Reigning Truck Series champion goes from ninth-to-first on the final restart to win for 24th time
DARLINGTON, SC (March 20, 2026) – TRICON Garage driver and reigning Truck Series champion Corey Heim drove a masterful final restart to deliver his first win in his second Truck Series start this season. After his crew chief Seth Smith made a call to go for tires, Heim drove his Tundra from ninth to first to claim victory. With the win, Heim earned his 24th career Truck Series victory – tying him with Johnny Sauter for fifth all-time. Heim also tied Kyle Busch with his 28th consecutive start with laps led in the Truck Series, which is the most all-time.
His TRICON Garage teammate, Kaden Honeycutt, had the dominate Tundra the majority of the night as the Texas native won the second stage and led the most laps (59), before suffering wall contact while racing for the lead in the closing laps. Honeycutt finished fourth and moved up to second in the standings.
Toyota had half of the top-10 finishers with Heim, Honeycutt, Christopher Bell (sixth), Gio Ruggiero (eighth) and William Sawalich (10th).
TOYOTA RACING Post-Race Recap
NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series (NCTS)
Darlington Raceway
Race 4 of 23 – 200.8 Miles, 147 Laps
TOYOTA FINISHING POSITIONS
1st, COREY HEIM
2nd, Ross Chastain*
3rd, Christian Eckes*
4th, KADEN HONEYCUTT
5th, Connor Mosack*
6th, CHRISTOPHER BELL
8th, GIO RUGGIERO
10th, WILLIAM SAWALICH
13th, TANNER GRAY
14th, TIMMY HILL
25th, STEWART FRIESEN
26th, JUSTIN CARROLL
*non-Toyota driver
TOYOTA QUOTES
COREY HEIM, No. 5 Frontline Enterprises Toyota Tundra TRD Pro, TRICON Garage
Finishing Position: 1st
Where did you come from?
“I’m out of breath. We had that set of scuffs laying – they were five laps fresher than everyone else, and I was like it is worth a shot. I don’t think we can win from where we are at, and sure enough, I just felt like I made all of the right moves. I made it three wide coming to the white and bombed it in there on Ross (Chastain). I was shocked he gave me the bottom with fresher tires like that. So thankful for TRICON Garage. So happy to be able to get this No. 5 Frontline Enterprises Tundra in victory lane. I didn’t even know I was racing this race until three weeks ago. Frontline came on board and helped me out with this deal. I love racing. I love winning, and I just drove the crap out of it, and it worked out. That was awesome. I love racing. I love Darlington, and just want to do it more often.”
KADEN HONEYCUTT, No. 11 Safelite Toyota Tundra TRD Pro, TRICON Garage
Finishing Position: 4th
What else did you need this evening?
“Not have Cup guys stuff me in the fence, just because they have nothing to lose. 77 (Carson Hocevar) did it in (turns) one and two, and Ross (Chastain) did it off of two, and then I kind of lost it from there, and then the 5 (Corey Heim) came on tires. Caution fell their way – so congrats to TRICON for getting that done. We definitely had the best truck tonight, but when they have nothing to lose and they come race in this series – they just do whatever they want. It is what it is, but thank you to Safelite and Toyota. This whole TRICON Garage team does such a great job. TOYOTA RACING – what else can you ask for, just disappointing for sure.”
About Toyota
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Toyota directly employs nearly 48,000 people in the U.S. who have contributed to the design, engineering, and assembly of more than 35 million cars and trucks at our 11 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.
