Story By: SAM MAHONEY / TOYOTA RACING – BRISTOL, TN – With a stage win and a second-place finish at Bristol Motor Speedway on Thursday evening, Corey Heim has officially clinched his spot in the Truck Series Playoffs Round of 8, regardless of his performance next weekend at Kansas Speedway.
His TRICON Garage teammate, Taylor Gray, is also looking good to advance as he sits in seventh – 23 points above the cutline.
William Sawalich also had a day to remember as the 17-year-old claimed his second consecutive ARCA Menards Series East championship with a race win. He followed that performance with a strong run in the Truck race as he battled amongst the top-10 drivers most of the night before finishing 11th.
Toyota Racing Post-Race Recap
NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series
Bristol Motor Speedway
Race 17 of 23 – 200 Laps, 106.6 Miles
TOYOTA FINISHING POSITIONS
1st, Layne Riggs*
2nd, COREY HEIM
3rd, Rajah Caruth*
4th, Christian Eckes*
5th, Nick Sanchez*
9th, STEWART FRIESEN
11th, WILLIAM SAWALICH
12th, TAYLOR GRAY
14th, DEAN THOMPSON
22nd, TIMMY HILL
23rd, TANNER GRAY
*non-Toyota driver
TOYOTA QUOTES
COREY HEIM, No. 11 Safelite Toyota Tundra TRD Pro, TRICON Garage
Finishing Position: 2nd
I know you wanted to get another Bristol win under your belt, but can you talk about this good points day?
“Yeah, congrats to Layne (Riggs). Those guys were on it all night long. Everyone at our TRICON camp did such a good job. They gave me a great Tundra. They had great pit stops – they did their job to keep me out front, just didn’t quite have it when the groove started to move around there. Every time we got a heat cycle on the tires, it felt like it got tighter and tighter. Just didn’t quite have it, but solid points day in the Playoffs – that’s what you need, so I will keep moving forward with TRICON Garage, Toyota Racing, Safelite – huge thank you to all of those guys. I’m looking forward to my favorite place next week.”
WILLIAM SAWALICH, No. 1 Starkey/SoundGear Toyota Tundra TRD Pro, TRICON Garage
Finishing Position: 11th
Great day for you – championship and win in the ARCA race and in the top-10 most of the night in the Truck. Can you talk about your day?
“Both races were really good. The ARCA race went in our favor. We had a really fast Starkey, SoundGear Toyota Camry there and led a bunch of laps and had a lot of speed. Lots of restarts so I had plenty of time to work on that, but ultimately ended up with the win and the championship – for the second year in a row, which is really cool. In the Truck race, we had a really fast Starkey, SoundGear Toyota Tundra TRD Pro. Really thankful for the TRICON guys for giving me a good truck here tonight. Ran inside the top-10 and had a lot of speed.”
TAYLOR GRAY, No. 17 A Place of Hope Toyota Tundra TRD Pro, TRICON Garage
Finishing Position: 12th
12th place finish, can you talk about your race?
“Just not the night we wanted. Our TRICON guys worked really hard. We brought a decent A Place of Hope Toyota Tundra – just needed some different stuff to be able to contend up front. If we had cleaner air and track position, it would have been different. Just struggled being able to get back through traffic and fight for somewhat of a good finish – just looking at good points getting out of here, and putting it behind us.”
How do you feel about Kansas?
“I feel good. In the past, it has been a really good track for the organization. It has been a really good track for me. I’m really excited – it has also been a really good track for Jeff (Hensley, crew chief). Just have to go as execute – unload good, qualify good and be able to run up front.”