COREY HEIM DRIVES THROUGH THE FIELD TO SWEEP RACES AT KANSAS IN 2024
Heim, Taylor Gray advance to Round of 8 Playoffs
KANSAS CITY (September 27, 2024) – Corey Heim won his sixth race of the season in Friday night’s NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series (NCTS) race at Kansas Speedway. Heim drove through the field to earn the victory after a tire issue in practice resulted in the No. 11 Toyota Tundra TRD Pro not participating in Friday’s qualifying session. He led 64 laps (of 134) en route to victory lane after also winning the NCTS race at Kansas in May.
Heim advances to the Round of 8 in the NCTS Playoffs and is joined by TRICON Garage teammate Taylor Gray, who also clinched his spot in the next round of the postseason with an 18th-place finish at the mile-and-a-half oval. Tanner Gray also earned a sixth-place finish on Friday night for Toyota.
The NCTS returns to action next Friday, October 4 at Talladega Superspeedway.
Toyota Racing Post-Race Recap
NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series
Kansas Speedway
Race 18 of 23 – 201 Laps, 134 Miles
TOYOTA FINISHING POSITIONS
1st, COREY HEIM
2nd, Layne Riggs*
3rd, Christian Eckes*
4th, Kaden Honeycutt*
5th, Dawson Sutton*
6th, TANNER GRAY
13th, DEAN THOMPSON
18th, TAYLOR GRAY
20th, BRENDEN QUEEN
23rd, TIMMY HILL
24th, STEWART FRIESEN
*non-Toyota driver
TOYOTA QUOTES
COREY HEIM, No. 11 Safelite Toyota Tundra TRD Pro, TRICON Garage
Finishing Position: 1st
What was the first thought you had when you saw Ty Majeski fall to the apron?
“Just a deep sigh of relief. We were in the best truck all night. Just a huge thank you to my TRICON Garage guys. This is my favorite track. I love coming here. I look forward to this. I’ve had a huge smile on my face all week coming to this place. Just glad we could sweep the year here. It’s such an awesome place to come. Like I said, huge thank you to TRICON Garage, Safelite, Toyota Racing. Certainly, thought I had it lost there with the 98 (Ty Majeski) almost making it on fuel. It just shows my team made the right call.”
When did you know you had this win?
“Just from the very beginning. Honestly, at the beginning of the week knowing we were going to Kansas Speedway, my favorite place, our best track, I knew we had a good shot from the get go. Obviously, we had a tough issue in practice with the right front tire. My guys scrapped all day to get this thing back in shape and were able to come from the back. I think we finished third in the first stage which was just unreal just being able to pass 30 cars that fast. So thankful for Safelite, Toyota Racing, TRICON Garage. This was such an unbelievable truck.”
What was it like trying to chase down Ty Majeski knowing he was saving fuel?
“It certainly kept me honest. He did such a good job at making it almost to the end there. If he was one lap shorter, he would’ve made it.”
How good is this team as we look ahead at the next round of the Playoff races?
“I think to begin the season, we’ve had our strengths and we’ve had our weaknesses, but we’ve really been able to level that out in the last couple months. Coming here, we knew we would be good but just going to some short tracks and stuff we’ve made a lot of progress. I’m looking forward to showcasing them this next round.”
TANNER GRAY, No. 15 Operation 300 Toyota Tundra TRD Pro, TRICON Garage
Finishing Position: 6th
How was your Tundra TRD Pro in tonight’s race?
“I thought to fire off we were a little bit tight, but overall we were good. We made decent ground on that first start and got to eighth or so and then had a good pit stop and restarted seventh. We were probably a little bit too free on the second stage, but still had decent speed. We had another really good stop to start the third stage that put us a little closer to the front and struggled a little bit on those restarts just getting going so we lost a little track position and put ourselves behind. Just proud of everybody at TRICON Garage for bringing fast trucks. It’s cool to see Corey (Heim) win and to have another one run well. I’m proud of all of these guys and everyone back at the shop that builds our trucks.
TAYLOR GRAY, No. 17 A Place of Hope Toyota Tundra TRD Pro, TRICON Garage
Finishing Position: 18th
What does it mean to be advancing to the Round of 8?
“I can’t thank all of my guys enough. Jeff Hensley (crew chief) on the box for bringing me a fast A Place of Hope Tundra TRD Pro. Obviously, had a really fast truck. Had a good stage one and stage two, starting so far in the back and able to make up a lot of ground there. Unfortunately, I’m having some issues with the right front under pit stops. We left pit road for the start of stage three and I had a right front rub and I had to come back down and clear it and just got back in the pack and just got wrecked. Overall, good to move on to the Round of 8 and just start over.”
About Toyota
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