The Toyota Development Driver breaks additional records on his way to a record-breaking night
AVONDALE, Ariz. (October 31, 2025) – Corey Heim concluded his dominate season with another victory – his record-setting 12th – as the Toyota Development Driver won his first Truck Series championship. During the night, Heim became the first driver in series history to lead at least one lap in every race this season, along with taking over the all-time single season laps led record.
Fellow Toyota driver Kaden Honeycutt had a stellar night as well as he drove from the back of the pack to finish third and finish third in the overall point standings.
Gio Ruggiero, despite being taken out in an accident this evening, was named the season-long Rookie of the Year.
Toyota GAZOO Racing Post-Race Recap
NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series (NCTS)
Phoenix Raceway
Race 25 of 25 – 150 Miles, 150 Laps
TOYOTA FINISHING POSITIONS
1st, COREY HEIM
2nd, Ty Majeski*
3rd, KADEN HONEYCUTT
4th, Layne Riggs*
5th, Rajah Caruth*
18th, GREG VAN ALST
21st, TANNER GRAY
23rd, COLE BUTCHER
25th, TONI BREIDINGER
28th, BRENT CREWS
31st, GIO RUGGIERO
*non-Toyota driver
TOYOTA QUOTES
COREY HEIM, No. 11 Safelite Toyota Tundra TRD Pro, TRICON Garage
Finishing Position: 1st
What does this mean to you?
“I just am so grateful to be where I’m at. So thankful for the TRICON Garage, Toyota taking a chance on me years ago, Safelite, Mobil 1, Yahoo, Celsius, for every bit of their support. I was so stressed out ever since we went to the ROVAL. I’ve been, like, so terrible to talk to as a person, so stressed out. This is just such a relief, to say the least. So thankful for everybody. There’s so many names I could go through, Trevor (Bayne, Competition Mentor, TRD) and Blake (Koch, Competition Mentor, TRD) for all my prep work, 23XI for everything they do for me on the development side. There’s such a long list. Thankful for everybody involved.“
KADEN HONEYCUTT, No. 52 Halmar International Toyota Tundra TRD Pro, Halmar-Friesen Racing
Finishing Position: 3rd
How will you reflect on this experience?
“I don’t think it can be anything but good honestly. Just thank you to Stewart (Friesen), everyone at HFR (Halmar-Friesen Racing), Toyota, Halmar, everyone that gave me the chance to be here tonight honestly. We had a good truck. The initial start is what it is. Ultimately didn’t change how we finished. With our speed, we were able to get back up there, fight the two in the end. The last restart, the only thing I had a chance at is if him and Corey (Heim) got together and we could have been three on the bottom into (turn) three. Ultimately didn’t happen. Didn’t have the balance we needed there to fight for it. Like I said, this run was for Stewart (Friesen), this whole team. Definitely nothing to hang my head about for sure. My goal when I signed up this year was to at least be here. We did that. Definitely was a crazy journey to be here. Thanks to everybody that has been supporting me and been in my corner. Looking forward to next year, and hopefully have Stewart (Friesen) back in the seat where he belongs with this team.”
GIO RUGGIERO, No. 17 JBL Toyota Tundra TRD Pro, TRICON Garage
Finishing Position: 31st
What happened to take you out of the race early?
“I just saw the wall honestly. I think I was top of three there getting into turn three and whoever was on the bottom just came up and cleaned us out. I don’t know if they had a flat tire or hit the inside wall. Just unfortunate. We had an okay day going. Just sucks we couldn’t close out the season with another top 10.”
About Toyota
Toyota (NYSE:TM) has been a part of the cultural fabric in North America for nearly 70 years, and is committed to advancing sustainable, next-generation mobility through our Toyota and Lexus brands, plus our more than 1,800 dealerships.
Toyota directly employs nearly 64,000 people in North America who have contributed to the design, engineering, and assembly of nearly 49 million cars and trucks at our 14 manufacturing plants. In 2025, Toyota’s plant in North Carolina began to assemble automotive batteries for electrified vehicles.
For more information about Toyota, visit www.ToyotaNewsroom.com.
