Corey Heim punches Championship Round ticket with Bristol win

Christian Eckes was looking to earn a spot in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series‘ Championship Round, but Corey Heim ended up stealing it from him in the end. Eckes led 150 of 200 laps but was overtaken by Heim in the final six laps, securing the regular season champion’s third win of the season.

With the help of lapped traffic, which is especially easy to encounter at short tracks like Bristol Motor Speedway, Heim caught Eckes with six laps to go. He went to Eckes’ inside as they lapped Heim’s TRICON Garage team-mate Tanner Gray before clearing him exiting turn four for the lead.

“This is insane. I feel like I’ve given so many away this year and to win one at the end like that is so special,” said Heim. “To win one like that is unreal. I feel like I’ve given so many away, but I feel like I’ve got one back.

“I was in the zone. I was thinking about all of the races that we gave away, and didn’t give away, and I just focused forward and set my pass up right where I needed to. Tony Hirschman, my spotter, did an awesome job getting me through there. I’m out of breath. It’s just so awesome to know we are in Phoenix. It’s awesome.”

Eckes was unable to catch up as both tried to navigate through laps-down trucks. He settled for second, spoiling an otherwise dominant night as he won the first two stages from the pole.

Zane Smith led forty-three laps but finished twenty-fourth and a lap down after receiving a penalty for pitting outside his stall.

Jack Wood and Dean Thompson brought out the first of two non-stage cautions when they wrecked on lap fifteen. Greg Van Alst spun on lap 75 after finishing fifth in the ARCA Menards Series race earlier in the day.

Race results

Finish	Start	Number	Driver	Team	Manufacturer	Laps	Status
1	11	11	Corey Heim	TRICON Garage	Toyota	200	Running
2	1	19	Christian Eckes	McAnally-Hilgemann Racing	Chevrolet	200	Running
3	13	23	Grant Enfinger	GMS Racing	Chevrolet	200	Running
4	2	42	Carson Hocevar	Niece Motorsports	Chevrolet	200	Running
5	8	17	Taylor Gray	TRICON Garage	Toyota	200	Running
6	5	24	Rajah Caruth	GMS Racing	Chevrolet	200	Running
7	18	99	Ben Rhodes	ThorSport Racing	Ford	200	Running
8	3	4	Chase Purdy	Kyle Busch Motorsports	Chevrolet	200	Running
9	35	2	Nick Sanchez	Rev Racing	Chevrolet	200	Running
10	12	25	Matt DiBenedetto	Rackley WAR	Chevrolet	200	Running
11	30	35	Jake Garcia	McAnally-Hilgemann Racing	Chevrolet	200	Running
12	27	7	Carson Kvapil*	Spire Motorsports	Chevrolet	200	Running
13	36	41	Bayley Currey	Niece Motorsports	Chevrolet	200	Running
14	24	52	Stewart Friesen	Halmar Friesen Racing	Toyota	200	Running
15	20	66	Conner Jones	ThorSport Racing	Ford	200	Running
16	21	88	Matt Crafton	ThorSport Racing	Ford	200	Running
17	19	13	Hailie Deegan	ThorSport Racing	Ford	200	Running
18	28	75	Parker Kligerman*	Henderson Motorsports	Chevrolet	200	Running
19	4	98	Ty Majeski	ThorSport Racing	Ford	200	Running
20	15	61	Jake Drew	Hattori Racing Enterprises	Toyota	200	Running
21	16	43	Daniel Dye	GMS Racing	Chevrolet	199	Running
22	23	9	Colby Howard	CR7 Motorsports	Chevrolet	199	Running
23	25	16	Tyler Ankrum	Hattori Racing Enterprises	Toyota	199	Running
24	10	38	Zane Smith	Front Row Motorsports	Ford	199	Running
25	17	02	Kaden Honeycutt	Young’s Motorsports	Chevrolet	199	Running
26	26	56	Timmy Hill	Hill Motorsports	Toyota	199	Running
27	29	32	Bret Holmes	Bret Holmes Racing	Chevrolet	199	Running
28	22	45	Lawless Alan	Niece Motorsports	Chevrolet	199	Running
29	6	15	Tanner Gray	TRICON Garage	Toyota	198	Running
30	9	1	William Sawalich	TRICON Garage	Toyota	197	Running
31	31	12	Spencer Boyd	Young’s Motorsports	Chevrolet	196	Running
32	34	22	Stephen Mallozzi	AM Racing	Ford	192	Running
33	33	33	Memphis Villarreal	Reaume Brothers Racing	Ford	191	Running
34	32	20	Greg Van Alst	Young’s Motorsports	Chevrolet	140	Brakes
35	14	5	Dean Thompson	TRICON Garage	Toyota	14	Accident
36	7	51	Jack Wood	Kyle Busch Motorsports	Chevrolet	13	Accident
DNQ		90	Justin Carroll	TC Motorsports	Toyota
DNQ		44	Danny Bohn	Niece Motorsports	Chevrolet