Corey Heim does not have a full-time NASCAR ride in 2026.
Yet, the 23-year-old is taking full advantage of his part-time deal with Tricon Garage in the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series.
On Saturday at Rockingham Speedway, Heim wheeled the No. 1 Toyota Tundra to a dominant win, pacing the field for 178 of 200 laps en route to victory. It was Heim’s second straight Truck victory after winning at Darlington two weeks ago.
Heim had to fend off teammate Kaden Honeycutt, who finished second in the No. 11 truck. Layne Riggs finished third, followed by Stewart Friesen in fourth, and Grant Enfinger rounded out the top five.
Sixth was Tyler Ankrum, followed by Corey LaJoie, Ty Majeski, Jake Garcia, and Cole Butcher to round out the top 10.
Chandler Smith originally finished fourth, but was disqualified after failing post-race inspection.
Corey Heim on Rockingham finish: ‘We hung on’
Heim won both stages and led all but 22 laps on his way to his 25th career CRAFTSMAN Truck Series victory.
However, the Georgia native had to fend off a hard-charging Honeycutt, who was right on his bumper coming to the checkered flag.
In his post-race interview with FS1, Heim did not feel like he was pushing any harder towards the end of the race than he did at any other point.
However, the 23XI Racing developmental driver quickly saw his truck slipping away from him as Honeycutt began to close in.
“[It] was like four to go and. … I had to turn more down the straightaway to keep it straight and my wheel was clocked 20 degrees to the right. … I was like, ‘Oh boy, here we go. We’re gonna lose in one in the worst way possible,'” Heim said.
Heim also earned a $100,000 bonus in race earnings as part of winning the second race of the Triple Truck Challenge. His total is now up to $150,000 after nabbing a win in the first of the three races at Darlington.
The Triple Truck Challenge will wrap up in next Friday’s race at Bristol. Should Heim win, his bonus total will go up to $500,000.
Heim gave props to his Tricon teammate for a clean run to the finish. Looking ahead to Bristol, Heim is eyeing the huge cash prize of the Triple Truck Challenge.
“Respect to [Honeycutt] for racing me clean there. I had to do what I had to do there at the end. … Definitely a stressful ending there, but got it done. [I’ll] go after 500K next week,” Heim said.
With his win in the Black’s Tire 200, Heim now stands alone in fifth on the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series all-time wins list.
Heim, Honeycutt tied for Truck points lead
With his victory at Rockingham, Heim takes over the points lead in the CRAFTSMAN Truck Series in a tie with Honeycutt.
Riggs currently sits third behind by 11 points. Fourth is Smith (-17) and fifth is Majeski (-22).
The CRAFTSMAN Truck Series circuit heads to the Bristol Motor Speedway for the Tennessee Army National Guard 250 on Friday, April 10. The race is scheduled to begin at 7:30 p.m. Eastern time and can be watched on FS1.
Corey Heim Remains Hot with NASCAR Truck Victory at Rockingham