Corey Heim made his first start in Camping World Truck Series action at The Last Great Colosseum in Thursday night’s UNOH 200. After posting a fifth-place qualifying effort earlier in the day, the 20-year-old driver maintained his position within the top-10 before crossing the stripe in eighth to end the opening stage. Throughout the final 145 laps, Heim started to deal with a tight handling Crescent Tools Tundra but battled his way to a 10th-place finish.
The No. 51 team remains in the hunt for an Owner’s Championship as they sit sixth on the grid, 18 tallies below the cutoff line to advance to the Championship 4 after one race in the Round of 8.
Stage One Recap
· Heim lined up in fifth for Thursday’s UNOH 200 at Bristol Motor Speedway after posting a qualifying lap of 15.327 seconds at 125.191 mph.
· The 20-year-old driver maintained his position within the top 10 and was scored in sixth as the field started to navigate their way through lapped traffic in the opening stage.
· When the first caution of the night came out on lap 36, Heim reported his Crescent Tools Tundra was “a tick free on entry, but tight on exit”.
· As the field went back green for the final eight laps of the opening stanza, Heim’s No. 51 Tundra continued to tighten up on him as he reported that he was “awful in traffic” after taking the green-and-white checkered flag in eighth.
Stage Two Recap:
· At the stage break, the No. 51 team executed a four tire and fuel stop with a wedge adjustment in an attempt to correct the tight handling truck. With differing pit strategies among the field, Heim restarted Stage Two in 21st.
· Crew chief Mardy Lindley ordered up another pit stop when the third caution of the night came out on lap 86 with Heim scored in 22nd.
· The Georgia native was able to knock off two more positions over the final 11 laps of the stage before crossing the stripe in 20th to end Stage Two.
Final Stage Recap:
· With the decision to pit near the end of the middle stanza, the No. 51 team elected to stay out at the stage break and restarted the Final Stage in 10th.
· The handling issues that Heim experienced in the opening stage began to come back as he reported that he was “hanging on for dear life” when the final caution of the night came out on lap 180 while scored in 12th.
· Heim lined up for the final restart of the race on the outside of the sixth row and was able to gain two more spots and took the checkered flag in 10th, earning his fifth consecutive top-10 finish.
UNOH 200 Recap
Ty Majeski earned his first Camping World Truck Series victory and locked himself in to the Championship 4. Zane Smith, Parker Kligerman, Grant Enfinger, and Matt Crafton rounded out the top-five finishes.
There were six cautions for 49 laps and three lead changes among four drivers.
How Corey Heim’s KBM Teammates Fared:
· Chandler Smith, driver of the No. 18 Toyota, finished ninth.
· John Hunter Nemechek, driver of the No. 4 Toyota, finished 12th.
NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Championship Standings
The No. 51 team remains in the sixth position of the owner’s portion of the Truck Series playoffs and find themselves 18 points below the cutoff line to advance to the Championship 4 at Phoenix (Ariz.) Raceway.
Next Race
Corey Heim will pilot the No. 51 JBL Tundra when the Camping World Truck Series heads to Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway on Oct. 1. Live coverage of the Talladega 250 will be on FS1, Motor Racing Network, and SiriusXM at 12:30 p.m. ET.
