With rain approaching the track, Heim maintained a steady lead, but his No. 11 Tricon Garage Toyota team had waited to make a final green-flag stop for fuel.
A caution on lap 45 provided something of a cushion, saving some fuel, but when rain finally brought out a caution with eight of the scheduled 70 laps remaining, his team felt sure he had enough to make it.
As it turned out, he did. After more than a 20-minute delay, the race was restarted with three laps to go, and Heim easily held off Grant Enfinger by 0.867 seconds to earn his series leading fifth win of the 2024 season.
"I feel like it was the truck to beat today, all the way through practice and if we qualified, would’ve been right there. And of course, in the race, we put it to them today," Heim said.
"Such a good feeling when you have trucks as good as these and you can manage a race like that. It was crazy with the rain and the fuel mileage and all that stuff, but we overcame it and are here in Victory Lane.”
Heim time all day at @PoconoRaceway.@CoreyHeim_ sweeps the @NASCAR_Trucks race! pic.twitter.com/lownylS6kr
— Xfinity Racing (@XfinityRacing) July 13, 2024
While Christian Eckes started on the pole when qualifying was rained out and led the first 11 laps, Heim was never seriously challenged once he took the lead for the first time on lap 12.
The win is the 10th of Heim’s career.
Eckes finished third, Taylor Gray was fourth and Ross Chastain rounded out the top five.
Completing the top 10 were Chase Purdy, Stewart Friesen, Matt Crafton, Dean Thompson and Rajah Caruth.
Stage 1
Heim ran down Eckes and passed him for the lead with four laps remaining and held on by 1.753 seconds to take the Stage 1 win. Tyler Ankrum was third, Daniel Dye fourth and Enfinger ended up fifth.
You won't get a bigger battle from anyone else.@CoreyHeim_ wrestles the lead away! pic.twitter.com/2zGXgaf4NX
— NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Trucks (@NASCAR_Trucks) July 12, 2024
Stage 2
Heim elected not to pit after Stage 1 and cruised the Stage 2 victory over Eckes by 2.097 seconds, his sixth stage win of the 2024 season. Dye finished third, Enfinger fourth and Ankrum rounded out the top five.
Stage 3
Following the break between Stages 2 and 3, several lead-lap trucks elected to pit but Jake Garcia – who pit before the end of Stage 2 – stayed out and inherited the lead.
Heim, on four new tires, went from fifth to first on the restart with 34 laps to go and quickly reclaimed the lead.
With 30 laps remaining, those teams which needed a final stop for fuel to make it to the finish began making green-flag stops. Garcia had issues changing both his left and right-side front tires and lost a lap.
Caruth spun around through Turn 1 on lap 45 to bring out a caution but was able to keep his No. 71 Chevrolet off the wall.
The race resumed with 22 laps remaining and Heim leading Chastain and Enfinger on the restart. Enfinger quicky moved into the runner-up spot ahead of Chastain on the ensuing lap.
Ty Majeski was forced to pit road with 16 laps to go as his No. 98 Ford lost power and required a new battery to be installed.
On Lap 63, NASCAR displayed a caution when rain began to fall in the area of Turn 2 of the track and then quickly red-flagged the event and brought it to a halt. After a nearly 21-minute delay, the race resumed with three laps remaining and Heim still out front.
| CLA | DRIVER | # | MANUFACTURER | LAPS | TIME | INTERVAL | PITS | POINTS | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |
C. HeimTRICON GARAGE
|
11 | Toyota | 70 |
2:06'02.276 |
6 | 60 | ||
| 2 | G. EnfingerCR7 MOTORSPORTS | 9 | Chevrolet | 70 |
+0.867 2:06'03.143 |
0.867 | 7 | 48 | |
| 3 | C. EckesMCANALLY HILGEMANN RACING | 19 | Chevrolet | 70 |
+1.484 2:06'03.760 |
0.617 | 7 | 52 | |
| 4 |
T. GrayTRICON GARAGE
|
17 | Toyota | 70 |
+2.466 2:06'04.742 |
0.982 | 8 | 36 | |
| 5 | R. ChastainNIECE MOTORSPORTS | 45 | Chevrolet | 70 |
+4.174 2:06'06.450 |
1.708 | 7 | ||
| 6 | C. PurdySPIRE MOTORSPORTS | 77 | Chevrolet | 70 |
+4.453 2:06'06.729 |
0.279 | 8 | 31 | |
| 7 | S. FriesenHALMAR FRIESEN RACING | 52 | Toyota | 70 |
+4.753 2:06'07.029 |
0.300 | 7 | 35 | |
| 8 | M. CraftonTHORSPORT RACING | 88 | Ford | 70 |
+5.188 2:06'07.464 |
0.435 | 8 | 29 | |
| 9 |
D. ThompsonTRICON GARAGE
|
5 | Toyota | 70 |
+5.356 2:06'07.632 |
0.168 | 8 | 28 | |
| 10 |
R. CaruthSPIRE MOTORSPORTS
|
71 | Chevrolet | 70 |
+6.470 2:06'08.746 |
1.114 | 8 | 27 | |
| 11 | M. MillsNIECE MOTORSPORTS | 42 | Chevrolet | 70 |
+6.481 2:06'08.757 |
0.011 | 7 | 27 | |
| 12 |
B. HolmesBRET HOLMES RACING
|
32 | Chevrolet | 70 |
+7.383 2:06'09.659 |
0.902 | 8 | 25 | |
| 13 |
N. SanchezREV RACING
|
2 | Chevrolet | 70 |
+7.444 2:06'09.720 |
0.061 | 10 | 28 | |
| 14 | T. AnkrumMCANALLY HILGEMANN RACING | 18 | Chevrolet | 70 |
+7.550 2:06'09.826 |
0.106 | 7 | 37 | |
| 15 |
C. MosackSPIRE MOTORSPORTS
|
7 | Chevrolet | 70 |
+7.641 2:06'09.917 |
0.091 | 9 | 22 | |
| 16 |
D. DyeMCANALLY HILGEMANN RACING
|
43 | Chevrolet | 70 |
+7.892 2:06'10.168 |
0.251 | 8 | 36 | |
| 17 | B. CurreyNIECE MOTORSPORTS | 41 | Chevrolet | 70 |
+7.915 2:06'10.191 |
0.023 | 10 | 20 | |
| 18 | B. RhodesTHORSPORT RACING | 99 | Ford | 70 |
+8.521 2:06'10.797 |
0.606 | 8 | 19 | |
| 19 | T. GrayTRICON GARAGE | 15 | Toyota | 70 |
+8.875 2:06'11.151 |
0.354 | 7 | 21 | |
| 20 |
Z. SmithMCANALLY HILGEMANN RACING
|
91 | Chevrolet | 70 |
+8.928 2:06'11.204 |
0.053 | 9 | ||
| 21 |
J. GarciaTHORSPORT RACING
|
13 | Ford | 70 |
+9.089 2:06'11.365 |
0.161 | 10 | 16 | |
| 22 |
L. FenhausTHORSPORT RACING
|
66 | Ford | 70 |
+9.429 2:06'11.705 |
0.340 | 9 | 15 | |
| 23 | T. HillHILL MOTORSPORTS | 56 | Toyota | 70 |
+10.186 2:06'12.462 |
0.757 | 10 | 14 | |
| 24 |
M. MasseyYOUNG'S MOTORSPORTS
|
02 | Chevrolet | 70 |
+10.244 2:06'12.520 |
0.058 | 10 | 13 | |
| 25 | T. DillonRACKLEY W.A.R. | 25 | Chevrolet | 70 |
+10.533 2:06'12.809 |
0.289 | 11 | 12 | |
| 26 | K. WrightTRICON GARAGE | 1 | Toyota | 70 |
+10.687 2:06'12.963 |
0.154 | 9 | 11 | |
| 27 |
M. MaggioREAUME BROTHERS RACING
|
22 | Ford | 70 |
+10.901 2:06'13.177 |
0.214 | 10 | 10 | |
| 28 |
J. STERRY CARROLL MOTORSPORTS
|
90 | Toyota | 70 |
+13.147 2:06'15.423 |
2.246 | 9 | 9 | |
| 29 | T. MoffittYOUNG'S MOTORSPORTS | 46 | Chevrolet | 70 |
+21.577 2:06'23.853 |
8.430 | 9 | 8 | |
| 30 |
L. RiggsFRONT ROW MOTORSPORTS
|
38 | Ford | 69 |
+1 Lap 2:06'19.307 |
1 Lap | 13 | 7 | |
| 31 | T. MajeskiTHORSPORT RACING | 98 | Ford | 68 |
+2 Laps 2:06'10.937 |
1 Lap | 8 | 16 | |
| 32 |
A. LawlessREAUME BROTHERS RACING
|
33 | Ford | 68 |
+2 Laps 2:06'11.865 |
0.928 | 10 | 5 | |
| 33 | S. KaramFLORIDIAN MOTORSPORTS | 21 | Ford | 67 |
+3 Laps 2:06'14.118 |
1 Lap | 13 | ||
| 34 | B. DauzatFDNY RACING | 28 | Chevrolet | 65 |
+5 Laps 2:03'18.493 |
2 Laps | 8 | 3 | |
| 35 |
S. MallozziREAUME BROTHERS RACING
|
27 | Ford | 22 |
+48 Laps 27'45.289 |
43 Laps | 4 | 2 | |
| 36 | S. BoydFREEDOM RACING ENTERPRISES | 76 | Chevrolet | 5 |
+65 Laps 6'46.795 |
17 Laps | 3 | 1 |
