In Friday evening’s rain-shortened CRC Brakleen 175 at Pocono (Pa.) Raceway, Corey Heim won his series-best fifth victory of the season. The 21-year-old swept both stages and led 55 of the 70 laps to add to his trophy haul, but he had to battle competition and the elements for this victory.
The Georgian’s No. 11 TRICON Garage Toyota led Grant Enfinger’s Chevrolet across the finish line by 0.867 seconds for his 10th career victory, easily re-establishing himself as the race leader on the last restart with three circuits to go.
Back to racing and the intensity is off the charts! pic.twitter.com/yCj8jHK7uS
— NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Trucks (@NASCAR_Trucks) July 12, 2024
Back to racing, and the intensity is off the charts! pic.twitter.com/yCj8jHK7uS
— NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Trucks (@NASCAR_Trucks), July 12, 2024.
“It started from the beginning; we’ve had such a close bond,” Heim said of his good working relationship with crew chief Scott Zippidelli and his career-high single-season win total.
“Week in and week out, so proud of these guys; can’t say enough about them,” Heim stated.
Raindrops saturated the trucks’ windshields, particularly in Turn 2 of the 2.5-mile Pocono track, prompting a yellow flag for weather with only nine laps remained in the race. After parking on pit road for little over ten minutes during the red-flag stoppage, the pack returned to the circuit for a lap before returning down pit road again as the rain fell heavier with seven laps remaining.
Unsurprisingly, Heim informed his workers right away that there was a lot of rain. Enfinger, who was 2.2 seconds behind Heim at the time of the opening red flag, expected it to be a brief downpour. Before the green flag, NASCAR had already decided that the race would be official regardless of the circumstances at 8:20 p.m. ET, one hour and ten minutes after the first red flag was waved Friday evening.
However, the sun shone on the restart, allowing enough laps to complete the race before a little rain began again during the driver’s postrace interviews.
Enfinger’s second-place performance matched his best of the year, which came at North Wilkesboro, N.C., and helped solidify the CR7 Motorsports driver’s Playoff spot. He is in ninth place with only two races remaining until the 2024 Playoffs begin on August 25 at the Milwaukee Mile Speedway.
Christian Eckes of McAnally Hilgemann took third place, followed by Taylor Gray of TRICON Garage and NASCAR Cup Series regular Ross Chastain of Niece Motorsports.
The last laps witnessed close racing up front, with several in the lead pack having to be mindful of fuel economy – a consideration that was rendered meaningless by the rain halt. Heim was attempting to hold off the hard-charging, extremely driven veteran Enfinger, who was vying for his first win of the season, while Eckes had to hold off Chastain for third.
Eckes, who won the pole position, led the first 11 laps of the race in the No. 19 McAnally Hilgemann Chevy and finished second to Heim in both stages. Eckes had to catch up after a slow pit stop at the second stage break. He began 10th, but moved up to fourth place inside five circuits and proceeded to advance.
He battled to finish third, extending his series-best 12-race string of top-10 finishes, and he currently leads Heim by 32 points in the regular season title.
With 26 laps remaining, Rajah Caruth spun on the track, resulting in the first caution flag of the race. At the moment, Heim led Chastain by about three seconds. As the trucks went cautiously, drivers were warned of impending rain, so the front-runners did not pit.
Chase Purdy, Stewart Friesen, Matt Crafton, Dean Thompson, and Caruth complete the top ten.
With only two races remaining to determine the 10-driver Playoff lineup, Daniel Dye has a one-point advantage over Tanner Gray in 10th place and a four-point lead over Friesen.
Only four full-time series drivers have won this season, earning automatic Playoff berths: Heim, Eckes, Friday’s 13th-place finisher Nick Sanchez, and Caruth.
The Craftsman Truck Series heads to Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park for Friday’s TSport 200 (8:30 p.m. ET, FS1, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). Ty Majeski won last year’s event by more than three seconds over Eckes. Heim, the championship leader, was ranked ninth.
