NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series championship leader Corey Heim scored his fourth consecutive road course victory — the sixth of his career — in a dramatic triple-overtime finish as nightfall approached on Friday in the Mission 176 at The Glen at the historic Watkins Glen International.
The 23-year-old Georgia native took the lead on a restart on the first overtime, then held position in his No. 11 Tricon Garage Toyota with a pair of masterful restarts on the second and third overtime periods, ultimately holding off former NASCAR Xfinity Series champion Daniel Hemric and rookie Giovanni Ruggiero by 0.202 seconds.
Heim logged his 17th series win, the youngest driver in series history to claim that total. This is the second time this season he has won from pole position.
The race on the 2.45-mile historic venue in upstate New York was relatively calm and clean early on, with only a single extra caution in addition to the first two stage breaks. But a steady barrage of incidents forced six more caution periods and the three overtimes — the race only finishing within a couple minutes of when NASCAR had pre-determined to call it official because of darkness.
Heim got the jump on the final overtime but then slowed slightly and wiggled the front end of his Toyota in effort to get the fuel pick-up. It did the trick and he was able to go full throttle again, fending off Hemric in the No. 19 McAnally-Hilgemann Racing Chevy and 19-year old Giovanni Ruggiero in the No. 17 Tricon Garage Toyota.
“Just never give up,” said Heim, who led a race-best 44 laps but had to rally from 11th place on a Lap 43 restart. “I got behind in that last stage and was scratching and clawing trying to get back through the field.
“I had my brakes pretty much go out on me completely on that long green-flag run, was beating them up trying to get back through the field — blew the bus stop chicane between turns four and five — and made a lot of mistakes myself. I’ve had a lot of them get away from us this year by cautions or whatever else, finally had one go our way.”
For much of the final regularly scheduled laps, it looked as if NASCAR Cup Series regular Christopher Bell may pull off an emotional victory. The 2017 truck series champ was piloting the No. 52 Halmar Friesen Racing Toyota for the team’s owner-driver Stewart Friesen who sustained serious injuries in a dirt modified race crash a week ago.
Bell — gambling on a late-race gas-saving strategy — was leading with one lap to go in regulation when a caution came out for a multi-car accident involving former series champion Ben Rhodes. But the multiple overtimes forced Bell to pit for fuel. His rally forward to a fourth-place finish was impressive.
Tyler Ankrum, NASCAR Xfinity Series regular Sammy Smith, Ty Majeski, NASCAR Xfinity Series championship leader Connor Zilisch, Matt Mills and Layne Riggs rounded out the top 10.
Rhodes’ accident was indicative of an impactful day in deciding the championship field with now only one more regular-season race remaining to set the 10-driver field. Friesen had claimed one of the automatic playoff berths with a win at Michigan earlier this season, but the serious injuries he sustained last week and him missing Friday’s race have potentially opened an extra driver playoff position.
Before the green flag, Majeski and Jake Garcia held a 16-point advantage over Rhodes for the 10th and final points transfer position.
Garcia was 15th and the two-time series champ Rhodes ended up 26th despite claiming the win in Stage 2. Garcia now takes a slim 11-point advantage over Rhodes and 21 points over Ruggiero into the final regular-season race.
Friesen can request a medical waiver, and if NASCAR grants it, he would remain in the playoffs — changing the playoff picture yet again.
The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series moves to the Richmond (Va.) Raceway three- quarter miler for the Aug. 15 regular-season finale, the eero 250 (7:30 p.m. ET, FS1, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). Majeski is the defending race winner.
NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series Race — Mission 176 at The Glen Watkins Glen International Watkins Glen, N.Y.
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