Heim wins the XPEL 225 at Circuit of The Americas

Corey Heim has enough fuel to capture his first NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series (NCTS) win of the season on Saturday in the XPEL 225 at Circuit of The Americas (COTA).  Heim and the Tricon Garage No. 11 Toyota led a race-high of 31 laps for his win at the 3.41-mile road course and the sixth of his NCTS career.

“On the last lap of the last restart, I stuttered a little bit on the right-handers because the fuel pick up is on the other side. The whole fuel load would go to the other side. I thought I was going to be out by the time I came around, but luckily I had a couple of left-handers at the end of the course, and I had fuel, but regardless of that, I’m super thankful for everyone at TRICON Garage, Toyota Racing.” Heim said. 

“I worked my butt off for this one. With the one (road course) race a year for the Truck Series, I felt like it was just so important for me to prove my road course ability. I knew I needed to capitalize on today, and I did. After it was done with all of the late cautions, I was glad it was over, and it was time to celebrate. It definitely means a lot,” Heim added.

Teammate Taylor Gray recovered from an early penalty and stretched his fuel mileage to finish second in the Tricon’s No. 17 Toyota.  The second-place finish ties his career-best with a runner-up finish and also gives TRICON Garage their first 1-2 finish.

“I can’t thank everyone at TRICON Garage enough for bringing me a really good JBL Toyota Tundra TRD Pro. I thought I ruined our race at the beginning of the race by getting that penalty, but just can’t thank all of our guys enough. We put ourselves in position and Jeff (Hensley, crew chief) did a great job with the strategy, just couldn’t attack on those last couple of laps. Something to figure out on how to give him a little bit of a tougher race at the end, but those guys executed all day long, and we have to keep executing ourselves,” said Gray.

Ty Majeski finished third. Polesitter and rookie Connor Zilisch recovered from a lap down and finished fourth after overshooting the first turn on the first lap, and NASCAR Cup Series regular Ross Chastain rounded out the top five.

The rear-end housing broke off the No. 04 Roper Racing Chevrolet driven by Marco Andretti, bringing out the red flag and extending the race by four laps.

Heim leads the series standings by 10 points over Majeski, Tyler Ankrum is third, Gray fourth, and Rajah Caruth rounds out the top-5 in the standings after five races.

The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series heads to Martinsville Speedway for the Long John Silver’s 200 on April 5th for the sixth race of the season at 7:30 p.m. ET on FS1, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio

NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series Race – XPEL 225
Circuit of The Americas
Austin, Texas
Saturday, March 23, 2024
(Pos, Driver, Make, Laps)

1. Corey Heim, Toyota, 46.
2. Taylor Gray, Toyota, 46.
3. Ty Majeski, Ford, 46.
4. Connor Zilisch, Chevrolet, 46.
5. Ross Chastain(i), Chevrolet, 46.
6. Jack Hawksworth, Toyota, 46.
7. Ben Rhodes, Ford, 46.
8. Christian Eckes, Chevrolet, 46.
9. Dean Thompson, Toyota, 46.
10. Tanner Gray, Toyota, 46.
11. Ty Dillon, Chevrolet, 46.
12. Grant Enfinger, Chevrolet, 46.
13. Jack Wood, Chevrolet, 46.
14. Jake Garcia, Ford, 46.
15. Rajah Caruth, Chevrolet, 46.
16. Bayley Currey, Chevrolet, 46.
17. Timmy Hill, Toyota, 46.
18. Nick Sanchez, Chevrolet, 46.
19. Stefan Parsons, Chevrolet, 46.
20. Stewart Friesen, Toyota, 46.
21. Carter Fartuch, Ford, 46.
22. Chase Purdy, Chevrolet, 46.
23. Matt Crafton, Ford, 46.
24. Matt Mills, Chevrolet, 46.
25. Tyler Ankrum, Chevrolet, 46.
26. Dale Quarterley, Toyota, 45.
27. Layne Riggs #, Ford, 43.
28. Daniel Dye, Chevrolet, 42.
29. Bret Holmes, Chevrolet, 42.
30. Spencer Boyd, Chevrolet, 42.
31. Marco Andretti, Chevrolet, Suspension, 40.
32. Thad Moffitt #, Chevrolet, 39.
33. Lawless Alan, Ford, Rear Gear, 34.
34. Vicente Salas, Chevrolet, Transmission, 33.
35. Mason Massey, Chevrolet, Brakes, 32.