Corey Heim settled his score with Kansas Speedway by notching a dominant NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series victory in the Heart Of America 200 in the Heartland state on Saturday, May 4, after fending off Cup Series rookie Zane Smith for the top prize.
The 21-year-old Heim from Marietta, Georgia, led four times for a race-high 79 of 134 scheduled laps in an event where he started in 13th place but quickly carved his way to the front as he led for the first time on Lap 12. Following an early battle with Zane Smith, Heim would proceed to win the first stage period before he would battle Christian Eckes and Smith for the lead during the second stage period. After regaining the lead from Nick Sanchez on the track with 65 laps remaining, Heim would have to re-cycle back into the lead with 32 laps remaining during a late cycle of green flag pit stops.
Amid a late charge from Smith, Heim managed to maintain his ground and racing line along with navigating through lapped traffic to remain ahead of Smith and prevail for his second Truck Series victory of the 2024 season and his first at Kansas.
With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Saturday, Chase Purdy notched his third Truck career pole position after posting a pole-winning lap at 175.735 mph in 30.728 seconds. Joining him on the front row was Ty Majeski, who clocked in the second-fastest qualifying lap at 175.713 mph in 30.732 seconds.
Prior to the event, the following names that included Jake Garcia, Mason Massey and Timmy Hill dropped to the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments to their respective trucks. Nick Sanchez also started at the rear of the field due to his Rev Racing entry failing the inspection process three times which prevented him from posting a qualifying lap.
When the green flag waved and the race started, Chase Purdy muscled his No. 77 Bama Buggies Chevrolet Silverado RST ahead from the field through the first two turns with the lead as teammate Connor Mosack and Ty Dillon took Ty Majeski three wide to assume second and third place on the track. With the field fanned out as far as four wide exiting the backstretch and back towards the frontstretch, Purdy proceeded to lead the first lap while teammate Mosack, who won the ARCA Menards Series event at Kansas earlier in the day, followed suit in second place.
A lap later, the event’s first caution flew when Majeski, who started on the front row but was losing a bevy of spots through the frontstretch, scraped the outside wall in Turn 1 after cutting a left-front tire. The incident pinned Majeski two laps behind the leaders as his pit crew attempted to keep Majeski’s No. 98 Road Ranger Ford F-150 raceable.
As the event restarted under green on the sixth lap, Purdy retained the lead ahead of Zane Smith, Christian Eckes, Mosack and Ben Rhodes while the rest of the field behind started to fan out through the first two turns and through the backstretch. Purdy would lead the proceeding lap until Smith made a move beneath Purdy through Turns 3 and 4 to assume the lead. With Smith leading the race, Purdy was pressured by a hard-charging Corey Heim, who would claim the runner-up spot by the ninth lap, as Eckes tried to follow suit.
Through the first 10 scheduled laps, Zane Smith was leading by a tenth of a second ahead of a hard-charging Heim followed by Purdy, Eckes and Rhodes while Daniel Dye, Ty Dillon, Mosack, Kaden Honeycutt and Taylor Gray were scored in the top 10. Behind, Rajah Caruth was in 11th ahead of Stewart Friesen, Brett Moffitt, Tyler Ankrum and Matt Crafton while Bayley Currey, Grant Enfinger, Tanner Gray, Dean Thompson and Matt Mills were running in the top 20.
Two laps later, Heim ignited a side-by-side challenge against Smith for the lead, where Heim led the Lap 12 mark through the frontstretch before Smith led the following lap as both remained dead even for the lead. As Stewart Friesen pitted his No. 52 Halmar Toyota Tundra TRD Pro under green after getting into the wall a few laps earlier, Heim managed to muscle his No. 11 Safelite Toyota Tundra TRD Pro ahead and clear Smith’s No. 91 Instacoat Premium Products Chevrolet Silverado RST to assume the lead with both lanes to his control by Lap 14.
At the Lap 20 mark, Heim was leading by half a second over Smith as Purdy, Eckes and Rhodes continued to follow suit in the top five. Behind, Honeycutt was up to sixth place ahead of Ty Dillon and Daniel Dye while Mosack and Taylor Gray were racing in the top 10.
When the first stage period concluded on Lap 30, Heim notched his second Truck stage victory of the 2024 season. Zane Smith settled in second followed by Eckes, Purdy and Kaden Honeycutt while Rhodes, Mosack, Tyler Ankrum, Ty Dillon and Daniel Dye were scored in the top 10. By then, Majeski, who lost several laps since the restart following his opening lap incident, took his truck to the garage as he retired in 33rd place, dead last.
Under the stage break, the lead lap field led by Heim pitted for service for the first time in the event. Following the pit stops, Eckes emerged as the new leader after exiting pit road first followed by Honeycutt, Smith and Heim. Amid the pit stops, Dean Thompson, Daniel Dye and rookie Thad Moffitt were penalized for speeding on pit road. In addition, Jake Garcia was penalized for a pit box interference while Cam Waters, who was making his second Truck career start, was also penalized for an uncontrolled tire violation.
During the pit stops, Lawless Alan overshot his pit box and hit his front tire changer Brandon Henry. As a result, Henry, who survived the incident, was taken to the infield care center while a new tire changer took over to complete the pit service.
The second stage period started on Lap 37 as Eckes and Honeycutt occupied the front row. At the start, Eckes rocketed his No. 19 Adaptive One Calipers Chevrolet Silverado RST ahead with the lead from the inside lane as the field fanned out through the first two turns and the backstretch. Amid the battles, Smith claimed the runner-up spot from Honeycutt while Nick Sanchez, who carved his way towards the front from the rear of the field and restarted in the top 10, was losing a bevy of spots as he was being pinned in the middle of a bevy of three-wide battles. Smith would then waste little time overtaking teammate Eckes to reassume the lead on Lap 39, but Eckes would pressure Smith on the track during the proceeding laps as he tried to reclaim the lead.
Through the Lap 45 mark, Smith retained the lead by a tenth of a second over teammate Eckes, who continued to intimidate his McAnally-Hilgemann Racing teammate for the top spot, while Heim, Honeycutt and Purdy followed suit in the top five. Behind, Nick Sanchez was up to sixth place as Moffitt, Mosack, Rhodes and Dillon were running in the top 10 ahead of Caruth, Tanner Gray, Bayley Currey, Taylor Gray and Ankrum.
Five laps later, Smith continued to lead by six-tenths of a second over Heim as third-place/teammate Eckes trailed by a second. By then, Honeycutt and Purdy continued to run in the top five as Moffitt overtook Sanchez for sixth place. In addition, Caruth was up to 10th place as he trailed teammate Mosack and Rhodes on the track while Dillon dropped to 13th. Amid the on-track battles, Smith stabilized his advantage to six-tenths of a second over Heim by the Lap 55 mark.
When the second stage period ended on Lap 60, Smith cruised to his first Truck stage victory of the 2024 season. Heim followed suit in second along with Eckes, Honeycutt and Purdy while Moffitt, Sanchez, Caruth, Mosack and Rhodes were scored in the top 10. By then, 27 of 33 starters were scored on the lead lap.
During the stage break, the lead lap field led by Smith returned to pit road for service. Following the pit stops, Eckes reassumed the lead after exiting pit road first for the second time of the event followed by Heim, Honeycutt, Sanchez, Moffitt and Mosack while Smith exited out of pit road in eighth place. Amid the pit stops, Ankrum was assessed a safety violation penalty that sent him to the rear of the field from a top-15 running spot.
With 67 laps remaining, which marked the halfway mark of the event, the final stage commenced as Eckes and Heim occupied the front row. At the start, Eckes received a push from Sanchez on the inside lane to storm ahead with the lead through the first two turns as the field fanned out. Amid the field fanning out during the following lap, Sanchez cycled his No. 2 Gainbridge Chevrolet Silverado RST into the lead before Heim used a crossover move on Sanchez through the frontstretch to reassume the lead. Honeycutt would muscle his No. 45 Niece Motorsports Chevrolet Silverado RST into the runner-up spot while Sanchez tried to fend off Eckes and Smith for third place.
With less than 60 laps remaining, Heim was leading by two-tenths of a second over Honeycutt followed by Smith, Eckes and Moffitt as Tanner Gray, Currey, Sanchez, Taylor Gray and Matt Crafton trailed in the top 10 ahead of Purdy, Rhodes, Dye, Mosack, Jake Garcia, Caruth, Thompson, Dillon, Bret Holmes and Enfinger. Meanwhile, rookie Layne Riggs was mired in 23rd ahead of Ankrum and Cam Waters.
Down to the final 50 laps of the event, Heim retained the lead by over two-tenths of a second over a hard-charging Honeycutt as Smith, Eckes and Moffitt continued to run in the top five. Behind, brothers Tanner and Taylor Gray were running sixth and eighth while Currey was placed in the middle of the Gray brothers as Sanchez and Crafton continued to trail in the top 10.
Ten laps later, Heim extended his advantage to a second over Honeycutt, who closed in on Heim for the lead earlier before losing ground, as Smith, Eckes and Moffitt continued to trail in the top five.
Shortly after, a cycle of green flag pit stops commenced as Heim led Smith and a bevy of competitors to pit road for service before Honeycutt led another group of leaders, including Eckes and Moffitt, to pit road with 39 laps remaining. By then, Rajah Caruth pitted under green two laps earlier as more pitted during the proceeding laps while Daniel Dye, who has yet to pit, was leading. Mason Massey, who also has yet to pit, would then assume the lead with 34 laps remaining as Dye pitted under green. Amid the pit stops, Purdy lost multiple laps due to a loose wheel during his green flag pit service.
Then with 32 laps remaining, Heim cycled back into the lead after Massey pitted under green. Smith would cycle into second place followed by Eckes and Honeycutt as Heim was scored the leader by three seconds with 30 laps remaining.
With 25 laps remaining, Heim retained the lead by nearly three seconds over Smith while Eckes, Honeycutt and Moffitt were racing in the top five. Behind, Tanner Gray, Sanchez, Taylor Gray, Timmy Hill and Currey were in the top 10. Hill would then pit during the following lap before Taylor Gray slapped the outside wall in Turn 2 after sustaining a flat right-front tire to his No. 17 JBL Toyota Tundra TRD Pro. Amid Gray’s incident, where he pitted, the race remained under green flag conditions as Heim stabilized his advantage to two seconds over Smith with 20 laps remaining.
Down to the final 15 laps of the event, Heim continued to lead by two seconds over Smith while Eckes trailed in third place. As Honeycutt and Moffitt trailed in the top five, the following names that included Sanchez, Tanner Gray, Currey, Thompson and Crafton were racing in the top 10 as Dye, Enfinger, Caruth, Bret Holmes and Dillon followed suit in the top 15.
Five laps later, Heim’s advantage decreased to just over a second over Smith, who was trying to narrow the deficit between himself and the leader, while third-place Eckes trailed by four seconds. Honeycutt and Moffitt continued to run in the top five and sixth-place Sanchez trailed the lead by 16 seconds while Heim stabilized his advantage to two seconds over Smith with five laps remaining.
When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Heim remained as the leader by a second over a hard-charging Smith. As Smith tried to narrow the gap while Heim was mired in lapped traffic through the backstretch, the latter was able to stabilize his advantage to perfection and cruise his No. 11 Safelite Toyota Tundra TRD Pro back to the frontstretch victorious for his second checkered flag of the 2024 Truck Series season.
With the victory, Heim notched his seventh career win in the Craftsman Truck Series, his first since winning at Circuit of the Americas this past March and his first at Kansas after finishing within the top four during both Truck Kansas events in 2023. Heim also joins Eckes as the only two series regulars to achieve multiple victories thus far into the 2024 Truck Series season while also delivering the second victory of the season for both TRICON Garage and the Toyota nameplate.
Heim’s Kansas victory also extends his strong start to the 2024 season as he has finished in the top 10 through the first eight events on the schedule while he also continues his pursuit for his first Truck Series championship. The Georgia native will also be making his second Cup Series career start as a relief competitor for Legacy Motor Club and the injured Erik Jones on Sunday.
“[I] Can’t say enough about these guys at TRICON Garage,” Heim said on FS1. “Top to bottom, we executed so well today. Pit crew, everyone back at the shop at TRICON Garage. What a truck. Definitely struggled with being free for most of the race, so I can’t say it was easy, but even with the balance I had, this truck has so much more potential to get better. [I] Really wanted this one today and drove my butt off for it.”
“[I] Just keep getting better, keeping that gap ahead of the second place guy’s the main thing,” Heim added. “I feel like we were so due on this place and I really wanted this one today, so I knew we were gonna be capable of winning today. It’s about putting some more consistency together for the rest of the year and going after that championship.”
Smith, a Cup Series Rookie-of-the-Year candidate who led three times for 29 laps, settled in second place in his fourth and final Truck Series start of the 2024 season, all while piloting the No. 91 entry for McAnally-Hilgemann Racing. Amid his strong run, Smith expressed his disappointment in losing a bevy of spots from the lead on pit road prior to the final stage period.
“I was surprised with how much we caught [Heim] there at the very end,” Smith said. “[You] Can’t lose eight spots on pit road. I let that [race] got away there.”
Teammate Christian Eckes, who led 11 laps, came home in third place followed by Kaden Honeycutt, who notched his first top-five career result after finishing fourth, while Brett Moffitt finished in fifth place in his first of select starts driving for TRICON Garage.
“It definitely sucks to come that close and not finish the job, but still a great run,” Honeycutt said. “You got to crawl before you walk, so this is the start of something of our part-time schedule.”
“It was a good night,” Moffitt added. “[I] learned a lot and we’ll move onto the next one and hopefully, be a little bit better.”
Nick Sanchez rallied from starting at the rear of the field to finish sixth while Tanner Gray, Dean Thompson, Daniel Dye and Matt Crafton finished in the top 10.
Notably, Rajah Caruth finished 13th, Rhodes ended up 16th behind Ty Dillon, Ankrum ended up 20th, Taylor Gray was mired in 27th, and pole winner Chase Purdy concluded his event in 28th place. In addition, rookie Layne Riggs and Cam Waters, both of whom made contact on the frontstretch prior to the event’s conclusion and had a heated post-race discussion on pit road, finished 18th and 19th, respectively.
There were 13 lead changes for six different leaders. The race featured three cautions for 16 laps. In addition, 14 of 33 starters finished on the lead lap.
Following the eighth event of the 2024 Craftsman Truck Series season, which marks the halfway mark of this year’s regular-season stretch, Corey Heim leads the regular-season standings by seven points over Christian Eckes, 49 over Nick Sanchez, 65 over Ty Majeski and 80 over Tyler Ankrum.
Results.
1. Corey Heim, 79 laps led, Stage 1 winner
2. Zane Smith, 29 laps led, Stage 2 winner
3. Christian Eckes, 11 laps led
4. Kaden Honeycutt, one lap led
5. Brett Moffitt
6. Nick Sanchez, one lap led
7. Tanner Gray
8. Dean Thompson
9. Daniel Dye, four laps led
10. Matt Crafton
11. Bayley Currey
12. Grant Enfinger
13. Rajah Caruth
14. Bret Holmes
15. Ty Dillon, one lap down
16. Ben Rhodes, one lap down
17. Jake Garcia, one lap down
18. Layne Riggs, one lap down
19. Cam Waters, one lap down
20. Tyler Ankrum, one lap down
21. Mason Massey, one lap down, two laps led
22. Timmy Hill, two laps down
23. Matt Mills, two laps down
24. Thad Moffitt, two laps down
25. Stewart Friesen, two laps down
26. Lawless Alan, two laps down
27. Taylor Gray, three laps down
28. Chase Purdy, three laps down, seven laps led
29. Mason Maggio, three laps down
30. Connor Mosack, three laps down
31. Spencer Boyd, five laps down
32. Jennifer Jo Cobb, six laps down
33. Ty Majeski – OUT, DVP
Next on the 2024 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series schedule is Darlington Raceway in Darlington, South Carolina, for the Buckle Up South Carolina 200. The event is scheduled to occur next Friday, May 10, and air at 7:30 p.m. ET on FS1.
