Corey Heim (11) pulled off a late race pass on leader Christian Eckes (19) to win Thursday night's UNOH 200 presented by Ohio Logistics at Bristol Motor Speedway.
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NASCAR: Corey Heim uses late pass to win Bristol Truck Race

Posted by AR1 staff

Corey Heim made a late winning pass in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Playoff race on Thursday night at Bristol Motor Speedway.

Heim, driving the No. 11 Toyota for TriCon Garage, opened up the playoffs’ Round of 8 by weaving his way through lapped traffic and, on Lap 194, perfectly timing a pass of runner-up Christian Eckes, who had dominated throughout, including winning Stages 1 and 2.

“This is insane,” said Heim, who led the race’s final six laps and registered his 13th straight top-10 finish after beating Eckes to the checkered flag by .218 seconds. “I feel like I’ve given so many away this year. To win like that is unreal. We finally got one back.”

Eckes was followed by fellow championship contenders Grant Enfinger in third and Carson Hocevar in fourth while rookie Taylor Gray placed fifth.

“We got really tight at the end,” said Eckes, who led a race-high 150 laps. “That one stinks for sure. We’ve got to move on and go on.”

Heim, the Truck Series’ regular season champion, was near the front throughout but couldn’t reach the top spot until the final pass for the lead.

“I was in the zone,” Heim said. “I just focused forward. I’m out of breath, but to going to Phoenix [as a championship contender] is awesome.”

Heim averaged 84.047 mph around the 0.533-mile concrete oval at The Last Great Colosseum, completing the 200 laps in 1 hour, 16 minutes and 6 seconds. Four caution periods took up 33 laps.

Among other playoff contenders, Ben Rhodes finished seventh, defending race champion Ty Majeski was 19th and defending Truck Series champion Zane Smith placed 24th despite leading 43 laps in the second stage.

Race Results

1. Corey Heim
2. Christian Eckes
3. Grant Enfinger
4. Carson Hocevar
5. Taylor Gray
6. Rajah Caruth
7. Ben Rhodes
8. Chase Purdy
9. Nick Sanchez
10. Matt DiBenedetto
11. Jake Garcia
12. Carson Kvapil
13. Bayley Currey
14. Stewart Friesen
15. Conner Jones
16. Matt Crafton
17. Hailie Deegan
18. Parker Kligerman
19. Ty Majeski
20. Jake Drew
21. Daniel Dye
22. Colby Howard
23. Tyler Ankrum
24. Zane Smith
25. Kaden Honeycutt
26. Timmy Hill
27. Bret Holmes
28. Lawless Alan
29. Tanner Gray
30. William Sawalich
31. Spencer Boyd
32. Stephen Mallozzi
33. Memphis Villarreal
34. Greg Van Alst
35. Dean Thompson
36. Jack Wood