Corey Heim celebrates in victory lane after winning Saturday’s NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race at WWT Raceway. Photo: Sean Gardner/Getty Images
Pole winner Corey Heim lost the lead on lap 18 of Saturday’s Toyota 200 at World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway.
He didn’t regain it until the first lap of overtime, when frontrunner Christian Eckes spun his tires on a restart on lap 164.
But that was enough for Heim to score his second NASCAR Camping World Truck Series victory of the season in a part-time role in the No. 51 Kyle Busch Motorsports Toyota.
Eckes was leading comfortably with just over two laps left in regulation when Tanner Gray spun in turn 3 to cause the 10th caution of the race. Eckes chose the outside lane for the overtime restart, with second-place Derek Kraus lining up behind him.
That opened the bottom row for Heim, who lined up to the inside of Eckes and surged into the lead when Eckes’ Toyota failed to launch.
After taking the white flag, Heim got the win when a four-car wreck in turn 2 brought out the 11th caution and froze the field.
“I can’t believe I got the bottom right there — that’s unbelievable,” said the Marietta, Georgia native, who picked up his second career win in his 12th start in the series. “A great push from my teammate Chandler Smith right there…”
Smith finished third behind Heim and Eckes after leading twice for 40 laps. Stewart Friesen came home fourth, followed by former series champion Johnny Sauter who scored his second straight top-five finish in his third start of the year.
It took a succession of bizarre circumstances to give Heim the window of opportunity he needed. On lap 54, pre-race favorite John Hunter Nemechek, who entered the race as the series leader, spun in turn 4 while trying an aggressive inside move on Friesen.
With his Toyota damaged beyond repair, Nemechek dropped out of the race.
“That was on me,” Nemechek said. “I put myself in a vulnerable spot.”
Eight laps after Nemechek’s wreck, Grant Enfinger spun while battling Chandler Smith for the lead, and both trucks slid sideways in tandem, with Enfinger suffering the bulk of the damage.
During a two-lap shootout at the end of Stage 2, Friesen, who had been running consistently in the top five, suffered a flat tire after contact from Hailie Deegan’s Ford and expressed his displeasure by crowding Deegan toward the apron.
On lap 102, three-time 2022 winner Zane Smith fell off the pace with a flat tire after contact from Carson Hocevar’s Chevrolet. He recovered to finish ninth.
That left Eckes, Kraus and Heim to battle for the lead late in the race. Eckes passed Kraus for the top spot on lap 154 of a scheduled 160 and appeared bound for victory until the overtime scrambled the finishing order.
“It’s really frustrating,” Eckes said. “The last three weeks, we should have won, but we didn’t. So we’ll go back to the drawing board and try to figure something out.”
Matt DiBenedetto ran sixth, followed by Kraus, Ben Rhodes, Zane Smith and Chase Purdy. Rajah Caruth finished 11th in his series debut. Rhodes regained the series lead by 17 points over Chandler Smith.
Toyota’s sweep of the top five was its sixth in Truck Series history. The first such sweep occurred at Gateway in 2006.
Hocevar, who was involved in the wreck that ended the race under caution, was transported to a local hospital for further evaluation.
NASCAR Camping World Truck Series
World Wide Technology Raceway – Madison, IL
Toyota 200 – June 4, 2022
1. (1) Corey Heim #, Toyota, 165.
2. (5) Christian Eckes, Toyota, 165.
3. (4) Chandler Smith, Toyota, 165.
4. (3) Stewart Friesen, Toyota, 165.
5. (18) Johnny Sauter, Toyota, 165.
6. (16) Matt DiBenedetto, Chevrolet, 165.
7. (36) Derek Kraus, Chevrolet, 165.
8. (15) Ben Rhodes, Toyota, 165.
9. (2) Zane Smith, Ford, 165.
10. (13) Chase Purdy, Toyota, 165.
11. (19) Rajah Caruth, Chevrolet, 165.
12. (11) Matt Crafton, Toyota, 165.
13. (20) Tyler Ankrum, Toyota, 165.
14. (25) Dean Thompson #, Chevrolet, 165.
15. (26) Hailie Deegan, Ford, 165.
16. (30) Jordan Anderson, Chevrolet, 165.
17. (29) Timmy Hill, Toyota, 165.
18. (24) Lawless Alan #, Chevrolet, 165.
19. (32) Jack Wood #, Chevrolet, 165.
20. (22) Jesse Little, Chevrolet, 165.
21. (35) Tate Fogleman, Toyota, 165.
22. (23) Blaine Perkins #, Chevrolet, 165.
23. (7) Colby Howard, Chevrolet, 165.
24. (12) Carson Hocevar, Chevrolet, Accident, 164.
25. (27) Tyler Hill, Toyota, Accident, 164.
26. (28) Austin Wayne Self, Chevrolet, Accident, 164.
27. (33) Mason Maggio, Chevrolet, 164.
28. (10) Grant Enfinger, Chevrolet, 163.
29. (21) Jake Garcia, Chevrolet, 161.
30. (14) Tanner Gray, Ford, Accident, 156.
31. (34) Spencer Boyd, Chevrolet, Electrical, 151.
32. (8) Ty Majeski, Toyota, 136.
33. (17) Kris Wright, Chevrolet, Accident, 93.
34. (31) Brennan Poole, Toyota, Rear Gear, 77.
35. (6) John Hunter Nemechek, Toyota, DVP, 57.
36. (9) Taylor Gray, Ford, Accident, 45.
Average Speed of Race Winner: 86.397 mph.
Time of Race: 2 Hrs, 23 Mins, 14 Secs. Margin of Victory: Under Caution.
Caution Flags: 11 for 54 laps.
Lead Changes: 11 among 9 drivers.
Lap Leaders: C. Heim # 1-17;C. Smith 18-39;G. Enfinger 40-43;C. Smith 44-61;B. Rhodes 62-72;C. Hocevar 73-80;Z. Smith 81-96;S. Friesen 97-109;B. Rhodes 110-141;D. Kraus 142-153;C. Eckes 154-162;C. Heim # 163-165.
Leaders Summary: (Driver, Times Lead, Laps Led) Ben Rhodes 2 times for 43 laps; Chandler Smith 2 times for 40 laps; Corey Heim # 2 times for 20 laps; Zane Smith 1 time for 16 laps; Stewart Friesen 1 time for 13 laps; Derek Kraus 1 time for 12 laps; Christian Eckes 1 time for 9 laps; Carson Hocevar 1 time for 8 laps; Grant Enfinger 1 time for 4 laps.
Stage #1 Top Ten: 18,51,4,38,52,66,23,98,88,91
Stage #2 Top Ten: 99,88,19,61,22,42,1,51,52,38
Playoff Standings: 1. Zane Smith – 394 (3 Wins); 2. Ben Rhodes – 415 (1 Win); 3. Chandler Smith – 398 (1 Win); 4. John Hunter Nemechek – 393 (1 Win); 5. Stewart Friesen – 391 (1 Win); 6. Christian Eckes – 381; 7. Ty Majeski – 355; 8. Carson Hocevar – 337; 9. Matt Crafton – 317; 10. Grant Enfinger – 311.
(i) Ineligible for driver points in this series
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