Story BY: SAM MAHONEY / TOYOTA RACING – LONG POND, PA – Corey Heim and his No. 11 TRICON Garage Toyota Tundra TRD Pro were the class of the field Friday afternoon in the NASCAR Truck Series race at Pocono Raceway, which resulted in his fifth trip to the winner’s circle in 2024, the most in the series this season, and the 10th win of his Truck Series career.
Heim led 55 of the 70 laps run on Friday and swept both stages on the way to victory. The stage wins give Heim six this season, also the most in the Truck Series.
The Georgia native started from the second position with qualifying canceled Friday afternoon, but fell back on the start, before driving back up the order swiftly and winning Stage 1 after 15 laps. And even with weather delays, including a red flag, towards the end of the race, Heim never looked back and snatched the checkered flag by the race’s conclusion.
Heim’s teammate, Taylor Gray, had an impressive drive from the 19th starting position to finish fourth, his fourth top-five and eighth top-10 of the season. Joining him inside the top-10 were Stewart Friesen in seventh and Dean Thompson in ninth.
The Truck Series returns to action next Friday, July 19, at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park. Coverage begins on FS1 at 8:30 p.m. EST.
Toyota Racing Post-Race Recap
NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series
Pocono Raceway
Race 14 of 23 – 70 Laps, 175 Miles
TOYOTA FINISHING POSITIONS
1st, COREY HEIM
2nd, Grant Enfinger*
3rd, Christian Eckes*
4th, TAYLOR GRAY
5th, Ross Chastain*
7th, STEWART FRIESEN
9th, DEAN THOMPSON
19th, TANNER GRAY
23rd, TIMMY HILL
26th, KRIS WRIGHT
28th, JUSTIN CARROLL
*non-Toyota driver
TOYOTA QUOTES
COREY HEIM, No. 11 Safelite Toyota Tundra TRD Pro, TRICON Garage
Finishing Position: Winner
How good was your truck today?
“Yeah, no doubt. Another week, another good truck with these TRICON Garage guys. They do such a good job week in and week out, bringing me fast Tundra TRD Pros. Today was no short of that. 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. 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.”
What was that last restart like (after the red flag)?
“Just a lot of emotion with getting out of the truck and having to reset. But again, so thankful for Safelite, Toyota Racing, TRICON Garage. Without them, I wouldn’t be here right now, so it’s an awesome day for us.”
At the start, you fell back a little bit. When did you know you had a strong truck today?
“Probably by the end of the first lap (laughs). Yeah, Rajah (Caruth), thought he pushed me there, but he ended up splitting me three-wide, but I probably would’ve done the same thing. Able to route and gauge our way back to the front, and within three or four laps, I think we were leading again, so wasn’t a big deal. Just such a great day for our TRICON Garage boys.”
TAYLOR GRAY, No. 17 Place of Hope Toyota Tundra TRD Pro, TRICON Garage
Finishing Position: 4th
Take us through your race today.
“ Yeah, we really had the truck to do it all day. Got caught up with some strategy stuff. We were really on target to just go for a race win and had some troubles on pit road, so got a little behind. But, have to thank my TRICON (Garage) guys for bringing me a fast Toyota Tundra TRD Pro. Feel like if we could’ve gotten some clean air and a little more track position there, we would’ve finished a little better. But good job to Corey (Heim). They were really fast all day. Just have to keep working and get back on track.”