Corey Heim holds off Kyle Busch in a long, wet, night in the NASCAR Trucks at Martinsville
NASCAR made history of sorts Friday night at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway as the sport started its first oval race on a damp track with wet weather tires designed for just such a situation. After being delayed by lightning, and a heavy shower that passed over the track, NASCAR was able to start the race and run the first 22 laps with a still damp track before the track was dry enough to change the field to the traditional slick tires.
In the end, Corey Heim prevailed to earn his first NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series victory of the season after persevering through both rain and dry conditions, two red flag periods for weather and multiple charges by the highly motivated veteran Kyle Busch.
The 20-year old Georgia-native, Heim, led his first laps of the 2023 season at exactly the right time – holding the point for an impressive 82 of the 124 laps of the Long John Silver’s 200. Including the most important lap.
An accident with 85 laps remaining brought out the yellow flag and after several circuits under caution, NASCAR brought the trucks to pit road where the red flag flew for rain and the race was declared official on lap 124 of the scheduled 200 laps.
“Rain, rain, come on,” Heim told his TRICON Garage crew on the radio, just before climbing out of his No. 11 Toyota truck during that final red flag period.
NASCAR was able to start the race on a damp track thanks to the use of rain tires for the first time on an oval in the sport’s history.
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“This race was cut short and that’s definitely unfortunate, but this truck was fast all night,’’ he said adding, “I couldn’t ask for a better group of guys.’’
Heim had to work for this, holding off Busch – who was racing for Kyle Busch Motorsports’ 100th win – and reigning series champion Zane Smith on four different re-starts to claim the famed one-of-a-kind grandfather clock Martinsville trophy only minutes before that clock would strike midnight.
“We just didn’t have a good enough short run truck,’’ said Busch, who finished second. “Being a little bit loose and free that we were, we were hoping that would pay off in the long run but never had a long run. The longest run of the race was on rain tires.
“It did not go our way today, unfortunately.’’
Heim swept both stage wins – his first of the season as well.
“I bring a 100-percent effort to every race every week so to be able to sit here and have it payoff is phenomenal,’’ Heim said.
Smith finished third in the No. 38 Front Row Motorsports Ford with ThorSport Racing’s Ty Majeski and Heim’s TRICON teammate Tanner Gray rounding out the top five.
Ben Rhodes, Matt DiBenedetto, Taylor Gray, William Sawalich and Chase Purdy completed the top 10. It was the 18-year-old Sawalich’s NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series debut – helping the TRICON team to four top-10 finishes.
Majeski maintains the points-lead after Martinsville by 26 points over Smith and 49 over Rhodes.
The trucks take a couple weeks off and will return to competition on May 6, at Kansas Speedway in the Heart of America 200 (8 p.m. ET, FS1, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
Another heavy rain shower forced NASCAR to cut the race short.
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NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series Race Results Long John Silver’s 200
Martinsville Speedway
Martinsville, Virginia
Friday, April 14, 2023
1. (4) Corey Heim, Toyota, 124.
2. (2) Kyle Busch(i), Chevrolet, 124.
3. (1) Zane Smith, Ford, 124.
4. (12) Ty Majeski, Ford, 124.
5. (9) Tanner Gray, Toyota, 124.
6. (3) Ben Rhodes, Ford, 124.
7. (5) Matt DiBenedetto, Chevrolet, 124.
8. (24) Taylor Gray #, Toyota, 124.
9. (22) William Sawalich, Toyota, 124.
10. (8) Chase Purdy, Chevrolet, 124.
11. (19) Nick Sanchez #, Chevrolet, 124.
12. (25) Ross Chastain(i), Chevrolet, 124.
13. (18) Jake Garcia #, Chevrolet, 124.
14. (10) Grant Enfinger, Chevrolet, 124.
15. (6) Christian Eckes, Chevrolet, 124.
16. (31) Kris Wright, Chevrolet, 124.
17. (26) Colby Howard, Chevrolet, 124.
18. (15) Conner Jones, Ford, 124.
19. (28) Timmy Hill, Toyota, 124.
20. (27) Hailie Deegan, Ford, 124.
21. (36) Dean Thompson, Toyota, 124.
22. (23) Bret Holmes #, Chevrolet, 124.
23. (30) Spencer Boyd, Chevrolet, 124.
24. (29) Memphis Villarreal, Toyota, 124.
25. (16) Rajah Caruth #, Chevrolet, 124.
26. (11) Matt Crafton, Ford, 124.
27. (14) Tyler Ankrum, Toyota, 124.
28. (17) Kaden Honeycutt, Ford, 123.
29. (33) Jonathan Shafer, Toyota, 123.
30. (13) Stewart Friesen, Toyota, 123.
31. (21) Daniel Dye #, Chevrolet, 123.
32. (20) Lawless Alan, Chevrolet, 122.
33. (32) Mason Massey, Ford, 122.
34. (7) Carson Hocevar, Chevrolet, 122.
35. (34) Brad Perez(i), Chevrolet, 118.
36. (35) Stephen Mallozzi, Ford, 116.
Average Speed of Race Winner: 46.849 mph.
Time of Race: 1 Hrs, 23 Mins, 32 Secs. Margin of Victory: Under Caution Seconds.
Caution Flags: 6 for 63 laps.
Lead Changes: 2 among 3 drivers.
Lap Leaders: Z. Smith 1-5;K. Busch(i) 6-42;C. Heim 43-124.
Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Lead, Laps Led): Corey Heim 1 time for 82 laps; Kyle Busch(i) 1 time for 37 laps; Zane Smith 1 time for 5 laps.
Stage #1 Top Ten: 11,51,38,15,19,99,98,25,42,1
Stage #2 Top Ten: 11,51,38,19,15,98,99,42,25,9
Keyword: Corey Heim Reigns in the Rain in Historic Night For NASCAR at Martinsville