Pit Stops : Kansas Speedway

• Thursday, May 2nd, 2024
• NASCAR Wire Service - Reid Spencer

NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series back in action at Kansas Speedway

After a two-week break, drivers in the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series return to competition in Saturday night’s Heart of America 200 at Kansas Speedway (8 p.m. ET on FS1, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

Series leader Christian Eckes will go for his third victory of the season at a 1.5-mile track that has rewarded him with considerable success. Eckes is the most recent winner at Kansas, having taken the checkered flag in last September’s Playoff race.

In addition, the driver of the No. 19 McAnally-Hilgemann Chevrolet has posted four top fives and six top 10s in eight starts at the track. He has six top 10s to his credit in seven starts this season, including five straight results of eighth or better entering Saturday’s race.

“Our mile-and-a-half stuff has definitely shown a little bit of an improvement,” Eckes said after finishing fourth at Texas on April 12 and seizing the points lead. “We still have a little bit of a ways to go, but we’ll see how it goes.”

No one else in the field can match Matt Crafton’s experience at Kansas Speedway. The driver of the No. 88 ThorSport Racing Ford has competed in all 27 Truck Series events at the track, dating to the inaugural race in 2001.

With three victories each, Crafton and Kyle Busch share the track record for most Truck Series wins. Busch, who is not racing at Kansas on Saturday, already has two Truck Series victories in four starts this season.

On the other hand, Crafton, a three-time series champion, hasn’t won in the series since he took the checkered flag at Kansas in 2020—a drought that reached 88 races at Texas.

Notes: Grant Enfinger is the defending winner of the Heart of America 200… Australian driver Cam Waters will make his second Truck Series start on Saturday. He finished 30th last month at Martinsville in his debut with ThorSport Racing.

• Heart Of America 200
• Pole Winner: Chase Purdy
• Age: 24
• Team : No 77 - Bama Buggies Chevrolet
• Owner: Jeff Dickerson
• Crew Chief: Jason Trinchere
• Chase Purdy won the Pole Award for the Heart Of America 200 with a lap of 30728 seconds, 175735 mph
• This is his third pole in 83 NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series races
• This is his first pole and second top-10 start in 2024
• This is his second pole in eight races at Kansas Speedway
• Ty Majeski (second) posted his seventh top-10 start of 2024 and his sixth in seven races at Kansas Speedway
• Ty Dillon (third) posted his third top-10 start at Kansas Speedway It is his first in eight races this season
• Layne Riggs (25th) was the fastest qualifying rookie

• Saturday, May 4th, 2024
• NASCAR Wire Service - Reid Spencer

Corey Heim powers No. 11 Toyota to impressive victory at Kansas

Corey Heim took control of Saturday night’s Heart of America 200 in the final stage and charged to his second NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series victory of the season, despite fighting a loose handling condition in the closing stages.

Heim took the lead from Nick Sanchez on Lap 70 of 134 at Kansas Speedway and stayed out front the rest of the way, gaining time thorough a cycle of green-flag pit stops in the middle of the final stage.

Runner-up Zane Smith, the 2022 series champion running a part-time Truck Series schedule this season, closed on Heim over the final 10 laps but ran was still 1.088 seconds in arrears when Heim crossed the finish line.

The victory was Heim’s first at Kansas and the seventh of his career. The driver of the No. 11 TRICON Garage Toyota claimed his first victory of the season on March 23 at the Circuit of the Americas road course in Austin, Texas.

“I can’t say enough about these guys at TRICON Garage, man,” said Heim, who has finished in the top 10 in all eight Truck Series races this season. “Top to bottom, we executed so well today with the pit crew, everyone back at the shop…

“What a truck! It was free for most of the race, so I can’t say it was easy. Even with the balance I had, the truck had so much potential to get better. I’m kind of out of breath now—it was a handful those last 30 laps.”

Despite his second-place finish, Smith was disappointed with the result. After winning the second stage, Smith lost seven positions thanks to a slow stop under caution on pit road and couldn’t catch Heim to challenge for the win.

On Lap 104, following a cycle of green-flag pit stops, Smith trailed Heim by 3.743 seconds and cut all but roughly one second off that margin before the finish.

“You can’t lose (seven) spots on pit road,” said Smith, who was making his fourth start of the season in the No. 91 McAnally-Hilgemann Chevrolet. “That one got away there.”

Christian Eckes finished third, followed by Kaden Honeycutt, whose fourth-place run was a career-best.

Brett Moffitt, the 2018 series champion, came home fifth in his first start of the season. Sanchez was sixth after starting from the rear of the field after his No. 2 Chevrolet failed pre-race inspection three times.

Tanner Gray, Dean Thompson, Daniel Dye and Matt Crafton completed the top 10.

Heim holds the series lead by seven points over Eckes.

• Drivers Entered: 33
• Laps Scheduled: 150
• Laps Actual: 134 - Race Shortened
• Margin of Victory: 01.088 Seconds
• Time of Race: 1 Hours 30 Minutes 52 Seconds
• Average Speed: 132.722
• Cautions: 3 for 16 laps
• Lead Changes: 13
• Green Flag Passes: 1,716 (14.5 passes per green flag lap)

• Heart Of America 200
• Race Winner: Corey Heim
• Age: 21
• Team : No 11 - Safelite Toyota
• Owner: Johnny Gray
• Crew Chief: Scott Zipadelli
• Corey Heim won the Heart Of America 200, his seventh victory in 49 CRAFTSMAN Truck Series races
• This is his second victory and eighth top-10 finish in 2024
• This is his first victory and fourth top-10 finish in five races at Kansas Speedway
• Zane Smith (second) posted his eighth top-10 finish in nine races at Kansas Speedway It is his fourth top-10 finish in 2024
• Christian Eckes (third) posted his seventh top-10 finish in nine races at Kansas Speedway
• Layne Riggs (18th) was the highest finishing rookie
• Corey Heim leads the point standings by 7 points over Christian Eckes