Corey Heim was awarded the victory in the Fresh From Florida 250 at Daytona International Speedway on Friday, February 14, after Parker Kligerman, the event’s initial winner, was disqualified due to his race-winning entry failing the post-race inspection process.
Earlier, the 34-year-old Kligerman from Westport, Connecticut, muscled ahead of pole-sitter Ben Rhodes and the field on the final lap. Kligerman’s launch to the front was made after he received a strong push from Johnny Sauter through the backstretch during a 12-lap shootout to the finish. Then as a multi-truck wreck ensued exiting the backstretch, Kligerman maintained the lead ahead of Corey Heim just as the event concluded under caution and was left celebrating the biggest victory of his career on the frontstretch.
Following the post-race inspection process, however, Kligerman’s race-winning Henderson Motorsports entry was found to be too low in the rear heights. As a result, Heim, a 22-year-old, Truck Series star from Marietta, Georgia, was promoted to first place and ruled the official winner of the 2025 Truck Series’ season-opening event at Daytona.
With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Friday, Ben Rhodes claimed the first Truck Series pole position of the 2025 season after he posted a pole-winning lap at 176.488 mph in 50.995 seconds. Joining Rhodes on the front row was teammate Ty Majeski, who posted his best qualifying lap at 176.439 mph in 51.009 seconds.
Prior to the event, rookies Connor Mosack and Giovanni Ruggiero dropped to the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments to their respective entries. Mosack, however, would have his McAnally-Hilgemann Racing Chevrolet entry taken to the garage due to gearing issues. Jake Garcia also started at the rear of the field due to an unapproved tire change to his entry.
When the 2025 Truck season commenced under green, Ben Rhodes rocketed ahead of the field from the outside lane as he quickly transitioned back to the inside lane in front of teammate Ty Majeski through the first two turns. Rhodes would then transition back to the outside lane and have Grant Enfinger draft him through the backstretch. As the field returned to the frontstretch in two-wide formation, Rhodes led the first lap.
The following lap, Clay Greenfield, who was racing just outside of the top-10 mark, got bumped by Matt Crafton and nearly got sideways just past the frontstretch before he darted his No. 95 Backyard Blues Pools Chevrolet Silverado RST entry off the track and plummeted below the leaderboard entering the first turn. With Greenfield proceeding without drawing a caution, Rhodes retained the lead ahead of Zane Smith as Enfinger, Kaden Honeycutt, Majeski and Johnny Sauter followed suit.
Then on the third lap, the event’s first caution flew when Honeycutt, who made a move beneath Rhodes in his bid for the lead exiting the backstretch, got loose and slid in front of Smith entering Turn 4. Honeycutt then spun his No. 45 AutoVentive/Precision Chevrolet Silverado RST entry towards the bottom of the track and hit the frontstretch’s inside wall head-on, which eliminated him from further contention. During the event’s first caution period, some led by Justin Haley pitted while the rest led by Rhodes remained on the track. Amid the pit services, Matt Crafton spent extra time in his pit stall as he had the hood of his No. 88 Menards Ford F-150 entry lifted up.
When the event restarted under green on the ninth lap, Rhodes and Tanner Gray dueled for the lead in front of two-stacked lanes through the first two turns and the backstretch. Rhodes then received a strong push from teammate Johnny Sauter’s No. 66 TSport Ford F-150 entry through the backstretch to muscle ahead of Gray and have both lanes to his control through Turns 3 and 4. Despite Gray fighting back from the inside lane entering the frontstretch, Rhodes managed to lead the Lap 10 mark.
Over the next four laps, Rhodes dueled and fended off Tanner Gray with drafting help from teammate Sauter to muscle ahead, primarily through the straightaways. As Rhodes kept Sauter drafting him from the outside lane, Enfinger would then challenge Rhodes for the top spot from the inside lane prior to Lap 14. Enfinger would receive drafting help from Gray to briefly muscle ahead before Rhodes fought back through the backstretch.
On Lap 14 and amid the battle for the lead, the event’s second caution flew when rookie Toni Breidinger, who was racing within the top-15 mark, briefly got loose underneath Jake Garcia entering Turn 4 and slipped sideways in front of teammate Giovanni Ruggiero. As a result, Breidinger spun below the track and made contact with the frontstretch’s inside wall on the driver’s left side. Amid the contact and flat-spotting her tires, she managed to limp her No. 5 Raising Cane’s Toyota Tundra TRD Pro entry back to her pit stall. During the caution period, some including Parker Kligerman, Michael McDowell and Crafton pitted their respective entries while the rest led by Rhodes remained on the track.
With a single lap remaining in the first stage period, the event restarted under green. During the restart, Enfinger received a strong push from Gray entering the first turn to muscle ahead from the inside lane. Enfinger, however, quickly lost the lead to Rhodes as the latter had teammate Sauter drafting him from the outside lane through the backstretch while Enfinger had no drafting help from Gray. As the field fanned out entering the frontstretch, Rhodes and Sauter would transition to the inside lane and fend off late challenges from Enfinger, Chandler Smith and Corey Heim to the start/finish line.
At the first stage’s conclusion on Lap 20, Rhodes captured the first Truck stage victory of the 2025 season. Teammate Sauter settled in second ahead of Enfinger, Smith and Heim while Tanner Gray, Majeski, Daniel Hemric, rookie Andres Perez de Lara and Giovanni Ruggiero were scored in the top 10.
Under the stage break, a majority of the field led by Rhodes pitted while the rest led by Hemric and including Haley and Jack Wood remained on the track. Amid the pit stops, Enfinger exited pit road first as he was followed by Rhodes, Smith, Layne Riggs, Rajah Caruth, Heim, Sauter, Perez de Lara, Majeski and Gray, respectively. Not long after, Rhodes pitted for a second time and had the hood of his No. 99 Clark’s/SantaHillRanch/ToyonRanch Ford F-150 entry raised up. Despite having his front engine diagnosed, Rhodes’ No. 99 crew encountered a hood pin issue, which would result with Rhodes cycling back to his pit stall.
The second stage period started on Lap 25 as Hemric and Haley occupied the front row. At the start, the latter two dueled for the lead entering the first two turns before Haley muscled his No. 7 Gainbridge Chevrolet Silverado RST entry ahead from the inside lane. With Garcia drafting Haley on the inside lane, Hemric had teammates Jack Wood and Tyler Ankrum drafting him from the outside lane. Haley would proceed to lead the following lap before he was drawn with Hemric in a side-by-side battle for the lead in front of two stacked lanes.
By Lap 27, the field fanned out to three tight lanes as Parker Kligerman, who led a third lane towards the outside wall, rocketed his No. 75 Spiked Coolers Chevrolet Silverado RST entry to the front through the backstretch with drafting help from Enfinger, Crafton and Riggs. After taking the lead from Haley entering the frontstretch and leading the following lap, Kligerman quickly transitioned from the outside to the inside lane as he moved in front of Haley. Enfinger would then navigate his way past Kligerman for the lead and he proceeded to lead the Lap 30 mark. Meanwhile, Rhodes, who restarted at the rear of the field after having his hood raised up, rocketed his way back towards the front.
By Lap 35, Crafton, who was drafted into the lead a few laps earlier, was out in front of the field as he was followed by teammates Rhodes and Majeski while Riggs tried to ignite a charge from the inside lane. Another two laps later, a majority of the field migrated towards the outside lane and in a long drafted line behind the leader Crafton as Rhodes, Majeski, Smith, Jack Wood, Hemric, Stewart Friesen, Heim, Kligerman and William Sawalich were scored in the top 10.
Then on Lap 38, Friesen broke out of the long formation and tried to ignite a charge from the inside lane with drafting help from Toyota teammates Heim and Sawalich. The following lap, Smith moved in front of Friesen as he tried to ignite a charge while Crafton retained the lead from the outside lane. Entering the frontstretch, however, Crafton and Rhodes switched to the inside lane to stall Smith’s charge. This allowed Crafton to claim the second stage victory on Lap 40. By then, Crafton’s teammates Rhodes and Majeski settled in the top three while Smith, Wood, Friesen, Hemric, Heim, Kligerman and Caruth were scored in the top 10.
During the stage break, a majority of the field led by Smith pitted while the rest led by the top-three ThorSport competitors of Crafton, Rhodes and Majeski remained on the track. Amid the pit stops, Heim exited pit road first as he was followed by Hemric, Enfinger, Sawalich and Tyler Ankrum. Not long after, Crafton and Majeski would be among eight competitors to pit their respective entries, which handed the lead to Heim.
With 55 laps remaining, the final stage period commenced as Heim and Hemric occupied the front row. At the start, the latter two dueled for the lead until Hemric received a draft from Enfinger on the outside lane to boost ahead entering the backstretch. Heim, however, would receive drafting help from teammate Sawalich exiting the backstretch to challenge Hemric for the lead entering Turns 3 and 4, but the latter received another push from Enfinger entering the frontstretch to lead the following lap.
Through the backstretch, the field fanned out to three tight lanes as Hemric retained the lead in front of Enfinger and the rest of the field. Meanwhile, the ThorSport trio of Crafton, Majeski and Rhodes trailed in 24th through 26th, respectively.
Then on Lap 48, the caution returned when Tyler Ankrum, who was racing in 17th place, quickly dropped off the pace and had smoke coming out of his No. 18 LiUNA! Chevrolet Silverado RST entry entering the first turn. Amid Ankrum’s issues, where he was spilling oil on the track, Dawson Sutton, who was racing behind Ankrum, slipped sideways behind Ankrum’s smoked truck and spun his No. 26 Rackley Roofing Chevrolet Silverado RST entry below the apron while Ankrum managed to keep his truck racing straight. At the moment of caution, Front Row Motorsports’ Chandler Smith and Layne Riggs were racing in the top-two spots ahead of Hemric, Heim and Enfinger.
During the caution period, some led by Riggs and including Heim, Sawalich, Friesen, Caruth, Perez de Lara and Tanner Gray pitted while the rest led by Smith remained on the track.
With 45 laps remaining, the event restarted under green. At the start, Smith and Hemric had Kligerman and Enfinger drafting them respectively through the first two turns. Smith would muscle his No. 38 Long John Silver’s Ford F-150 entry ahead along with Kligerman from the outside lane through the backstretch before Hemric fought back into the runner-up spot as he zipped by Kligerman. Smith would proceed to lead the following lap as both Kligerman and Hemric dueled for second in front of Enfinger, Haley, Timmy Hill and Jack Wood.
Down to the final 40 laps of the event, Smith, who had dueled with Hemric over the last two of three laps, retained the lead in front of two stacked lanes while Hemric was trying to fend off Timmy Hill, Enfinger and Kligerman with the runner-up spot. Smith would be placed in defensive mode over the next five laps as he transitioned through all lanes to fend off challenges from Enfinger and Hemric through both the outside and inside lane.
Then with 35 laps remaining, a wave of Chevrolet competitors that included Hemric, Kligerman, Caruth, Perez de Lara, Wood, Haley, Bayley Currey and Enfinger pitted their respective entries. In the process, Enfinger got hit in the right rear and was sideways, but he managed to keep his No. 9 Grant County Mulch Chevrolet Silverado RST entry racing straight without drawing a caution. Enfinger, however, would be assessed a drive-through penalty for speeding on pit road.
Another lap later, a wave of Toyota competitors pitted while a group of six Ford competitors led by Smith remained on the track. Smith’s lead pack included Rhodes, Michael McDowell, Riggs, Sauter and Garcia while Crafton, Majeski and Greenfield were trying to gain ground on the top-six leaders.
Then with 31 laps remaining, the caution flew when Greenfield, who was racing in ninth place behind Crafton and Majeski, snapped sideways below the track entering Turn 4, spun at the bottom of the track and hit the frontstretch’s inside wall head-on. The latest caution period resulted with a majority of the field, including the Ford competitors led by Smith, pitting. Following the pit stops, Ruggiero cycled into the lead.
The start of the ensuing restart with 25 laps remaining featured Ruggiero and Caruth occupying the front row in front of Tanner Gray, Perez de Lara, Heim and Currey. At the start, Ruggiero launched his No. 17 JBL Toyota Tundra TRD Pro entry ahead from the outside lane as he was followed by his three TRICON Garage teammates of Gray, Heim and Sawalich while Caruth was trying to fight back to the front with drafting help from teammate Perez de Lara. As the field fanned out to three-stacked lanes entering the frontstretch, Ruggiero led the following lap as Smith launched a charge to the front with drafting help from teammate Riggs and Hemric towards the outside wall. Smith would then receive a huge push from Riggs’ No. 34 Love’s Ford F-150 entry through the frontstretch to reassume the lead by the following lap.
With 22 laps remaining, Ruggiero tried to duel with Smith from the inside lane, but the momentum remained with Smith from the outside lane as the latter retained the lead. By then, Smith was followed by teammate Riggs, Hemric and Wood in single-line formation. Meanwhile, Ruggiero was leading the inside lane and trying to muscle back to the front with his TRICON teammates with 20 laps remaining.
Shortly after, a tight four-wide action ensued as Ruggiero was pushed below the double yellow line zone by Riggs. With Hemric and Gray navigating their way to the front, Ruggiero was pinned in another four-wide action with teammate Heim, Crafton and Wood within the top-five mark. The field continued to fan out to four-tight lanes as Smith led a four-truck breakaway that included teammate Riggs, Gray and Ruggiero.
Then with 18 laps remaining, the caution flew as a multi-car truck wreck ensued in the backstretch. The wreck occurred when Jack Wood, who was racing outside the top-10 mark, got bumped by the drafting duo of Rhodes and Majeski amid a stack-up with Heim and Kligerman that occurred in front of Wood. As a result, Wood hit the outside wall and Rhodes clipped McDowell as Crafton, Breidinger, Caruth and Nathan Byrd were swept up in the carnage. Within the wreck, McDowell hit the outside wall while Caruth slid his No. 71 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Silverado RST entry down the track and pounded the outside wall.
Down to the final 12 laps of the event, the race restarted under green. At the start, Smith briefly launched ahead from the outside lane before Tanner Gray received a push from teammates Ruggiero, Sawalich and Heim to boost ahead from the inside lane through the first two turns. Gray then got loose amid a bump by Ruggiero entering the backstretch, which allowed the latter to assume a lead while also fending off Gray. Ruggiero proceeded to lead the following lap in front of three-stacked lanes and he would be placed on defensive mode to fend off Smith, Gray and Sawalich through the backstretch.
With 10 laps remaining, Heim, who was racing in the top five, made a save from going sideways between the first two turns as he continued to race towards the front. By then, the field continued to fan out to three-stacked lanes as Ruggiero retained the lead over teammate Gray. Shortly after, Ruggiero, the leader, led a long line of competitors racing towards the outside wall while Smith, who had front nose damage, was slowly losing ground of the lead despite being drafted by Riggs. Riggs would then overtake teammate Smith through the backstretch with eight laps remaining and try to mount his own charge to the front in the draft as Ruggiero continued to lead ahead of Gray, Heim, Hemric and Currey with seven laps remaining.
Down to the final five laps of the event, a majority of the field continued to race in single-line formation towards the outside wall as Ruggiero was leading in front of teammates Gray and Heim along with Hemric and Currey. Currey then broke away from the single-line formation and made his move to the inside lane. With a strong draft from Rhodes, Enfinger, Kligerman and Riggs, Currey was drafted into the lead exiting the backstretch. Ruggiero was then shoved out of the draft by teammate Gray and Hemric through Turns 3 and 4, which dropped Ruggiero to within the top-10 mark, as both Currey and Enfinger dueled for the lead through the frontstretch.
The following lap, Enfinger was shoved out of the draft by Gray through the backstretch as Rhodes zipped by Currey to return to the lead with drafting help from Kligerman. With Currey getting shoved out of the draft entering Turn 3, Riggs followed suit in third place while Smith and Gray tried to gain ground on the lead. As the field continued to scramble and fan out towards the front, Rhodes led with three laps remaining.
When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Rhodes and Kligerman, both of whom began dueled for the lead a lap earlier, were engaged in a side-by-side battle for the lead and in front of three stacked lanes through the frontstretch. Through the first two turns, Sauter mounted a charge from a third drafting lane towards the outside wall, but Kligerman moved up to pick up Sauter’s momentum. As a result, Kligerman boosted himself ahead of Rhodes and the field through the backstretch while Sauter, Majeski and Enfinger tried to follow suit.
Then exiting the backstretch, Rhodes, who was being pushed hard by Riggs and Smith, got loose, veered right and bumped into Gray and Sauter before he proceeded to spin below the track. Soon after, both Gray and Riggs got sideways while trying to straighten their trucks above the apron entering Turn 3. In the ensuing chaos, Riggs lost control and was hit while spinning across Turns 3 and 4 before he collided with Jake Garcia against the wall. Among other competitors who sustained damage from Riggs’ incident included Haley, Hemric, Currey and Smith.
Amid the carnage, the event concluded under caution. By then, Kligerman was ahead of Heim and Ruggiero with the lead and was ruled the winner on the track.
Following the celebrations both on the frontstretch and in Victory Lane, Kligerman’s victory was stripped due to his No. 75 Spiked Coolers/Henderson Motorsports Chevrolet Silverado RST entry being deemed too low in the rear heights during the post-race inspection process. With Kligerman demoted to the rear of the field in 36th place, Corey Heim was promoted from the runner-up spot to first place as he was awarded the victory.
As a result, Heim, who finished in the runner-up spot at Daytona a year ago, claimed his 12th Truck Series career victory, his first in the series ever at Daytona and his first series victory since he won at Kansas Speedway during the Round of 10 in the 2024 Playoffs. Heim also became the first full-time series regular to claim an early guaranteed spot towards the 2025 Playoffs with his awarded victory at Daytona.
“It’s certainly not as thrilling as winning the race on the racetrack,” Heim said in the media center. “I’ve been on the wrong side of it several times in my late model career. It’s cool to get a big win like that, I guess. I recall several instances where we think we win the race and then you start seeing everyone huddle up in tech and you’re like, ‘Oh boy,’ and next thing you know, we’re tossed out. It’s cool, especially at Daytona. We’ll take [wins] anyway we can get them. Good start to the year for our TRICON boys. Everyone worked together really well, teammate-wise, to get ourselves in position. I’m glad we could execute on the aftermath.”
Giovanni Ruggiero, Heim’s teammate at TRICON Garage and a Truck Series newcomer, was awarded a strong runner-up finish in his debut while Ty Majeski, Grant Enfinger and Justin Haley finished in the top five. Meanwhile, Chandler Smith, Daniel Hemric, Jason White, William Sawalich and rookie Frankie Muniz completed the top 10 in the final running order.
Notably, Jake Garcia, Layne Riggs and rookie Andres Perez de Lara, all of whom wrecked on the final lap, ended up 12th to 14th, respectively, while Rhodes, who slid on the final lap, fell back to 20th place. In addition, Sauter ended up in 17th place behind Norm Benning, Tanner Gray fell back to 22nd place, Matt Crafton settled in 27th place in between Michael McDowell and rookie Toni Breidinger.
There were 30 lead changes for different leaders. The race featured eight cautions for 33 laps. In addition, 23 of 36 starters finished on the lead lap.
Following the first event of the 2025 Craftsman Truck Series season, Corey Heim leads the regular-season standings by three points over Ty Majeski, four over Chandler Smith, eight over Grant Enfinger, 12 over Daniel Hemric and 13 over rookie Giovanni Ruggiero and Ben Rhodes.
Results:
1. Corey Heim, two laps led
2. Giovanni Ruggiero, 11 laps led
3. Ty Majeski
4. Grant Enfinger, seven laps led
5. Justin Haley, two laps led
6. Chandler Smith, 34 laps led
7. Daniel Hemric, seven laps led
8. Jason White
9. William Sawalich
10. Frankie Muniz
11. Timmy Hill
12. Jake Garcia
13. Layne Riggs
14. Andres Perez de Lara
15. Mason Maggio
16. Norm Benning
17. Johnny Sauter
18. Josh Reaume, one lap led
19. Spencer Boyd
20. Ben Rhodes, 22 laps led, Stage 1 winner
21. Bayley Currey
22. Tanner Gray, two laps led
23. Stewart Friesen, one lap down
24. Jack Wood, one lap down
25. Dawson Sutton, two laps down
26. Michael McDowell, two laps down, one lap led
27. Matt Crafton, two laps down, nine laps led, Stage 2 winner
28. Toni Breidinger, four laps down
29. Matt Mills, five laps down
30. Rajah Caruth – OUT, Accident
31. Nathan Byrd – OUT, Accident
32. Connor Mosack, 21 laps down
33. Clay Greenfield – OUT, Accident
34. Tyler Ankrum – OUT, Engine
35. Kaden Honeycutt – OUT, Accident
36. Parker Kligerman – Disqualified, two laps led
With the 2025 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series season underway, the next event on the schedule is Atlanta Motor Speedway for the FR8 208. The event is scheduled to occur next Saturday, February 22, and air at 1:30 p.m. ET on FS1.
