HEIM, GRAY DELIVER STRONG RUNS IN ATLANTA
TRICON Garage places three Tundras in the top-10
ATLANTA (February 24, 2024) – Corey Heim added another strong run at his home track of Atlanta Motor Speedway Saturday afternoon, bringing his Toyota Tundra TRD Pro home in third position to lead Toyota in the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series event.
With his runner-up finish at Daytona, Heim has begun the season with back-to-back top-fives. The Toyota Development Driver has now finished inside the top-five in seven of the last eight races, and in the top 10 in 23 of his last 26 Truck Series starts.
Heim’s TRICON Garage teammate, Taylor Gray, battled back from his last lap accident in Daytona to earn his first top-five finish of the season in fourth, while Dean Thompson had a successful day – leading his first laps in the Truck Series before finishing 10th.
Toyota Racing Post-Race Recap
NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series
Atlanta Motor Speedway
Race 2 of 23 – 135 Laps, 207.9 Miles
TOYOTA FINISHING POSITIONS
1st, Kyle Busch*
2nd, Ty Majeski*
3rd, COREY HEIM
4th, TAYLOR GRAY
5th, Nick Sanchez*
10th, DEAN THOMPSON
17th, COLBY HOWARD
18th, TIMMY HILL
19th, TANNER GRAY
23rd, STEWART FRIESEN
*non-Toyota driver
TOYOTA QUOTES
COREY HEIM, No. 11 Safelite Toyota Tundra TRD Pro, TRICON Garage
Finishing Position: 3rd
Take us through your day and battling up front there at the finish.
“Yeah, it was a quiet day for us. I feel like we played the strategy game really well today. TRICON Garage, and huge thank you to Toyota Racing and Safelite for putting us in position here. Yeah, really uneventful day for us, a good day. I feel like these first two races were going to be really tough, Daytona and Atlanta, and got through them with two top-fives. Can’t complain, and that’s what championships are made of, and that’s what we’re going for. Once again, huge thank you to TRICON Garage, Toyota Racing and Safelite.”
Did you have anything for Kyle Busch there in the end?
“The 7 (Kyle Busch) was really good. He did everything right and timed the runs out that we would get, and we didn’t get a big run. I was talking to Ty (Majeski) and wondering why he didn’t back up at any point and he said he was afraid that me and the 17 (Taylor Gray) were going to pick him. That makes sense. I understand why he did that – a little bit circumstancal, but I don’t think we really had the speed today with our Safelite Tundra TRD Pro today to be the leader by any means, but we had a great strategy. Everyone at TRICON Garage put us in position to win. We will work on it for the next time at a drafting track and go from there.”
TAYLOR GRAY, No. 17 JBL Toyota Tundra TRD Pro, TRICON Garage
Finishing Position: 4th
What more did you need there at the end?
“Yeah, the racing was kind of tough today. A lot of single file – couldn’t really build huge runs. The 7 (Kyle Busch) truck – props to them. They were the class of the field. They were just driving away from us. We had a pretty good JBL Tundra TRD Pro. TRICON Garage put a really good effort in. Pretty good points day today. Jeff Hensley (crew chief) on the box calling really good shots. Almost came from the back to the front challenge.”
How important is it to bounce back from Daytona?
“It’s extremely important. I feel like we should have two top-fives by now, and we were close to a win in Daytona. It’s really good to come out her and bounce back from such a good weekend to a bad weekend to starting off the season strong here.”
DEAN THOMPSON, No. 5 Thompson Pipe Group Toyota Tundra TRD Pro, TRICON Garage
Finishing Position: 10th
Describe your day, finishing in the top-10 and leading your first laps in the CRAFTSMAN Truck Series.
“Yeah, I feel like we did really good. I feel like we executed well. Same thing at Daytona last week, I feel like myself and my whole team executed well, the same way we planned on today. And this time, people played nice. I said two things before the race started, I said ‘if luck swings our way’ and ‘if people work with us,’ I feel like we can win this race. Luck swang our way and then, people didn’t work with us there at the end. Coming to the checkered, at like five laps to go, I tried the bottom and no one wanted to go to the bottom with me, so finished 10th. Yeah, can’t thank Thompson Pipe Group, TRICON Garage and Toyota Racing for all that they do for me.”
About Toyota
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