Part-time driver (and reigning Truck champion) Corey Heim restarted ninth with two laps to go, but the former Truck champion had slightly fresher tires than those around, immediately going to the bottom and passing several trucks.
At that point, Ross Chastain confidently held the lead, and was over half-a-second clear of Heim at the white flag. But the #5 quickly ran him down, blowing by the #45 Chevrolet in a last-lap, last-corner pass.
"I'm out of breath," said Heim. "We had those set of scuffs laying and they were five laps fresher than everybody else's. I figured it was worth a shot because we couldn't win from where we were at. Sure enough, I felt like I made all the right moves. Made it three-wide coming to the white, and bombed it off in there on Ross. I was shocked he gave me the bottom like that on fresher tires. I'm so out of breath ... I didn't even know I was racing this race until three weeks ago. I love racing, I love winning. I just drove the crap out of it and it worked out."
Heim was also the winner of the 'Triple Truck Challenge,' netting him an additional $50,000 in prize money.
As for Chastain, it turns out that he had no idea Heim had a tire advantage on that final restart, and may have attacked the final corner a bit differently if he knew.
"I have no idea what just happened," said Chastain, laughing. "Coming to the checkered, McReynolds said #5's there or something -- he's fast. And I was like, 'yeah it's fine,' and he drove by. I had no idea. I think that's on us as a whole that we didn't catch that. Of course, I would have ran the bottom if I thought he was going to be close, but I just thought he had a good restart."
Christian Eckes finished third, Kaden Honeycutt fourth, Connor Mosack fifth, Christopher Bell sixth, Grant Enfinger seventh, Gio Ruggiero eighth, Daniel Hemric ninth, and William Sawalich tenth.
AJ Allmendinger, making his first Truck oval start in 18 years following the suspension of Daniel Dye, finished a respectable 11th.
Stage 1
With four fresh sets and one qualifying scuff back in the pits, the race began with Kaden Honeycutt leading from pole position. The day didn't last long for former champion Ben Rhodes, who slammed the wall with a flat tire on Lap 3, which he said was due to contact with Tyler Ankrum.
Heim, the reigning champion moved into the lead, but only briefly, as Christopher Bell passed him for the top spot before the next caution of the race, caused by a spinning William Sawalich. He took the opportunity to put fresher tires on his truck while the rest of the field stayed out, so he came charging through the field.
On the restart, Heim returned to the lead and led most of that stint. However, Honeycutt caught him and the two Tricon trucks were a bit too focused on each other, opening the door for Eckes to pass them both in the same corner.
Eckes won Stage 1, followed by Honeycutt, Heim, Riggs, Sawalich, Majeski, Hocevar, Chastain, Tan. Gray, Hemric, and Ankrum.
Stage 2
A slow stop for Christian Eckes dropped him five places to sixth in the running order. Honeycutt was in command for the restart, with Chastain surging up to second from fifth before a debris caution brought the field back together.
Chastain then passes Honeycutt and led for a bit, leading his 1000th career lap in Trucks before Honeycutt took the lead back.
Honeycutt win on to win the stage, about five seconds clear of Chastain, and then Majeski, Heim, Eckes, Ankrum, Hocevar, Riggs, Garcia, and Sawalich.
Stage 3
Honeycutt continued to lead Chastain, as Conner Jones brought out the next caution, hitting the wall with a flat tire following contact with Dawson Sutton.
Most teams still had two sets of tires left, so with 40 laps to go, the majority of the field pitted. Riggs was among those with only one unused set left, but he still opted to pit. Timmy Hill stayed out, saving a set and holding the lead for the restart.
After a brief back-and-forth battle, Chastain emerged with the lead while Hocevar was making a mad dash through the field. He passed about ten trucks before reaching Heim. The two drivers, who have a contentious history, made contact in the battle for third.
Surprisingly, the caution happened immediately behind them, as Majeski, Riggs, and Perez all wrecked in the battle for fifth. Riggs was trying to clear Majeski, but did not get there, sending both into the wall. Riggs was distraught behind the wheel, fully aware that it was his mistake.
On pit road, most trucks took their final set, with Chastain losing the race off to Honeycutt and Hocevar. Jones stayed out on track.
Jones quickly faded as Hocevar muscled their way by Honeycutt through Turn 1. Chastain shadowed Hocevar for much of the run, and with just a few laps to go, Hocevar slammed the wall with an issue. He spun and Chastain narrowly avoided him.
On the ensuing restart, Ankrum cut a tire down immediately and triggered a multi-truck accident in the middle of the pack.
In overtime, it was Chastain and Honeycutt on the front row, and again, Chastain rocketed ahead while Heim ran extremely low, passing several trucks on the apron in Turns 1 and 2. He quickly slicked his way forward, and there was almost nothing Chastain could do to stop him.
RACE
| Cla | Driver | # | Manufacturer | Laps | Time | Interval | Pits | Points | Retirement | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |
C. Heim TRICON Garage
|
5 | Toyota | 157 |
2:12'38.432 |
7 | 70 | ||||||
| 2 |  R. Chastain Niece Motorsports |
45 | Chevrolet | 157 |
+0.145 2:12'38.577 |
0.145 | 7 | ||||||
| 3 | C. Eckes McAnally Hilgemann Racing |
91 | Chevrolet | 157 |
+1.410 2:12'39.842 |
1.265 | 7 | 50 | |||||
| 4 |
K. Honeycutt TRICON Garage
|
11 | Toyota | 157 |
+1.476 2:12'39.908 |
0.066 | 7 | 52 | |||||
| 5 |
C. Mosack Spire Motorsports
|
7 | Chevrolet | 157 |
+1.837 2:12'40.269 |
0.361 | 8 | 32 | |||||
| 6 | C. Bell Halmar Friesen Racing |
62 | Toyota | 157 |
+3.177 2:12'41.609 |
1.340 | 7 | ||||||
| 7 | G. Enfinger CR7 Motorsports |
9 | Chevrolet | 157 |
+3.193 2:12'41.625 |
0.016 | 7 | 30 | |||||
| 8 |
G. Ruggiero TRICON Garage
|
17 | Toyota | 157 |
+3.256 2:12'41.688 |
0.063 | 7 | 29 | |||||
| 9 | D. Hemric McAnally Hilgemann Racing |
19 | Chevrolet | 157 |
+3.350 2:12'41.782 |
0.094 | 7 | 29 | |||||
| 10 |
W. Sawalich TRICON Garage
|
1 | Toyota | 157 |
+3.486 2:12'41.918 |
0.136 | 9 | ||||||
| 11 | A. Allmendinger Kaulig Racing |
10 | RAM | 157 |
+3.585 2:12'42.017 |
0.099 | 8 | ||||||
| 12 |
L. Riggs Front Row Motorsports
|
34 | Ford | 157 |
+3.847 2:12'42.279 |
0.262 | 11 | 35 | |||||
| 13 | T. Gray TRICON Garage |
15 | Toyota | 157 |
+4.256 2:12'42.688 |
0.409 | 8 | 26 | |||||
| 14 | T. Hill Hill Motorsports |
56 | Toyota | 157 |
+4.303 2:12'42.735 |
0.047 | 7 | 23 | |||||
| 15 | J. Haley Kaulig Racing |
16 | RAM | 157 |
+4.484 2:12'42.916 |
0.181 | 8 | 22 | |||||
| 16 |
C. Jones Niece Motorsports
|
42 | Chevrolet | 157 |
+4.590 2:12'43.022 |
0.106 | 8 | 21 | |||||
| 17 |
C. Smith Front Row Motorsports
|
38 | Ford | 157 |
+4.719 2:12'43.151 |
0.129 | 7 | 20 | |||||
| 18 |
F. Muniz Reaume Brothers Racing
|
33 | Ford | 157 |
+4.851 2:12'43.283 |
0.132 | 10 | 19 | |||||
| 19 |
D. Sutton Rackley W.A.R.
|
26 | Chevrolet | 157 |
+4.979 2:12'43.411 |
0.128 | 7 | 18 | |||||
| 20 |
B. Queen Kaulig Racing
|
12 | RAM | 157 |
+5.140 2:12'43.572 |
0.161 | 8 | 17 | |||||
| 21 | C. Lajoie Kaulig Racing |
25 | RAM | 157 |
+5.238 2:12'43.670 |
0.098 | 9 | ||||||
| 22 | C. Hocevar Spire Motorsports |
77 | Chevrolet | 157 |
+5.286 2:12'43.718 |
0.048 | 10 | ||||||
| 23 |
J. Garcia ThorSport Racing
|
98 | Ford | 157 |
+5.472 2:12'43.904 |
0.186 | 10 | 16 | |||||
| 24 | T. Ankrum McAnally Hilgemann Racing |
18 | Chevrolet | 157 |
+5.778 2:12'44.210 |
0.306 | 9 | 18 | |||||
| 25 | S. Friesen Halmar Friesen Racing |
52 | Toyota | 157 |
+5.784 2:12'44.216 |
0.006 | 9 | 12 | |||||
| 26 |
J. Carroll Terry Carroll Motorsports
|
90 | Toyota | 157 |
+7.146 2:12'45.578 |
1.362 | 7 | 11 | |||||
| 27 |
C. Costner Costner Motorsports
|
93 | Chevrolet | 155 |
+2 Laps 2:12'49.918 |
2 Laps | 8 | 10 | |||||
| 28 |
C. Butcher ThorSport Racing
|
13 | Ford | 153 |
+4 Laps 2:12'52.722 |
2 Laps | 9 | 9 | |||||
| 29 |
C. Green Reaume Brothers Racing
|
2 | Ford | 148 |
+9 Laps 2:12'46.588 |
5 Laps | 9 | 8 | |||||
| 30 | S. Boyd Freedom Racing Enterprises |
76 | Chevrolet | 147 |
+10 Laps 2:12'52.046 |
1 Lap | 8 | 7 | |||||
| 31 | T. Majeski ThorSport Racing |
88 | Ford | 123 |
+34 Laps 1:46'36.366 |
24 Laps | 7 | 19 | DVP | ||||
| 32 |
A. Pérez de Lara Niece Motorsports
|
44 | Chevrolet | 122 |
+35 Laps 1:38'50.421 |
1 Lap | 6 | 5 | Accident | ||||
| 33 | K. Wright McAnally Hilgemann Racing |
81 | Chevrolet | 111 |
+46 Laps 1:34'42.303 |
11 Laps | 7 | 4 | Suspension | ||||
| 34 |
M. Tyrrell Kaulig Racing
|
14 | RAM | 93 |
+64 Laps 1:19'31.504 |
18 Laps | 9 | 3 | Steering | ||||
| 35 | J. Reaume Reaume Brothers Racing |
22 | Ford | 51 |
+106 Laps 1:24'34.633 |
42 Laps | 4 | 2 | Suspension | ||||
| 36 | B. Rhodes ThorSport Racing |
99 | Ford | 2 |
+155 Laps 1'05.415 |
49 Laps | 3 | 1 | Accident | ||||
| View full results | |||||||||||||
