Corey Heim shakes off stress and wins the 2025 NASCAR Truck Sequence Championship on Friday evening at Phoenix Raceway.
AVONDALE, Ariz. — The perfect man received on Friday evening, nevertheless it was removed from a foregone conclusion.
Corey Heim Wins 2025 Championship
The statistics would possibly recommend in any other case. In successful the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Sequence Championship Race at Phoenix Raceway, Corey Heim swept the primary and second phases, led a race-high 100 of 161 laps, and took the checkered flag 0.993 seconds forward of defending collection champion Ty Majeski in a second time beyond regulation.
On the restart for the primary try at time beyond regulation, nonetheless, Heim was buried in tenth place on the within lane, however with 4 recent tires from a pit cease below warning on lap 150, he steered his No. 11 TRICON Storage Toyota to the underside of the observe and ran wide-open by means of the dogleg as the sector unfold out seven-wide into the primary flip.
Charging to the within of Grant Enfinger’s Chevrolet, Heim emerged from the second flip in second place, on the bumper of Majeski’s Ford. Joe Shear Jr., Majeski’s crew chief, had opted for 2 tires on the lap 150 pit cease—a transfer Majeski agreed was his solely probability to retain the championship.
As a substitute, Heim claimed the title that had eluded him for the earlier two seasons, and the burden of the world fell from his shoulders.
“I simply am so grateful to be the place I’m at,” Heim stated. “So grateful for the TRICON Storage, Toyota taking an opportunity on me years in the past, (sponsors) Safelite, Mobil 1, Yahoo, Celsius, for each little bit of their help.
“I used to be so stressed ever since we went to the (Charlotte) Roval (the place Heim received from the pole Oct. 3 to advance to the Championship 4). I’ve been, like, so horrible to speak to as an individual, so stressed.
“That is simply such a aid, to say the least. So grateful for everyone.”
A File-Breaking Season for Heim
Clearly, the stress had gotten to Heim as he approached a championship he was purported to win. Coming to Phoenix, the 23-year-old from Marietta, Georgia, had posted 11 victories in 24 races. On Friday, he added a twelfth, extending his collection file.
When Heim took the lead from Chandler Smith on lap 22, he accomplished an ideal file of main laps in all 25 Truck Sequence races, a novel accomplishment. Heim completed the season with a file 1,625 laps led, eclipsing the mark of 1,533 set by Mike Skinner in 1996.
“I don’t care if I used to be on hundred-lap tires, no person was going to beat me tonight,” asserted Heim, who received for the primary time at Phoenix and the twenty third time in his profession. “It wasn’t going to occur. We struggled all weekend in apply a bit bit. In qualifying we missed it a bit bit. You possibly can at all times belief (crew chief) Scott (Zipadelli) up on the field to do every little thing he can to place me in place to win the race. That’s what he did.
“Drove it in deep till I couldn’t anymore. Drove away with it.”
The Warning that Modified All the things
Heim, nonetheless, wasn’t ready to win the race till Connor Mosack hit the fourth flip wall with simply over two laps left in regulation to trigger the sixth warning and ship the race to time beyond regulation.
At that time, Scott Riggs was main Heim by lower than one second. Eradicated from the drivers’ Playoff on a tiebreaker final weekend at Martinsville, Riggs remained eligible for the homeowners’ title, and had the race gone to conclusion in regulation, he and Heim possible would have break up the 2 championships.
The warning modified every little thing. Heim already was difficult Majeski for the lead within the first time beyond regulation when a four-car wreck within the fourth flip that included Playoff driver Tyler Ankrum necessitated a second attempt at an additional interval.
After the restart on lap 160, Heim cleared Majeski rapidly and pulled away to win the race.
“Truthfully, just a bit bit brief,” Majeski stated. “Yeah, very shut. Tonight, at parts of the run to the 11, I assumed at instances we had been truly higher than him. Total, he was simply too sturdy.
“I couldn’t get a ok restart to make the most of the place within the run my truck was higher.”
Playoff driver Kaden Honeycutt ran third, overcoming a first-lap penalty for altering lanes earlier than the stripe in the beginning of the race.
Riggs got here house fourth, adopted by Rajah Caruth, Jake Garcia, Corey LaJoie, Smith, Tyler Reif (in his Truck Sequence debut), and Jack Wooden.
Matt Crafton, retiring from full-time NASCAR racing after this season, was thirteenth in his final journey within the No. 88 ThorSport Racing Ford.
