It’s Heim Time In Wild Truck Series Return at Watkins Glen

Corey Heim celebrates his first Watkins Glen victory after dominating the 2025 Mission Foods 176 at Watkins Glen International. (Photo Credit: Nigel Kinrade Photography)

WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. — The tough trucks of NASCAR nearly reached the sunset time limit due to several major incidents in the closing stages of the event, but on this evening, it favored the driver of the No. 11 Toyota Tundra TRD Pro for Tricon Garage, Corey Heim as he shot to the victory in Friday’s NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race at Watkins Glen International. 

The first two overtimes were shortened due to crashes behind the leaders, resulting in the 8th and 9th cautions of the day. Clean racing then brought out the white flag, as Heim played strong defense on holding off the rest of the field.

Heim led 44 of 81 laps and secured his fourth consecutive road-course victory, including two this year. It was his 17th career Truck Series win, as well as collecting valuable stage points by picking up the Stage 1 victory, following it up with a fourth-place effort in Stage 2.

Calamity was the name of the race in the late goings amongst the 36-truck field all of Friday evening, as the first half was relatively calm, with only three total cautions being displayed around the 2.45-mile iconic road course before the final push to the finish began on Lap 44. Still, it was not quite over yet for on-track incidents, and a total of three overtime attempts.

Heim took the lead at the beginning of the final overtime but had to slow down slightly while adjusting the front end of his Toyota to ensure proper fuel pick-up. This maneuver proved successful, enabling him to accelerate back to full throttle. He effectively defended his position against Daniel Hemric in the No. 19 McAnally-Hilgemann Racing Chevrolet Silverado RST and 19-year-old Gio Ruggiero in the No. 17 Tricon Garage Toyota Tundra TRD Pro.

Corey Heim receiving his sixth checkered flag of 2025 after winning at Watkins Glen International. (Photo Credit: Nigel Kinrade Photography)

“Just never gave up,” Heim said in a post-race interview.

“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,” Heim added. “I 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 Heim, it’s his fifth victory of the 2025 campaign, and one of the strongest seasons that a driver has put on in Truck Series history, as he has led over 1,000 laps and has cashed in 11 top 5s and 13 top 10s in just 17 events this season.

In the late goings, Hemric used a little strategy and boldness to wheel his No. 19 Chevrolet to a runner-up finish, earning his best finish since Texas Motor Speedway in May.

Daniel Hemric powered to a strong runner-up finish after surviving the late race calamity on Friday evening. (Photo Credit: Nigel Kinrade Photography)

“I don’t think we had the best truck, but also, I think I had enough advantage to be equal with him at the end,” Hemric said. “Right now, it’s one that got away, but hindsight being 20/20, I mean, we came a long way from where we were sitting about 10 laps into Stage 1. Sometimes you just have to count your blessings.”

For the majority of the race, it may have appeared that putting Christopher Bell in the No. 52 Toyota for Halmar Friesen Racing was not only going to be the best move, but also an emotional victory for the team as he was called earlier in the week to fill in for the injured veteran Stewart Friesen, who had just finished rounds of surgery earlier in the week in result of a dirt racing accident last week.

Christopher Bell showed adversity in Friday’s NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race, scoring an emotional top 5 in honor of the injured Stewart Friesen. (Photo: Nigel Kinrade Photography)

Bell was in the lead with one lap remaining in regulation when a caution was issued due to a multi-truck accident involving former series champion Ben Rhodes as he exited the bus stop. This forced Bell to pit off sequence, which pushed him down to fourth place, as his fight to get back up to the spot was impressive.

Another HFR driver showed out in emotional style in ode to Friesen, as Wesley Slimp found himself inside the top 10 on the final restart, but ultimately fell short of scoring his first career top 10 in just his second Truck Series event as he crossed the stripe in 12th.

Rockingham Speedway winner Tyler Ankrum had a sneakily quiet day and collected yet another great run in the fifth spot.

Sammy Smith, Ty Majeski, Connor Zilisch, Matt Mills, and Layne Riggs filled out the remaining drivers inside the top 10.

Majeski finished seventh in the race on Friday, while Jake Garcia came in 15th. The two-time series champion, Ben Rhodes, ended up in 26th place, despite winning Stage 2. Garcia now holds a narrow 11-point lead over Rhodes and a 21-point lead over Ruggiero heading into the final regular-season race next Friday night at Richmond. The 10-driver playoff grid will be established, with the championship battle set to begin on October 31st.

Coverage of the eero 250 will air live on FS1 on Friday, August 15th at 7:30 p.m. ET, with radio coverage provided by the NASCAR Racing Network and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, channel 90.

Stage 1 Results
1. Corey Heim
2. Ross Chastain
3. Christopher Bell
4. Connor Zilisch
5. Ben Rhodes
6. Gio Ruggiero
7. William Sawalich
8. Daniel Hemric
9. Layne Riggs
10. Connor Mosack

Stage 2 Results
1. Ben Rhodes
2. Sammy Smith
3. William Sawalich
4. Corey Heim
5. Christopher Bell
6. Tanner Gray
7. Ty Majeski
8. Parker Kligerman
9. Tyler Ankrum
10. Connor Mosack

2025 Mission Foods 176 at The Glen NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Watkins Glen International Race Results