THOMPSON MATCHES CAREER-BEST IN TALLADEGA
Corey Heim delivers 14th consecutive top-10 finish
TALLADEGA, Ala. (September 30, 2023) – Dean Thompson tied his career-best finish as the Toyota driver was scored in third in Saturday’s Truck Series race at Talladega Superspeedway. Thompson qualified a career-best fourth, before starting in the back for an unapproved adjustment. The California-native drove through the field and earned stage points in each stage before finishing in the top-five.
Corey Heim finished fifth – his 14th consecutive top-10 finish. The Toyota development driver is now tied for the ninth-longest streak in Truck Series history. Heim remains as the only Truck Series driver locked into the Championship 4 after his win at Bristol Motor Speedway.
Toyota Racing Post-Race Recap
NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series
Talladega Superspeedway
Race 21 of 23 – 94 Laps, 250.04 Miles
TOYOTA FINISHING POSITIONS
1st, Brett Moffitt*
2nd, Ben Rhodes*
3rd, DEAN THOMPSON
4th, Chandler Smith*
5th, COREY HEIM
17th, RYAN VARGAS
18th, TAYLOR GRAY
20th, JAKE DREW
25th, TANNER GRAY
30th, TYLER HILL
33rd, TYLER ANKRUM
34th, STEWART FRIESEN
35th, DAVID GILLILAND
*non-Toyota driver
TOYOTA QUOTES
DEAN THOMPSON, No. 5 CST Industrial Toyota Tundra TRD Pro, TRICON Garage
Finishing Position: 3rd
Tied career-best and brought it home in one piece. How was your race?
“It was awesome. TRICON brought a really fast CST Industrial Tundra. We qualified fast but I had an issue, so we went to the back and we persevered. We never looked back and finished p3. Not bad, but wish we were two spots better though.”
COREY HEIM, No. 11 Safelite Toyota Tundra TRD Pro, TRICON Garage
Finishing Position: 5th
Can you take us through those last few restarts?
“Yeah, we had a fast truck today with TRICON Garage and Toyota Racing. Our Safelite Toyota Tundra TRD Pro was really good, just really circumstantial. I really thought we could have had the race won with the 75 (Parker Kligerman) if he stayed up instead of following the 34 (Brett Moffitt) down. We had such a big run, and if he had just got to the 34’s quarter panel, we would have been in really good shape I thought. Hindsight is 20/20 – I could have really pushed him to the win, but it is what it is.”
TYLER ANKRUM, No. 16 LiUNA! Toyota Tundra TRD Pro, Hattori Racing Enterprises
Finishing Position: 33rd
Can you explain what happened?
“Both incidents I really don’t know what happened. I know for sure the second time I got hit. I got really damn hard in the right rear, and it sent me straight to the wall. Hit the wall on the outside head on, and then bounced to the inside wall – was going for that almost head on. No brakes, no steering wheel. That’s not a fun position to be in – seeing the wall coming straight to you. I thought we had a pretty good truck, we just couldn’t get organized up top. We couldn’t get going for whatever reason. We were antsy today for whatever reason. We were super comfortable going three wide, which I like. It’s nice for once to be able to do that with these guys, but we couldn’t ever get anything going. Just not enough numbers to get to the top going. If we were smart, everybody would have formed up at the top – that was running the top – and we would have cleared the bottom. It sucks – it was a lot of fun up to that point – we were racing really hard, just not smart. That’s probably what caused that accident – we weren’t racing smart. Talladega is a special place, and just have to thank everybody at LiUNA! And Toyota for all they do to support me.”
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.
