty Majeski, Layne Riggs, Tyler Ankrum, and Kaden Honeycutt.
On the final restart, Honeycutt was battling on the outside of Brent Crews for second position, while Riggs was directly behind. Honeycutt cleared Crews in overtime, and Riggs had to send it on the inside of Crews in the final corner in a desperate attempt to salvage his playoffs.
At the line, Honeycutt was second and Riggs third, and they were tied on points. The tiebreaker goes to the best finish from this round, which meant Honeycutt would advance over the Riggs.
Both Ankrum and Majeski also advanced, but only by a single point each.
"I was dejected even when I thought we were in," said Riggs after the race. "I just don't like racing that way. I'm hearing I got to get one, and everybody knows how it is. If I had the opportunity to get in for my team, then I'm gonna do it even if I don't want to do it. I roughed up the No. 1 (Crews), but it all kind of started with that missed shift on that restart. I'm not sure what happened. I've never missed a shift in a truck my whole career. We do have some new transmissions -- I guess I'm just not used to them yet. Pretty upset about that."
Stages 1 and 2
It didn't take long for there to be contact as Andres Perez spun into the wall after getting put on three-wide situation.
The next run didn't last very long due to fluid on the track, which led to a chaotic restart. Riggs had the lead, but he struggled to get up through the gears, causing a major stackup on the inside lineup. He lost several positions, and various other playoff trucks suffered damage, including Caruth and Hemric.
The next yellow flew for a half-spin by Norm Benning, he got tangled up with Brenden Queen. During the caution, Hemric's damaged truck started to overheat and he was forced to pit.
Heim went on to win the stage, followed by Majeski, Enfinger, Ankrum, and Tan. Gray.
The drama continued into Stage 2, as Honeycutt and Caruth made contact in the battle for stage points. The door-to-door slam was enough to cut down Caruth's tire, who spun into the wall. Caruth's race was over, and so were his title hopes.
Heim again won the stage, followed by Majeski, Riggs, Enfinger, and Tan. Gray.
Stage 3
There was a shake-up in the running order as varying strategies playing out, with Ruggiero now leading the race with Crews.
The next caution was for AJ Waller, who spun into the wall. Soon after, Corey LaJoie got into Toni Breidinger with a shallow dive, and Breidinger crashed into the outside wall.
Enfinger was facing a must-win at this point, and decided to pit from inside the top ten for fresh tires.
With less than 40 laps to go, Hemric's wounded truck finally fell out of the race, ending his slim shot of advancing.
Crews out front, leading the way with 30 laps to go. The next caution flew for a spin by Connor Mosack.
In the fight to transfer, the points remains incredibly close with Riggs and Ankrum just two points clear of Honeycutt, and Majeski only four points above the cutline.
The caution quickly flew again for trouble in the pack, but not before Heim took the lead from Crews.
Honeycutt got up into second on the restart, pulling himself above the cutline. Majeski started to fade after some hard contact with the wall (courtesy of Riggs), putting the reigning series champion in danger of elimination. Conner Jones went spinning, collecting several other trucks and triggering the 11th caution of the race.
The race then went into overtime for a two-lap sprint to the checkered flag, where Ankrum, Majeski, and Honeycutt secured the final three spots in the Championship 4 to face off against Heim next week.
RACE
| Cla | Driver | # | Manufacturer | Laps | Time | Interval | Pits | Points | Retirement | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |
C. Heim TRICON Garage
|
11 | Toyota | 203 |
1:49'49.107 |
3 | |||||||
| 2 |
K. Honeycutt Halmar Friesen Racing
|
52 | Toyota | 203 |
+0.451 1:49'49.558 |
0.451 | 4 | ||||||
| 3 |
L. Riggs Front Row Motorsports
|
34 | Ford | 203 |
+1.372 1:49'50.479 |
0.921 | 4 | ||||||
| 4 |
B. Crews TRICON Garage
|
1 | Toyota | 203 |
+1.420 1:49'50.527 |
0.048 | 4 | ||||||
| 5 |  C. Lajoie Spire Motorsports |
77 | Chevrolet | 203 |
+1.543 1:49'50.650 |
0.123 | 6 | ||||||
| 6 |
C. Smith Front Row Motorsports
|
38 | Ford | 203 |
+1.603 1:49'50.710 |
0.060 | 5 | ||||||
| 7 | T. Majeski ThorSport Racing |
98 | Ford | 203 |
+1.741 1:49'50.848 |
0.138 | 4 | ||||||
| 8 | T. Gray TRICON Garage |
15 | Toyota | 203 |
+1.817 1:49'50.924 |
0.076 | 4 | ||||||
| 9 | T. Ankrum McAnally Hilgemann Racing |
18 | Chevrolet | 203 |
+2.017 1:49'51.124 |
0.200 | 4 | ||||||
| 10 |
B. Queen Spire Motorsports
|
7 | Chevrolet | 203 |
+2.160 1:49'51.267 |
0.143 | 5 | ||||||
| 11 |
G. Ruggiero TRICON Garage
|
17 | Toyota | 203 |
+2.167 1:49'51.274 |
0.007 | 5 | ||||||
| 12 | G. Enfinger CR7 Motorsports |
9 | Chevrolet | 203 |
+2.331 1:49'51.438 |
0.164 | 5 | ||||||
| 13 |
J. Wood McAnally Hilgemann Racing
|
91 | Chevrolet | 203 |
+2.504 1:49'51.611 |
0.173 | 5 | ||||||
| 14 | B. Rhodes ThorSport Racing |
99 | Ford | 203 |
+2.702 1:49'51.809 |
0.198 | 5 | ||||||
| 15 |
P. Staropoli Cook Racing Technologies
|
84 | Toyota | 203 |
+3.007 1:49'52.114 |
0.305 | 6 | ||||||
| 16 | T. Hill Hill Motorsports |
56 | Toyota | 203 |
+3.271 1:49'52.378 |
0.264 | 13 | ||||||
| 17 | S. Boyd Freedom Racing Enterprises |
76 | Chevrolet | 203 |
+3.444 1:49'52.551 |
0.173 | 5 | ||||||
| 18 |
J. Garcia ThorSport Racing
|
13 | Ford | 203 |
+3.460 1:49'52.567 |
0.016 | 10 | ||||||
| 19 |
D. Sutton Rackley W.A.R.
|
26 | Chevrolet | 203 |
+3.983 1:49'53.090 |
0.523 | 6 | ||||||
| 20 |
J. Carroll Terry Carroll Motorsports
|
90 | Toyota | 203 |
+4.068 1:49'53.175 |
0.085 | 5 | ||||||
| 21 | B. Currey Niece Motorsports |
45 | Chevrolet | 203 |
+4.219 1:49'53.326 |
0.151 | 7 | ||||||
| 22 |
C. Jones Niece Motorsports
|
41 | Chevrolet | 203 |
+4.970 1:49'54.077 |
0.751 | 6 | ||||||
| 23 |
F. Muniz Reaume Brothers Racing
|
33 | Ford | 203 |
+6.351 1:49'55.458 |
1.381 | 9 | ||||||
| 24 | C. Mears Motorsports Business Management |
69 | Ford | 201 |
+2 Laps 1:49'54.202 |
2 Laps | 10 | ||||||
| 25 |
L. Bearden Young's Motorsports
|
02 | Chevrolet | 197 |
+6 Laps 1:49'56.977 |
4 Laps | 9 | ||||||
| 26 |
T. Breidinger TRICON Garage
|
5 | Toyota | 196 |
+7 Laps 1:49'56.687 |
1 Lap | 6 | ||||||
| 27 | M. Mills Niece Motorsports |
42 | Chevrolet | 194 |
+9 Laps 1:49'55.888 |
2 Laps | 8 | ||||||
| 28 |
A. Pérez de Lara Niece Motorsports
|
44 | Chevrolet | 189 |
+14 Laps 1:49'55.359 |
5 Laps | 8 | ||||||
| 29 | M. Crafton ThorSport Racing |
88 | Ford | 180 |
+23 Laps 1:38'04.103 |
9 Laps | 6 | ||||||
| 30 |
C. Mosack McAnally Hilgemann Racing
|
81 | Chevrolet | 179 |
+24 Laps 1:34'12.405 |
1 Lap | 5 | ||||||
| 31 | D. Hemric McAnally Hilgemann Racing |
19 | Chevrolet | 163 |
+40 Laps 1:28'28.392 |
16 Laps | 9 | ||||||
| 32 |
A. J. Waller Reaume Brothers Racing
|
22 | Ford | 136 |
+67 Laps 1:11'18.539 |
27 Laps | 7 | ||||||
| 33 | N. Benning Norm Benning Racing |
6 | Chevrolet | 114 |
+89 Laps 1:08'39.120 |
22 Laps | 12 | ||||||
| 34 |
R. Caruth Spire Motorsports
|
71 | Chevrolet | 72 |
+131 Laps 39'05.236 |
42 Laps | 2 | ||||||
| 35 |
C. Green Reaume Brothers Racing
|
2 | Ford | 0 |
+203 Laps 5.845 |
72 Laps | 1 | ||||||
| View full results | |||||||||||||
Read and post comments