Corey Heim Earns Fifth-Place Finish at Lucas Oil Raceway Park

By:
On:
In: NASCAR Truck Series News
Coming off the heels of the third top-five finish of his career at Pocono (Pa.) Raceway, Corey Heim wheeled his No. 51 Crescent Tools Tundra TRD Pro to a fifth-place finish at Lucas Oil Raceway Friday night, earning back-to-back top-five finishes for the first time in his career.
 
Heim started Friday’s 200-lap event in fourth and ran within the top-10 for the majority of the race, earning nine stage points along the way to his fifth-place finish. The No. 51 team gained one position in the Truck Series owner’s playoffs and now sit in fourth, 25 points above the cutoff line to advance to the Round of 8.  
 
 
Stage One Recap
 
·        Heim lined up for Friday’s TSport 200 at Lucas Oil Raceway in fourth after putting down a lap time of 22.378 seconds at 110.358 mph in the qualifying session earlier in the day.
·        As the field took the green flag to begin the 200-lap event, Heim dropped back to seventh before gaining one position and settling into sixth midway through the opening stanza.
·        When the second caution of the night came out on lap 31, Heim was running in sixth and reported that his Crescent Tundra TRD Pro was “really unbalanced right now”.
·        The field went back green with just three laps to go in Stage One before Heim took the green-and-white checkered flag in seventh, earning the No. 51 team four stage points. 
 
 
Stage Two Recap:
 
·        The Georgia native brought his No. 51 Tundra down pit road at the stage break for four tires and fuel with a wedge adjustment to offset the handling issues that he was experiencing in the opening stage. The No. 51 team executed their pit stop and sent Heim back out on track to restart the second stage in fourth, gaining three spots on pit road.
·        Heim continued to run within the top 10 for a majority of the second stage and was scored in seventh before the fifth caution of the night came out on lap 108.  
·        With differing pit strategies throughout the field, crew chief Mardy Lindley elected to pit for four fresh tires before the stage break, sending his driver back out onto the track in 12th.
·        The ensuing restart set up a six-lap dash to the end of the stage before a caution came out on the final lap of Stage Two, bringing out the yellow and green-white-checkered. Heim was able to gain six spots on the restart with fresh tires and finished the stage in sixth, earning an additional five stage points for the No. 51 team. 
 
 
Final Stage Recap:
 
·        Heim continued his run within the top 10 as the laps wound down in the TSport 200 before a late caution on lap 192 brought the field back together as Heim was running in sixth.
·        With different strategies throughout the field, the No. 51 team brought their Crescent Tools Tundra down pit road to put on their last set of fresh Goodyear tires for the ensuing restart.
·        Heim lined up in 12th as the field went back green on lap 198. Before they could get back around to take the white flag, the 10th and final caution of the night came out to set up NASCAR Overtime.
·        Heim gained two spots on the previous restart and was scored in 10th for the overtime attempt. Over the course of the final two laps, the Toyota Racing Driver gained five spots and took the checkered flag in fifth, earning his second consecutive top-five finish. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
TSport 200 Recap
 
  • Grant Enfinger earned his first NASCAR Camping World Truck Series win of 2022 and will advance to the Round of 8. It was his seventh career victory. Ben Rhodes, Zane Smith, Stewart Friesen and Corey Heim rounded out the top-five finishers.
  • There were 10 cautions for 78 laps and 12 lead changes among six drivers.
 
 
How Corey Heim’s KBM Teammates Fared:
 
·        John Hunter Nemechek, driver of the No. 4 Toyota, finished 10th.
·        Chandler Smith, driver of the No. 18 Toyota, finished 18th. 
 
 
NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Championship Standings
 
The No. 51 team gained one spot on the Camping World Truck Series owner’s playoffs grid and now sit in fourth, 25 points above the cutoff line to advance to the Round of 8. 
 
 
Next Race
 
Heim will be back behind the wheel of the No. 51 Tundra TRD Pro as Camping World Truck Series action heads to Richmond (Va.) Raceway on Saturday, Aug. 13. Live coverage of the Worldwide Express 250 will be on FS1, Motor Racing Network, and SiriusXM at 8 p.m. ET. 
 

KBM PR

Speedway Digest Staff
Follow Me
Latest posts by Speedway Digest Staff (see all)
Post Views: 83