HEIM DELIVERS THIRD WIN OF THE SEASON AT TEXAS
The Toyota Development Driver becomes the youngest 14-time winner in series history, ties Benson for third-most Toyota Truck Series wins
FORT WORTH (May 2, 2025) – Corey Heim continued to add to his accolades in the NASCAR Truck Series as the Georgia-native won his third Truck Series race of the season at Texas Motor Speedway. Heim had the dominate truck – leading at one point by nearly 16 seconds – and survived several late race restarts to claim his first win at Texas and 14th of his NASCAR Truck Series career. Heim is the youngest 14-time winner in Truck Series history, and ties Johnny Benson for the third-most Truck Series wins in Toyota’s history.
Heim’s teammate, Tanner Gray, battled back from a late-race pit road speeding penalty to finish fifth – his second top-five of the season – to give Toyota two Tundras among the top-five finishers.
Toyota Racing Post-Race Recap
NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series (NCTS)
Bristol Motor Speedway
Race 8 of 23 – 250.5 Miles, 167 Laps
TOYOTA FINISHING POSITIONS
1st, COREY HEIM
2nd, Daniel Hemric*
3rd, Rajah Caruth*
4th, Tyler Ankrum*
5th, TANNER GRAY
24th, STEWART FRIESEN
26th, TONI BREIDINGER
30th, BRANDON JONES
31st, GIO RUGGIERO
*non-Toyota driver
TOYOTA QUOTES
COREY HEIM, No. 11 Safelite + Foster Love Toyota Tundra TRD Pro, TRICON Garage
Finishing Position: 1st
What were you thinking on that final restart?
“Man, I can’t believe how many restarts we got there in the end, but went into turn one pretty much in the worst possible position I could be in – three wide middle. I knew I was either going to win or wreck. I was willing to take that risk. We were really dominate in the race today, so I kind of laid it all out there. I knew the risk, but I wanted the reward. Super thankful for TRICON Garage, Toyota, Safelite – it is just so cool to have this National Foster Care Month scheme. It is a really cause we are going for and to open it up with a win in the month of May is really cool.”
What does it feel like to have a truck as dominate as you had today?
“I think inevitably there was going to be a caution at some point. It seems like in these stage threes, people either wreck on pit road or under green, blow a tire, something like that. I kind of knew it was coming when it first came out with 26 to go. It was halfway expected, but the cautions after that we had the last eight or 10 laps were pretty brutal. I can’t say I expected that one, but regardless, I knew the risk of putting it all out there to win and how big these runs are at Texas, but I was willing to take that risk.”
TANNER GRAY, No. 15 A Place of Hope Toyota Tundra TRD Pro, TRICON Garage
Finishing Position: 5th
How did you overcome the speeding penalty to bring him a top-five finish tonight?
“It wasn’t the cleanest night for us. We started off the race and we were just really loose the first 20 laps, but Jeff Hensley (crew chief) and all these guys made great adjustments throughout the race to get us closer. I thought we were really good there coming in for that green flag stop and I sped on pit road through a few sections. A sloppy day on my part, but luckily all these guys from TRICON Garage brought a really fast Toyota Tundra. It was cool to have a teammate win and have another one with a top-five right down the road where Tundras are made. Just really proud of everyone, I need to clean up a lot of my end, but I can’t be mad with fifth.”
BRANDON JONES, No. 1 Amdro Toyota Tundra TRD Pro, TRICON Garage
Finishing Position: 30th
Have you seen a replay of the accident?
“I saw it pretty good live. A lot of money involved to come out here and race trucks and I wanted to win some races for TRICON and our Toyota Tundra TRD Pro. I’m running out of time a little bit, I only have a few more left to be able to run this year and figured Texas was a really good one for us. We made a lot of ground up early in this race. I was pretty happy with the speed we were showing early on and we were a pit stop away from getting it really close and be able to go and contend for the win. I’ve seen guys commit to that move, but that was big, he turned down right in the middle of the tri-oval and it’s rained here all day long so when you drive right through it you are going to slash it pretty big. It happened so quick in the heat of the moment, it was pretty tough to miss. I’ve got to switch gears now and turn our attention to Xfinity tomorrow. We didn’t get any track time today in the Xfinity Series with all the rain,so I was hoping to get some laps today. We had a lot of people come out today from Amdro come and support us so you always hate to end early when you have guests come.”
GIO RUGGIERO, No. 17 JBL Toyota Tundra TRD Pro, TRICON Garage
Finishing Position: 31st
What happened that caused that wreck?
“It is just so hard to see the grass here on the frontstretch when you are behind other trucks. I definitely misjudged it on my part. Really unfortunate for all of my guys. We had a really fast JBL Tundra – definitely not how I wanted tonight to go. Just have to keep digging and come back stronger for the next one.”
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