Heim, driving the No. 11 TRICON Garage Toyota, was one of four drivers in contention for the Truck Series title last Friday.
In the closing laps, he cleanly passed Carson Hocevar for position and took control of the championship. Hocevar fought back and ran into the back of Heim. The Toyota spun while Hocevar carried on, falling back to the rear of the field.
Hocevar then faded afterwards, getting emotional and showing remorse on the radio for the contact. The title battle ultimately came down to Grant Enfinger and Ben Rhodes while Heim struggled to regain lost ground.
When he crossed paths with Hocevar again, there were just three laps left in the race. He appeared to intentionally turn up the track at the exit of Turn 2, crashing himself and Hocevar, as well as collecting another truck.
The race was forced into overtime, and absolute chaos ensued.
Enfinger, who appeared to be on his way to capturing the title, lost out to Ben Rhodes in a race that went nearly 30 laps past the scheduled distance due to multiple accidents and restarts.
Although Heim denied that he intentionally wrecked Hocevar in his post-race interviews, NASCAR has since reviewed radio transmissions from the No. 11 team at Phoenix and determined that Heim violated the Member Conduct guidelines, specifically the following sections of the NASCAR rule book:
*Attempting to manipulate the outcome of the Race or championship. *Wrecking or spinning another vehicle, whether or not that vehicle is removed from Competition as a result. *Any actions deemed to compromise the safety of an Event or otherwise pose a dangerous risk to the safety of Competitors, Officials, spectators, or others.
The result is a $12,500 fine and the loss of 25 driver points. The penalty drops Heim from third to fourth in the final standings, behind Hocevar.
