Corey Heim wins the Truck Series Playoff-Opener at Darlington

Corey Heim won the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series playoff-opening race, Sober or Slammer 200, at Darlington Raceway. After a restart on Lap 134, He pulled away by 0.766 seconds ahead of fellow playoff driver Daniel Hemric for his first victory at the “Lady in Black.” It marked his 19th career victory and his eighth win of the 2025 season.

With the win, Heim also earned automatic advancement to the Round of 8 in the Playoffs.

“We had that tire going down at the end of stage two. I felt it swing tight quick. Luckily, it wasn’t a blowout, or obviously, we would have been in trouble. We held with it. I felt like the 34 (Layne Riggs) and the 38 (Chandler Smith) were really good all day. I could make a little speed on the wall, but it was such a high-risk play.

“If you screw up – I mean, you saw so many people have those right front issues. If you scrub the wall, you are in bad shape. So proud of these guys. It feels like I’m in a dream. Eight wins is phenomenal. Crazy to look back on, but so much to look forward to. Just really speechless as far as effort. Them, and Toyota and Safelite – it’s been an awesome ride and we are going to keep going.” Heim said.

Hemric finished second, Grant Enfinger third, Ty Majeski fourth, and Trevor Bayne, in his first NASCAR Truck Series race since 2020, rounded out the top-5 finishers.

Majeski spoke about the obstacles they overcame to grab a top-5 finish.

“It happened with about five to go left in the stage, so we obviously came down pit road and did a green flag pit stop and put those tires on. We took the wave around and stayed out on those old tires in stage two. A five-lap deficit is a big deal here, so I was just trying to get what I could get track position-wise,” He also noted that he “had to come back down at the end of stage two and fix some damage, so we lost some more spots.

“We basically restarted 17th in that last stage and got up to 10th, and then the caution came out, and we made up a few spots on the restart. We had a good truck all day, but just nothing to show for it with no track position. I’m proud of the effort today. It could have been disastrous for sure, and glad we recovered as a team. The pit stops were great. Good execution today.” Majeski said.

This was Bayne’s first Truck Series start

“I didn’t know for sure on Saturday that I was going to be in this No. 1 Victory Junction TRICON Toyota,” Bayne said, “but I found out on Sunday for sure. Came to Charlotte on Monday, got fitted in the truck. I have a suit that I think came off the rack from somewhere in Mooresville that they threw some logos on, but to get a top-five – that’s all we can ask for coming back cold turkey.

“We weren’t great to start the weekend either, even to start the race, this thing was a handful – we kept adjusting every stop and making it better and better. If we could have started where we ended, I think we maybe would have been able to stay side-by-side with Corey (Heim) for a lap. I don’t know if I would have lasted much longer than that, but congrats to the 11 guys, Tanner (Gray) with a top-six. I’ll take it.”

The race featured three caution flags for 19 laps, and nine lead changes among four drivers.

After Darlington, Corey Heim leads the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series standings over Layne Riggs by 59 points, 64 over Daniel Hemric, 67 over Grant Enfinger, and 75 points over Tyler Ankrum.

Up next:

The CRAFTSMAN Truck Series heads to Bristol Motor Speedway for the UNOH 200 presented by Ohio Logistics on Thursday, September 11th at 8:00 pm ET on FS1.

NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series Race Number 19
Race Results for the Sober or Slammer 200 – Saturday, August 30, 2025
Darlington Raceway – Darlington, SC – 1.366 – Mile Paved