Corey Heim captured the checkered flag at Michigan International Speedway on Saturday, edging Kaden Honeycutt by a razor‑thin 0.065 seconds in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race.
Race dynamics and early leaders
The opening laps featured a rotation of front‑runners as Christopher Bell, Matt Majeski and Carson Hocevar swapped the lead while drivers exploited the draft. Early incidents sent Daniel Hemric and Tanner Gray into the wall, prompting green‑flag pit stops. A three‑wide clash between Frankie Muniz and Kris Wright produced the first caution.
Post‑restart, Bell partnered with Hocevar to break away from the pack, later securing the Stage 1 win ahead of Heim, Honeycutt and Layne Riggs. During the stage break, Tanner Gray briefly led on a two‑tire strategy before being passed, while Bell, Heim and Hocevar formed a new three‑truck breakaway that set the tone for Stage 2.
Bell repeated his dominance in Stage 2, finishing ahead of Heim, Hocevar, Honeycutt and the remaining top ten, while Riggs’ unscheduled stop dropped him off the lead lap.
Mid‑race cautions and strategy shifts
Later cautions arose when Cleetus McFarland spun after cracking the top‑20 and when Friesen was turned on the backstretch. A separate incident saw Majeski lose grip, spin into the wall and retire his truck, scrambling several crews’ pit strategies. Some teams, including Garcia and Dye, elected to stay out, while others opted for fuel‑only or two‑tire stops.
The restart that followed was chaotic; contact between Cole Butcher and Spencer Boyd ended in a hard crash, and the field quickly reorganized into a five‑truck lead group.
Final‑lap duel
With 15 laps remaining, Heim surged from third to the front, capitalizing on Hocevar’s attempt to clear debris from his grille. Core‑y LaJoie’s unscheduled stop briefly promoted the Ram driver to the lead, but Heim reclaimed the top spot soon after.
The closing ten laps boiled down to a three‑truck battle: Heim, Honeycutt and Hocevar. Honeycutt slipped past his teammate but could not close the gap, and Heim defended each line on the final lap, holding on for a photo finish.
Top‑10 finishers
- 1 – Corey Heim (TRICON Garage, Toyota) – 2:05:00.746
- 2 – Kaden Honeycutt (TRICON Garage, Toyota) – +0.065 s
- 3 – Carson Hocevar (Spire Motorsports, Chevrolet) – +2.129 s
- 4 – Layne Riggs (Front Row Motorsports, Ford) – +2.880 s
- 5 – Chandler Smith (Front Row Motorsports, Ford) – +3.520 s
- 6 – Christopher Bell (Halmar Friesen Racing, Toyota) – +7.333 s
- 7 – Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (Niece Motorsports, Chevrolet) – +8.706 s
- 8 – Connor Mosack (Spire Motorsports, Chevrolet) – +13.820 s
- 9 – Jake Garcia (ThorSport Racing, Ford) – +15.346 s
- 10 – Tyler Ankrum (McAnally Hilgemann Racing, Chevrolet) – +16.560 s
Heim’s victory marks his 26th career win and his third in five Truck Series starts this year, underscoring his momentum ahead of a full‑time Cup schedule with 23XI Racing next season.
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