ROCKINGHAM, N.C. — Even as a part-time driver, Corey Heim proved he can still dominate — until the final four laps of Friday’s Black’s Tire 200 at Rockingham Speedway, that is.
Heim led a personal-best 178 laps in winning his second NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race of the season and the 25th of his career — fifth-most all-time.
In the closing laps, however, he had to overcome skewed steering and chattering tires in his No. 1 Toyota to fend off a determined charge from Tricon Garage teammate Kaden Honeycutt’s No. 11 Tundra.
Heim won last year’s series title in the No. 11, but he’s not defending this season as he explores part-time opportunities in all three of NASCAR’s national series.
Nevertheless, Heim swept the first two stages of a race for the 13th time in his career. His two stage wins on Friday were his 44th and 45th.
Heim is the first driver this season to score maximum points in a race in any of the top three series, winning both stages and turning the fastest lap — 22.965 seconds on Lap 174.
What’s more, Heim won his second straight race in the Triple Truck Challenge — good for a $100,000 bonus — and will race for $500,000 next Saturday at Bristol Motor Speedway. That bonus is available to a driver who can win all three races in “The Trip.”
“Yeah, it means a lot,” Heim said of the potential payday. “I don’t really think about it in the truck, but being able to reflect on it, it would be cool to be the first person to sweep all three if we are able to do it.
“There is a lot of motivation for these guys in the 1 camp with (sponsor) Celsius as our primary next week, so super excited about that.”
All statistics aside, Heim had to use his full arsenal of race craft over the final four laps to hold off Honeycutt, who was seeking his first victory. Experiencing a vibration similar to that of a tire losing air, Heim adroitly worked traffic as the race near its end.
Honeycutt got to Heim’s bumper with three laps left and actually nosed ahead to lead the white-flag lap, but Heim drove aggressively into Turn 1, using teammate Tanner Gray to block Honeycutt’s progress.
Exiting Turn 4 on the final circuit, Heim held a slight lead and arrived at the finish line 0.090 seconds ahead of the car he drove to last year’s championship.
“I felt like I didn’t push it any harder than any previous run or do any more damage to the right front, but it was like all of a sudden, with four to go, my truck started just … I had to turn more right down the straightaway to keep it straight,” Heim said.
“My wheel was clocked at like 20 degrees to the right, and it was chattering really bad in the corners, and I was like, ‘Oh, boy, here we go, we’re going to lose this one in the worst way possible.’
“But it hung in there, and I just had to use a couple of lapped trucks to hold him off. Respect Kaden for racing me clean. I did what I had to do there at the end, but first win for (sponsor) Robinhood. First win in my J’s (Jordan Brand) — my race shoes.”
