HEIM LEADS TOYOTA CHARGE AT HOMESTEAD WITH TOP-FIVE RUN
Georgia native achieves 15th consecutive top-10 finish
HOMESTEAD, Fla. (October 21, 2023) – In the penultimate race of the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series season at Homestead-Miami Speedway, Corey Heim put together another top-five finish as he gears up for the championship race at Phoenix. The Toyota development driver notched his 12th top-five of the season with a fourth-place run, coming after he won both stages earlier in the race. This result is Heim’s 15th consecutive top-10, which is tied for the seventh-longest streak in Truck Series history. Heim, on the strength of his Bristol win, had already clinched his spot in the Championship 4 in Phoenix. The reigning Rookie of the Year will compete against Grant Enfinger, Carson Hocevar and Ben Rhodes for the title.
Stewart Friesen of Halmar Friesen Racing finished seventh after a solid run inside the top-10 most of the afternoon. The 40-year-old, who sat on pole in Homestead in 2019, captured his seventh top-10 of the 2023 season and first since Kansas in September.
Toyota Racing Post-Race Recap
NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series
Homestead-Miami Speedway
Race 22 of 23 – 134 Laps, 201 Miles
TOYOTA FINISHING POSITIONS
1st, Carson Hocevar*
2nd, Zane Smith*
3rd, Ben Rhodes*
4th, COREY HEIM
5th, Grant Enfinger*
7th, STEWART FRIESEN
12th, TANNER GRAY
14th, TAYLOR GRAY
17th, DEAN THOMPSON
23rd, TYLER HILL
26th, TYLER ANKRUM
27th, JONATHAN SHAFER
32nd, ARMANI WILLIAMS
*non-Toyota driver
TOYOTA QUOTES
COREY HEIM, No. 11 Chateau Elan/Explore Braselton Toyota Tundra TRD Pro, TRICON Garage
Finishing Position: 4th
What’s your mindset as you shift to Phoenix, which I’m sure you’ve already been thinking about?
“I’m definitely excited for Phoenix. I’ve been putting in a lot of hard work and studying into that race. It’s going to be the biggest race of my career. Super thankful for Toyota Racing and TRD for putting me in this position. Really, I thought we had them covered today. We swept the first two stages and were kind of put-putting around waiting for the third stage, and all of a sudden, it went out like a light switch. We’ll look everything over, it’s kind of undiagnosed for us, but huge shout out to Chateau Elan and Explore Braselton for everything they do, TRD and Toyota Racing, once again, and TRICON Garage. We have bigger things on the horizon, so we are focused on that heading to Phoenix.”
STEWART FRIESEN, No. 52 Halmar International Toyota Tundra TRD Pro, Halmar Friesen Racing
Finishing Position: 7th
Can you walk us through your day today?
“Yeah, solid day for us overall. Just finishing up a rebuild year for the HFR (Halmar Friesen Racing) No. 52 Halmar Toyota team. Proud of a top-10 finish after a decent qualifying effort yesterday. Could’ve had a better day at the end, but we’ll add it to the notebook for next year.”
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.
