Corey Heim Shines in XPEL 225 Win at Circuit of the Americas

Corey Heim made it his time to shine in Saturday’s XPEL 225 at Circuit of the Americas. (Photo: Sean Folsom | The Podium Finish)

DEL VALLE, Texas — One could say Corey Heim’s NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series season was Terry Labonte-like with incredible consistency. Namely, before Saturday’s XPEL 225 at Circuit of the Americas, the Marietta, Georgia, native tallied four top 10 finishes in a row, including three top fives in a row and a sixth at Bristol.

Although Heim’s efforts were methodical in the early going, finishing 14th in Stage 1 after starting second, the TRICON Garage racer wasted little time in Stage 2. Mainly, he charged his way back into the lead on Lap 25 en route to a Stage 2 win.

Leading six different times for a total of 31 laps, the driver of the No. 11 Safelite Toyota Tundra was like the ace student who studied for the big test. No matter the kinds of challenges presented to the 21-year-old racer, he was as cool as the other side of the pillow at the 3.41-mile, 20-turn road course.

Meanwhile, as Heim was making his case to be the race winner, Nick Sanchez, who started fourth, won Stage 1. As the race progressed, Sanchez was assessed a course penalty which resulted in a pass through infraction.

Sanchez was working his way inside the top 10 as Heim continued to show the way, even when Ty Majeski led on Lap 39. A lap later, Heim resumed command of the race and never looked back.

Notably, Connor Zilisch, the polesitter for Saturday’s race, overcame a series of adventurous mishaps to battle back for a top five performance and result. The 17-year-old racer showcased his determination and focus to nail a fourth place result.

When the race went to NASCAR Overtime due to Marco Andretti’s rear end housing breaking loose, it set up a two-lap dash to the checkered flag. Even with the field bunched up for a shot at Heim, the Georgian was too much to handle for the remaining lead lap contenders.

Heim bested Taylor Gray by 1.625 seconds, making it a 1-2 TRICON Garage finish at COTA. Needless to say, Heim was elated about his first win of 2024 and his second overall and consecutive road course race victory.

Make no mistake that Corey Heim wanted to win the XPEL 225 at Circuit of the Americas very badly. (Photo: Dylan Nadwodny | The Podium Finish)

“It’s a big statement,” Heim said following the race. “I feel like we’ve really been in contention to win just about every race except maybe for Bristol the other week. I feel like it’s a big race for us coming here with the only road course on the schedule.

“To come here and be fast from the very start, qualify second, win a stage, win the race is super big for us and our organization. To start the year off like this, I think we’re five races in now, we have really big goals this year. So I feel like that’s pretty special. Someone said we’re the points leader as well and that’s a great place to be as well.”

In a nearly identical reflection of the race results, Heim leads third place finisher Majeski by 10 points. Without a doubt, Heim can breathe a bit easier with the five Playoff points as he joins Nick Sanchez, Rajah Caurth and Christian Eckes in the building postseason field.

Overall, it was not a bad day for TRICON Garage with Taylor Gray placing runner-up. By far, the 18-year-old overcame an early race penalty to capture 41 valuable points.

“I can’t thank everyone at TRICON Garage enough for bringing me a really good JBL Toyota Tundra TRD Pro,” Gray said. “I thought I ruined our race at the beginning of the race by getting that penalty, but just can’t thank all of our guys enough.

“We put ourselves in position and Jeff (Hensley, crew chief) did a great job with the strategy, just couldn’t attack on those last couple of laps. Something to figure out on how to give him a little bit of a tougher race at the end, but those guys executed all day long and we have to keep executing ourselves.”

It was a dominant but eventful path to win the XPEL 225 win at Circuit of the Americas for Corey Heim. (Photo: Cody Porter | The Podium Finish)

Likewise, it was a solid afternoon and victory for Heim, one of the prime championship contenders in the Truck series. The hard work and efforts paid dividends for last year’s Championship 4 entrant.

“I worked my butt off for this one,” Heim observed. “With the one (road course) race a year for the Truck Series, I felt like it was just so important for me to prove my road course ability.

“I knew I need to capitalize on today, and I did. After it was done with all of the late cautions, I was glad it was over and it was time to celebrate. It definitely means a lot.”

Stage 1 Top 10 Results

1. Nick Sanchez
2. Ty Majeski
3. Tanner Gray
4. Tyler Ankrum
5. Christian Eckes
6. Ben Rhodes
7. Chase Purdy
8. Matt Crafton
9. Jack Wood
10. Ty Dillon

Stage 2 Top 10 Results

1. Corey Heim
2. Ty Majeski
3. Jack Hawksworth
4. Ben Rhodes
5. Taylor Gray
6. Connor Zilisch
7. Rajah Caruth
8. Tyler Ankrum
9. Dean Thompson
10. Matt Crafton

XPEL 225 at Circuit of the Americas Race Results