HEIM REMAINS PERFECT AT GATEWAY
Corey Heim earns his fourth victory of the season, winning the Toyota 200
MADISON, ILL. (June 1, 2024) – Corey Heim earned his fourth victory of the season, as he led the final 26 laps on his way to a victory in the Toyota 200 at World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway. It was his second victory in as many starts at the track, and ninth NASCAR Truck Series win of his career.
The Toyota Development Driver has now led the most laps in five consecutive events and has set a career-high in single season race wins – just 12 races into the season.
Stewart Friesen (eighth) picked up his third consecutive top-10 finish as he closed on the provisional Playoff field. Heim, Taylor Gray and Tanner Gray are the Toyota drivers currently qualified for the Playoffs with four races remaining in the regular season.
Toyota Racing Post-Race Recap
NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series
World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway
Race 12 of 23 – 160 Laps, 200 Miles
TOYOTA FINISHING POSITIONS
1st, COREY HEIM
2nd, Christian Eckes*
3rd, Nick Sanchez*
4th, Ty Majeski*
5th, Layne Riggs*
8th, STEWART FRIESEN
11th, TANNER GRAY
14th, DEAN THOMPSON
18th, TIMMY HILL
31st, TAYLOR GRAY
32nd, COLBY HOWARD
*non-Toyota driver
TOYOTA QUOTES
COREY HEIM, No. 11 Safelite Toyota Tundra TRD Pro, TRICON Garage
Finishing Position: 1st
Can you talk about how much this win means to you?
“Total team effort today. We actually struggled a little bit yesterday and worked overnight on it. I just have to say this pit crew has redeemed themselves from last week. I felt like we could have won the race and admittedly they made some mistakes, but they redeemed themselves today and that is what it is all about. Total team effort on this 11 crew. Super thankful for TRICON Garage, Toyota Racing, Safelite – that was awesome.”
You have a perfect record at Gateway, what does that mean?
“That’s awesome. Just so grateful for all of my guys at TRICON Garage and Toyota Racing. Yesterday in practice, I honestly thought we were not one of the better trucks. We looked at a lot of data overnight and made it better, so super grateful for those guys for their hard work overnight. The guys back at the shop have been working hard to get this Gateway truck ready, so awesome to bring home our Tundra p1 in the Toyota 200, so that is another special event for us. This was my second ever win – and first win on a non-superspeedway, so it means everything to come back here, espeically with my illness from last year – just watching from the sidelines – just grateful to be back and healthy this year, and picking up a win.”
DAVID GILLILAND, partner, TRICON Garage
How much does this win mean to the team?
“We felt like as a team we had a couple mistakes and we had a truck capable of winning last week and obviously with what happened with the penalty and the DQ – there is two ways you can handle those situations, and we presented it with how do we learn from it, how do we make ourselves better and we were better today. This is a championship quality team, championship quality organization. Really proud of what Scott (Zipadelli, crew chief) and Corey (Heim) and TRICON Garage was able to do today. This is a huge win. When you have setbacks like we did last week, it is how a team bounces back from that stuff – to me – that makes a team, and today proves where we are at.”
About Toyota
Toyota (NYSE:TM) has been a part of the cultural fabric in the U.S. for more than 65 years, and is committed to advancing sustainable, next-generation mobility through our Toyota and Lexus brands, plus our nearly 1,500 dealerships.
Toyota directly employs more than 49,000 people in the U.S. who have contributed to the design, engineering, and assembly of more than 34 million cars and trucks at our nine manufacturing plants. By 2025, Toyota’s 10th 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 28 electrified options.
Through its Driving Possibilities initiative, the Toyota USA Foundation has committed to creating innovative educational programs within, and in partnership with, historically underserved and diverse communities near the company’s U.S. operating sites.
For more information about Toyota, visit www.ToyotaNewsroom.com.
