There is no doubt that Corey Heim knew what time it was when he won at Martinsville. (Photo: Trish McCormack | The Podium Finish)
RIDGEWAY, Va. – Friday evening was full of rain, tempers, and cautions as the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series duked it out at Martinsville Speedway.
With it being the seventh race of the season, weather played a huge factor. Track activities throughout the day went on without too many issues, even with precipitation constantly looming.
Pre-race ceremonies kicked off early in the hopes of beating the storm cells that were passing through the area. The field was soon parked on pit road with heavy rain and thunderstorms slamming the area.
Busch and Smith waged in their spirited battle for the lead in the early going on Friday night. (Photo: Trish McCormack | The Podium Finish)
At 9:28 p.m. ET, the go-ahead was given for teams to swap out the customary, slick tires to the rain package ones as track drying efforts were being made. By 9:45 p.m. ET, trucks were exiting pit road, with Zane Smith in the No. 38 starting on the inside while Kyle Busch in the No. 51 started on the outside.
After Smith paced the field for the opening six laps, by Lap 7, Busch took the lead, pushing ahead while Smith stumbled back to fifth.
Meanwhile, Corey Heim took second place, with the competition caution occurring on lap 27. Non-competitive pit stops at lap 34 saw wet tires being switched over for slicks. Brad Perez, driving the No. 20, had to start in the back because of pitting twice during this period.
The restart at Lap 44 started with a bang as Corey Heim snatched the lead from Kyle Busch. When Stage 1 ended on Lap 51, Heim, in his No. 11 Toyota Tundra, swept the stage as Busch, Smith, Tanner Gray and Christian Eckes rounded out the top-five.
During the stage caution, 10 trucks decided to pit, including Nick Sanchez, Jack Wood, Dean Thompson, Hailie Deegan, Brad Perez, Grant Enfinger, Rajah Caruth, Jonathan Shafer, Ross Chastain and Kaden Honeycutt.
This was not your regular Goodyear Eagle tire. (Photo: Trish McCormack | The Podium Finish)
Mother Nature was not done yet with dealing out rain. The red flag was given out at lap 67, waiting for the precipitation to stop yet again so the race could resume.
Engines did not fire up again until 11:04 p.m. ET with the track condition only being damp. The green flag waved on the 71st lap, with Heim of the No. 11 competing against Busch in the No. 51.
Another caution was brought out on Lap 80, as Lawless Alan in the No. 45 was clipped by Daniel Dye of the No. 43 in Turn 3.
Timmy Hill, Deegan, Kris Wright, Stewart Friesen, Matt Crafton, and Alan all pitted during the caution on Lap 83 before the green waved three laps later.
Heim led the field on the restart, with Smith in his No. 38 in second on the outside. Busch took Smith’s place soon after as the field fought for position.
Lap 95 would strike disaster for Friesen, losing a tire and spinning in turn three after contact with the No. 4 of Wood. Under the caution, Heim won Stage 2, leading the field to the final stage.
Kyle Busch would start second, but would lose his position to Smith. Lap 109 would foster another caution, with Dye spinning his No. 43 Chevy Silverado in the fourth turn without any assistance. Dye along with Stephen Mallozzi pitted, as precipitation started to fall.
The final green flag restart waved on lap 115, with Heim leading on the inside as Busch restarted on the outside. On the backstretch, chaos would ensue with Carson Hocevar in the No. 42 Niece Chevy Silverado contacting the side of the No. 17 Toyota Tundra of Taylor Gray, losing his left-rear tire, spinning, and causing the race’s seventh caution.
Hocevar was seventh at the time, before NASCAR penalized him with a two minute ‘stop-and hold’. Perez and Crafton also pitted during the caution.
Trucks were brought onto pit road on Lap 123 as the rain ceased to let up. With no sign of the weather calming down, the race was called at 11:48 p.m. ET.
Heim won for the fourth time in his Truck Series career, collecting his first grandfather clock in the process.
Needless to say, Heim’s Friday night victory affords some luxury to pursue wins more aggressively.
Heim shined under the Friday night lights. (Photo: Trish McCormack | The Podium Finish)
“I think it can definitely make our strategy a little more aggressive to go for wins in the future,” Heim said. “With Scott Zipadelli on the box, week in and week out, he’s going to put me in a position to succeed. There’s been races where we’ve had a 10th place truck and we end up fourth in it. Then there’s been days where the opposite has happened. But he’s done everything he can to put us out front.
“I feel like I haven’t been perfect this year, but everyone under me and supporting me has done a really good job at doing so. So, to be able to kind of put everything together, and make the right calls to stay out front when it mattered most and do everything I could on my part is definitely going to pay off and it did.”
Friday night’s race was rain filled, but showcased the potential of the rain package tires. With the data, NASCAR will hopefully race at more oval tracks with said tires.
