COREY HEIM CLINCHES FIRST CHAMPIONSHIP 4 BERTH
The Toyota development driver will run for the Truck Series championship in Phoenix
BRISTOL, Tenn. (September 14, 2023) – Corey Heim made the final pass with six laps to go and drove to his third win of the season and fifth win of his career. Heim, the regular season champion, will now be one of the four drivers competing for the Truck Series championship in Phoenix. With the finish, Heim is the youngest driver in Truck Series history with 13 consecutive top-10 finishes. Heim has an incredible 17 top-10 finishes in 19 races this season.
Heim’s teammate, Taylor Gray, finished fifth, which gives him consecutive top-five finishes for the first time in his Truck Series career.
Toyota Racing Post-Race Recap
NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series
Bristol Motor Speedway
Race 20 of 23 – 200 Laps, 106.6 Miles
TOYOTA FINISHING POSITIONS
1st, COREY HEIM
2nd, Christian Eckes *
3rd, Grant Enfinger*
4th, Carson Hocevar*
5th, TAYLOR GRAY
14th, STEWART FRIESEN
20th, JAKE DREW
23rd, TYLER ANKRUM
26th, TIMMY HILL
29th, TANNER GRAY
30th, WILLIAM SAWALICH
35th, DEAN THOMPSON
*non-Toyota driver
TOYOTA QUOTES
COREY HEIM, No. 11 Safelite Toyota Tundra TRD Pro, TRICON Garage
Finishing Position: 1st
How much teamwork went into making it happen?
“Teamwork is everything. Huge thank you to TRICON Garage, Toyota Racing, Safelite – this is insane. I feel like I’ve given so many away this year and to win one at the end like that is so special. David Gilliland, Johnny Gray Kevin Ray (team owners) – everyone at TRICON Garage, Scott Zipadelli (crew chief) – thank you. To win one like that is unreal. I feel like I’ve given so many away, but I feel like I’ve got one back.”
You said that you thought you had the best truck the last three races, how much thought to that did you give on that last pass?
“I was in the zone. I was thinking about all of the races that we gave away, and didn’t give away, and I just focused forward and set my pass up right where I needed to. Tony Hirschman, my spotter, did an awesome job getting me through there. I’m out of breath. It’s just so awesome to know we are in Phoenix. It’s awesome.
TAYLOR GRAY, No. 17 Dead On Tools Toyota Tundra TRD Pro, TRICON Garage
Finishing Position: 5th
How was your race tonight?
“Yeah, overall just making strides with the 17 group – closing out the year here. Just the kind of momentum we needed to close out the year after a pretty rough start of the year. I can’t thank all of my guys enough – everybody involved. I feel like we had a pretty good Dead On Tools Toyota Tundra TRD Pro. Just needed some more track position.”
WILLIAM SAWALICH, No. 1 Starkey/Soundgear Toyota Tundra TRD Pro, TRICON Garage
Finishing Position: 30th
Crazy day for you – winning the ARCA title to running the Truck race within the hour. Can you talk about how it was for you?
“It was awesome celebrating with the guys with the ARCA championship and then we moved straight on to the Truck race. I didn’t really have any time between the two to collect my thoughts. I fired off pretty decent – lost some spots there early, before the first caution. We just blew a right front or had a right front going down within the last few laps. I think we were running inside top-15. All-in-all,we had a really fast Starkey/Soundgear Toyota Tundra TRD Pro.”
About Toyota
Toyota (NYSE:TM) has been a part of the cultural fabric in North America for more than 65 years, and is committed to advancing sustainable, next-generation mobility through our Toyota and Lexus brands, plus our more than 1,800 dealerships.
Toyota directly employs more than 63,000 people in North America who have contributed to the design, engineering, and assembly of nearly 45 million cars and trucks at our 13 manufacturing plants. By 2025, Toyota’s 14th plant in North Carolina will begin to manufacture automotive batteries for electrified vehicles. With more electrified vehicles on the road than any other automaker, Toyota currently offers 24 electrified options.
