Corey Heim won the Kubota Tractor 200 on Friday night in Kansas City, Kan., in the fastest truck, but he needed help from fellow playoff driver Ty Majeski to secure the victory in the NASCAR Truck Series Round of 10 elimination race at Kansas Speedway.
Majeski ran out of fuel approaching the white flag while leading, allowing Heim to surge past in his No. 11 TRICON Garage Toyota and claim his sixth victory of the season in a race that saw reigning series champion Ben Rhodes and playoff rookie Daniel Dye eliminated from title contention.
Under the third and final caution on Lap 78 of the 134-lap race, Majeski came to pit road for tires and fuel, along with ThorSport Racing teammate Rhodes and eventual fourth-place finisher Kaden Honeycutt.
Heim, runner-up Layne Riggs and third-place finisher Christian Eckes stayed on the track during the caution and made green-flag pit stops within the final 30 laps. Heim, who started the race from the rear of the field after hitting the outside wall and cutting a tire in practice earlier in the day, was chasing Majeski when the latter ran out of fuel.
Majeski, who had clinched a berth in the Round of 8 with his win in Stage 1, rolled home in 15th, the last driver on the lead lap.
“We were the best truck all night — it’s my favorite track, I love coming here,” said Heim, who won at the 1.5-mile speedway in the spring. “I look forward to this. I had a smile on my face all week coming to this place.
“I just thought we could sweep the year here. It’s an awesome place to come. I certainly thought we had it lost there to the 98 (Majeski), almost making it on fuel, but it just shows my team made the right call.”
The victory was Heim’s second at Kansas and the 11th of his career. He led a race-high 64 laps in an event that featured 10 lead changes among three drivers.
Heim, Eckes and Nick Sanchez had clinched spots in the Round of 8 in the second race of the Round of 10 at Bristol. Majeski, seventh-place finisher Rajah Caruth, ninth-place Grant Enfinger, 14th-place Tyler Ankrum and 18th-place Taylor Gray advanced on points Friday night.
In the closing laps, there was real suspense regarding the fortunes of two-time series champion Rhodes and Enfinger. Rhodes was on the same strategy as Majeski and ran as high as third as the race neared its conclusion.
But Enfinger gained positions as Rhodes lost them in the late going, and the die was cast when Rhodes ran out of fuel.
“We qualified fourth, and at the start of the race — massive changes with the truck,” Rhodes said. “We could not get it tightened up. … Still kind of unacceptable. If we’d have gotten our stage points, it would have taken care of itself.”
Rhodes came home 22nd after running out of fuel and fell 25 points short of Enfinger for the final spot in the Round of 8.
“It was definitely a little bit stressful, definitely too close for comfort there,” Enfinger said. “This is a round we want to forget. We snuck through here, and now we’re looking forward to going to Talladega next week (for the first race in the Round of 8).”
Dye scraped the outside wall twice during the first stage and made multiple pit stops, falling three laps down. He finished 27th and, like Enfinger, was 25 points from advancing to the next round.
Riggs, who didn’t qualify for the playoffs in his rookie season, added the runner-up finish to his two victories in the previous two races.
Dawson Sutton ran fifth, followed by Tanner Gray, Caruth, Bayley Currey, Enfinger and Connor Mosack.
NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series Race — Kubota Tractor 200
Kansas Speedway
1. (33) Corey Heim (P), Toyota, 134.
2. (13) Layne Riggs #, Ford, 134.
3. (3) Christian Eckes (P), Chevrolet, 134.
4. (6) Kaden Honeycutt (P), Chevrolet, 134.
5. (5) Dawson Sutton, Chevrolet, 134.
6. (21) Tanner Gray, Toyota, 134.
7. (16) Rajah Caruth (P), Chevrolet, 134.
8. (22) Bayley Currey, Chevrolet, 134.
9. (19) Grant Enfinger (P), Chevrolet, 134.
10. (2) Connor Mosack (P), Chevrolet, 134.
11. (15) Chase Purdy, Chevrolet, 134.
12. (7) Nick Sanchez (P), Chevrolet, 134.
13. (11) Dean Thompson, Toyota, 134.
14. (14) Tyler Ankrum (P), Chevrolet, 134.
15. (1) Ty Majeski (P), Ford, 134.
16. (20) Bret Holmes, Chevrolet, 133.
17. (29) Conor Daly(i), Chevrolet, 133.
18. (17) Taylor Gray (P), Toyota, 133.
19. (32) Nathan Byrd(i), Chevrolet, 133.
20. (23) Brenden Queen, Toyota, 133.
21. (9) Jake Garcia, Ford, 133.
22. (4) Ben Rhodes (P), Ford, 133.
23. (30) Timmy Hill, Toyota, 132.
24. (8) Stewart Friesen, Toyota, 132.
25. (26) Matt Crafton, Ford, 132.
26. (27) Justin Mondeik, Chevrolet, 131.
27. (10) Daniel Dye (P), Chevrolet, 131.
28. (28) Spencer Boyd, Chevrolet, 129.
29. (31) Frankie Muniz, Ford, 129.
30. (24) Lawless Alan, Ford, 128.
31. (34) Jennifer Jo Cobb, Chevrolet, Electrical, 89.
32. (18) Corey Day, Chevrolet, Accident, 75.
33. (12) Matt Mills, Chevrolet, Accident, 75.
34. (25) Marco Andretti, Chevrolet, Brakes, 43.
Average Speed of Race Winner: 125.843 mph.
Time of Race: 1 Hrs, 35 Mins, 50 Secs. Margin of Victory: 7.638 Seconds.
Caution Flags: 3 for 20 laps.
Lead Changes: 10 among 3 drivers.
Lap Leaders: C. Eckes (P) 1; T. Majeski (P) 2; C. Eckes (P) 3-7; T. Majeski (P) 8-32; C. Heim (P) 33; C. Eckes (P) 34-44; C. Heim (P) 45-106; C. Eckes (P) 107-108; T. Majeski (P) 109-133; C. Heim (P) 134.
Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Lead, Laps Led): Corey Heim (P) 3 times for 64 laps; Ty Majeski (P) 3 times for 51 laps; Christian Eckes (P) 4 times for 19 laps.
Stage #1 Top Ten: 98,19,11,45,38,2,17,15,52,7
Stage #2 Top Ten: 11,38,19,98,17,2,15,45,41,71
–By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service. Special to Field Level Media.
