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NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series

Corey Heim Tallies Strong Second Place Finish at Charlotte

Corey Heim takes second place at Charlotte Motor Speedway. (Photo: Dylan Nadwodny | The Podium Finish)

CONCORD, N.C. – Corey Heim fell short of a victory, bringing home a second place finish on Friday night during the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

Heim started his weekend with a good qualifying time of 29.983, which led to him taking the green flag in the third position for the North Carolina Education Lottery 200.

However, it did not take very long at all for Heim to battle his way to the front of the field and claim the Stage 1 win in his No. 11 TRICON Garage Rootly Toyota Tundra.

On the other hand, Stage 2 was a different story as Carson Hocevar passed Heim halfway through this portion of the race. Still, Heim led the most laps of the race, logging 49 laps as the leader, but ultimately was not able to maintain the speed needed to secure the checkered flag.

Understandably, after leading so many laps of the race and being so close to securing the checkered flag at what is considered NASCAR’s home track, Heim was filled with various emotions from the race.

“Yea, I think… me and the 42 and the 5 were probably the best trucks I think you know the 99 just came along really strong,” Heim said.  “I really thought we had a shot at it, but (that) just proves clean air is king here and I feel like if I did a better job getting by him as possible rather than kinda waiting on a run, we might have had a better opportunity”.

The 20-year-old has enjoyed a successful stretch in the past several races with the pole position and a sixth place finish last week at North Wilkesboro Speedway, another pole position and an eighth place finish at Darlington along with a second place finish at Kansas.

Corey Heim before the Friday night race at Charlotte. (Photo: Mitchell Richtmyre | The Podium Finish)

Notably, because of these solid finishes, paired with his win at Martinsville on April 14, Heim entered Friday night’s race as the points leader for the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series with 371 points.

Heim is clearly having a great 2023 season, but it is even more impressive that he is obtaining these results during the first half of not only his first season with TRICON Garage, but his first full season in this series.

Undeniably, the Truck Series, stacked with young talent, Heim is proving himself with his incredible ability and talent behind the wheel of the No. 11 truck just halfway through the regular season, and has a real chance to fight for the championship throughout the Playoff races.

 

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