Playoff contender Corey Heim claimed the pole position for the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series’ inaugural running of the Ecosave 250 at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course (Roval) on Friday, October 3.
The event’s starting lineup was determined through a single qualifying round, where the entered competitors were split into two groups after the event’s practice session. The competitors in each group were given 20 minutes to post a qualifying lap. After the time trials, the driver posting the overall fastest lap time is awarded the pole position.
During the event’s qualifying trials, Heim, who was the fastest competitor during the event’s lone practice session earlier on Friday, qualified in the second group and posted a pole-winning lap at 96.492 mph in 85.064 seconds.
With the pole, Heim, a Marietta, Georgia, native and driver of the No. 11 Mobil 1/TRICON Garage Toyota Tundra TRD Pro entry, notched his seventh Craftsman Truck Series pole of the 2025 season and the 14th of his career. The pole was also Heim’s third of the 2025 season on road courses. He previously started on the pole at Lime Rock Park and Watkins Glen International, and won both events.
Currently, Heim is one of eight Playoff contenders battling for one of four Championship 4 berths as Friday’s Charlotte Roval event marks the first of three events in the Playoff’s Round of 8. While Heim was left pleased with the pole, he now sets his sights on executing a smooth, methodical event in the series’ first race on the Roval that would enable him to secure an early berth to the Championship 4 round amid a dominant season highlighted with nine victories.
“It was a little bit of a guessing game with the trucks never have been to the [Charlotte] Roval in prior years,” Heim said. “[I’] Glad we could hit that setup on the dot and all the sim work we did leading up to the event with Toyota, which really translated well for us.
“I think track position’s going to be big here,” Heim continued, “mostly just to stay ahead of the chaotic mid-pack action and what not. It’s going to be tough to figure out strategy with flipping stages potentially and stuff like that, but glad that we could start [the weekend] off on a high note.”
Heim will share the front row with fellow Playoff contender Layne Riggs, the latter of whom clocked in his best lap at 96.261 mph in 85.268 seconds. Brent Crews and Playoff contenders Grant Enfinger and Kaden Honeycutt will start in the top five, respectively.
Connor Zilisch, a full-time NASCAR Xfinity Series competitor who is making a one-race appearance in the series with Spire Motorsports’ No. 7 Chevrolet Silverado RST team and who was the fastest competitor in the first qualifying group, will start in sixth place, with his best lap occurring at 95.754 mph in 85.720 seconds. Rookie Giovanni Ruggiero, Corey LaJoie, Playoff contender Ty Majeski and Josh Bilicki will start in the top 10, respectively.
With five of eight Playoff contenders starting in the top 10, the remaining contenders that include Tyler Ankrum, Rajah Caruth and Daniel Hemric will start 11th, 18th and 34th, respectively. Hemric was unable to post a qualifying lap due to a broken suspension that occurred in practice
With 36 competitors vying for 36 starting spots, all of the entered competitors made the event.
Qualifying position, Best speed, Best time:
1. Corey Heim, 96.492 mph, 85.064 seconds
2. Layne Riggs, 96.261 mph, 85.268 seconds
3. Brent Crews, 96.228 mph, 85.297 seconds
4. Grant Enfinger, 96.196 mph, 85.326 seconds
5. Kaden Honeycutt, 96.010 mph, 85.491 seconds
6. Connor Zilisch, 95.754 mph, 85.720 seconds
7. Giovanni Ruggiero, 95.690 mph, 85.777 seconds
8. Corey LaJoie, 95.646 mph, 85.816 seconds
9. Ty Majeski, 95.563 mph, 85.891 seconds
10. Josh Bilicki, 95.491 mph, 85.956 seconds
11. Tyler Ankrum, 95.216 mph, 86.204 seconds
12. Bayley Currey, 94.965 mph, 86.432 seconds
13. Andres Perez de Lara, 94.954 mph, 86.442 seconds
14. Tanner Gray, 94.937 mph, 86.457 seconds
15. Connor Mosaic. 94.931 mph, 86.463 seconds
16. Parker Kligerman, 94.817 mph, 86.567 seconds
17. Matt Mills, 94.813 mph, 86.570 seconds
18. Rajah Caruth, 94.551 mph, 86.810 seconds
19. Dawson Sutton, 94.346 mph, 96.999 seconds
20. Chandler Smith, 94.016 mph, 87.304 seconds
21. Ben Maier, 93.924 mph, 87.390 seconds
22. Ben Rhodes, 93.911 mph, 87.402 seconds
23. Jake Garcia, 93.769 mph, 87.534 seconds
24. Matt Crafton, 93.743 mph, 87.559 seconds
25. Kris Wright, 93.656 mph, 87.640 seconds
26. Timmy Hill, 93.524 mph, 87.764 seconds
27. Jack Wood, 93.428 mph, 87.854 seconds
28. Wesley Slimp, 93.289 mph, 87.985 seconds
29. Mason Maggio, 92.215 mph, 89.005 seconds
30. Toni Breidinger, 92.093 mph, 89.127 seconds
31. Will Rodgers, 91.921 mph, 89.294 seconds
32. Spencer Boyd, 91.319 mph, 89.883 seconds
33. Tyler Tomassi, 90.730 mph, 90.446 seconds
34. Daniel Hemric, 0.000 mph, 0.000 seconds
35. Josh Reaume, 0.000 mph, 0.000 seconds
36. Carter Fartuch, 0.000 mph, 0.000 seconds
*Bold indicates Playoff contenders.
The 2025 Ecosave 250 at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Road course is scheduled to occur on Friday, October 3, and air at 3:30 p.m. ET on FS1, NASCAR Racing Network and SiriusXM.
