Corey Heim leads the field during the Window World 250 at North Wilkesboro Speedway. (Photo: Phil Cavali | The Podium Finish)
NORTH WILKESBORO, N.C. — After running up in the front of the field all day, Corey Heim, driver of the No. 17 TRICON Garage Toyota Tundra, made contact with Layne Riggs, driver of the No. 34 Front Row Motorsports Ford F-150, on the last lap of the Window World 250 at North Wilkesboro Speedway, resulting in Heim finishing a miserable 17th place, while Riggs cruised to a 2nd place finish behind teammate Chandler Smith, driver of the No. 38 Front Row Motorsports F-150.
Heim looked like he had the field in his rear-view mirror during the beginning of the race, building a lead of about six seconds on teammate Gio Ruggiero, until a caution on Lap 47 changed up the strategy plan throughout the field, resulting in Heim pitting and giving up his opportunity at a playoff point, finishing second at the end Stage 1.
In Stage 2, Heim yet again ran up front, finishing behind Grant Enfinger for another 2nd-place stage finish. The stage points were a plus for the driver of the No.11, but it was very clear from the start of the event that the No. 17 TRICON Tundra was destined for more.
Heim quickly regained the lead to start Stage 3, but he had company for the rest of the show with Chandler Smith hounding his bumper from every angle of the track. The No. 17 and No. 38 kept each other in close quarters for 60 laps until a late race caution with only 39 laps to go changed the future of the race. Heim stayed on the track while Smith came in to service his truck. The race resumed with 31 laps remaining, as Smith quickly regained the second position to continue his charge at Heim.
Heim and Smith continued to battle until Lap 246, when Heim’s teammate, Brent Crews, spun out in Turn 2, sending the race into overtime. Heim, again, restarted from the lead on the outside, while Smith continued from the runner-up position on the inside. The key advantage Smith had this time around: his teammate of Riggs, was on the bumper of Heim.
The field saw the green one last time, and Heim again controlled the field, but Riggs passed Smith for second place. Heading into Turn 3, Riggs gave the Truck Series points leader a shot to his bumper, forcing the two trucks to run side-by-side down the frontstretch to take the white flag. Heim and Riggs entered Turn 1 door-to-door, ultimately resulting in contact that spun out the No. 11 truck in the exit of Turn 2, which slowed down Riggs and allowed Smith to enter the picture and steal the win.
Corey Heim standing on pit road during Craftsman Truck Series Qualifying at North Wilkesboro Speedway. (Photo: Phil Cavali | The Podium Finish)
Heim didn’t mince his words on Riggs after the race on pit road. “Just why? More than anything”. He went on to mention the altercation that happened between Riggs and NASCAR Cup Series regular Carson Hocevar, just a week ago at Kansas Speedway. “He tried to do it to the 7 (Hocevar) last week for the win, and mission accomplished for him, I guess, this week – and it cost him one, too”.
Heim has three wins on the season, the most by any NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series regular, but there have been multiple opportunities that the No.11 team has let get away from them. “We’ve given up so many of them this year after dominating the race”. For example, Heim had a race-winning truck at Homestead Miami Speedway in March, leading the field by around two seconds with only a handful of laps to go. All was well until a power issue in his truck cost them the win, resulting in Kyle Larson winning the race.
This season has been a roller coaster for such a dominant force in TRICON, but for Scott Zipadelli, the crew chief of the No. 11 team, this is just another bump in the road to success. “What comes around, goes around. It’s not going to deter us from coming back and trying to win next week at Charlotte. But payback’s a b***h. We’ve got to go to the (playoffs), and those guys aren’t making a whole lot of friends because everybody in the garage knows that either one of those kids can’t race clean”.
The young driver from Marrietta, Georgia, will race again next weekend at Charlotte Motor Speedway, where his No. 11 TRICON Garage team will look to find their fourth victory of the season.
