NASCAR News: Heim holds off Majeski to win Richmond Truck race

Toyota driver Corey Heim (pictured) held off the #98 Ford truck of Ty Majeski by 0.9s to win the NASCAR Truck race at Richmond Raceway.

In winning for the 7th time this year, Heim led 75 of the 250 laps while Majeski led a race high 143 laps.

The 23-year-old Georgia native started from pole position in the series’ regular season finale on the historic three-quarter mile venue, but he quickly had to deal with his front row starting mate, Ty Majeski who pressed him all night. Majeski swept both stage wins and his race best 143 of the 250 laps out front was more laps led than he turned in the entire season.

Ultimately, Majeski’s shot at his first win of the year suffered a setback when he was collected in an incident with his ThorSport Racing teammate Matt Crafton while leading late in the race.

Although Majeski recovered and raced forward, Heim, who led 75 laps himself in the No. 11 TRICON Garage Toyota, got to the front when it mattered most and drove away – taking the lead for good with 20 laps remaining and then holding off the reigning series champ Majeski by .923-second at the checkered flag.

With the victory, Heim becomes the youngest driver in series history to get to 18 career wins.

“Felt like we were the best truck at [short tracks] Martinsville (Va.) and North Wilkesboro (N.C.) but they got away from us and we kind of got this one back,” Heim said of his short track struggles this season. “I didn’t feel like we were the best truck tonight. I feel like the 98 was really stout, but obviously had a run-in and got some damage.

“Being there when it counted was the first goal and we were and just able to execute from there.”

The race formally set the 10-driver Playoff field. Heim, Layne Riggs, Chandler Smith, Daniel Hemric, Tyler Ankrum and Rajah Caruth advanced to the six-race Playoffs via victories. Majeski, Grant Enfinger, Kaden Honeycutt and Jake Garcia topped the rest of the series in points to earn their championship chance.

The 20-year-old Garcia had to hold off former series champion Ben Rhodes and highly-touted rookie Gio Ruggiero Friday. Ultimately his seventh-place finish was enough to give Garcia a 19-point edge on Rhodes and 31-point margin on Ruggiero, who made a valiant run, restarting second on that final restart with 35 laps remaining despite starting last in the 35-truck field.

“Just did my best to run a smart race the second half,” said Garcia, driver of the No. 13 ThorSport Racing Ford. “Even in the first half there were moments we were four wide and that’s not gonna work out at Richmond. There were some points I had to bail out and lost a lot of spots on the restarts just being really conservative.

“But our truck was really fast and I think we could have finished top-five. I want to thank all my guys. They worked really, really hard on this truck like they do all the trucks and gave me a really fast piece today.”

Riggs finished third in the No. 34 Front Row Motorsports Ford with Spire Motorsports teammates Sammy Smith and Corey LaJoie rounding out the top-five positions.

Ruggiero, Garcia, Rhodes, Chandler Smith and Kaden Honeycutt rounded out the top-10. Honeycutt will compete for the driver’s title and his No. 52 Halmar Friesen Racing Toyota will contend for owners’ points.

The 2025 NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series Playoffs begin Saturday, Aug. 30 with the Sober or Slammer 200 at Darlington (S.C.) Raceway. NASCAR Cup Series regular Ross Chastain won the 2024 race at Darlington. This is the first year the historic track has hosted the series in a Playoff contest.

NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series Race – eero 250

1. (1)  Corey Heim, Toyota, 250.
2. (2)  Ty Majeski, Ford, 250.
3. (3)  Layne Riggs, Ford, 250.
4. (5)  Sammy Smith(i), Chevrolet, 250.
5. (26)  Corey LaJoie, Chevrolet, 250.
6. (35)  Giovanni Ruggiero #, Toyota, 250.
7. (8)  Jake Garcia, Ford, 250.
8. (17)  Ben Rhodes, Ford, 250.
9. (6)  Chandler Smith, Ford, 250.
10. (11)  Kaden Honeycutt, Toyota, 250.
11. (16)  Tyler Ankrum, Chevrolet, 250.
12. (9)  Christian Eckes(i), Chevrolet, 250.
13. (4)  Grant Enfinger, Chevrolet, 250.
14. (18)  Tanner Gray, Toyota, 249.
15. (25)  Carson Kvapil(i), Chevrolet, 249.
16. (19)  Brent Crews, Toyota, 249.
17. (20)  Matt Mills, Chevrolet, 249.
18. (14)  Connor Mosack #, Chevrolet, 249.
19. (21)  Rajah Caruth, Chevrolet, 249.
20. (13)  Bayley Currey, Chevrolet, 248.
21. (22)  Andres Perez De Lara #, Chevrolet, 248.
22. (15)  Luke Fenhaus, Ford, 248.
23. (24)  Patrick Staropoli(i), Toyota, 247.
24. (30)  Toni Breidinger #, Toyota, 247.
25. (29)  Matthew Gould, Chevrolet, 247.
26. (7)  Matt Crafton, Ford, 247.
27. (27)  Nick Leitz(i), Chevrolet, 246.
28. (23)  Spencer Boyd, Chevrolet, 245.
29. (33)  Ryan Roulette, Chevrolet, 240.
30. (32)  Caleb Costner, Chevrolet, 239.
31. (12)  Dawson Sutton #, Chevrolet, 223.
32. (28)  Frankie Muniz #, Ford, Rear Gear, 208.
33. (10)  Daniel Hemric, Chevrolet, 186.
34. (31)  Stephen Mallozzi, Ford, Mechanical, 5.
35. (34)  Clayton Green, Ford, Mechanical, 2.

Average Speed of Race Winner:  84.459 mph.

Time of Race:  2 Hrs, 13 Mins, 12 Secs. Margin of Victory:  0.923 Seconds.

Caution Flags:  5 for 48 laps.

Lead Changes:  13 among 4 drivers.

Lap Leaders:   C. Heim 1-17;T. Majeski 18-74;C. Heim 75;T. Majeski 76-79;C. Heim 80-102;T. Majeski 103-112;C. Heim 113-121;T. Majeski 122-143;J. Garcia 144;T. Majeski 145-150;C. Heim 151-155;T. Majeski 156-199;S. Smith(i) 200-230;C. Heim 231-250.

Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Lead, Laps Led):  Ty Majeski 6 times for 143 laps; Corey Heim 6 times for 75 laps; Sammy Smith(i) 1 time for 31 laps; Jake Garcia 1 time for 1 lap.

Stage #1 Top Ten: 98,34,11,7,38,52,16,9,13,88

Stage #2 Top Ten: 98,13,11,16,9,52,99,38,18,34