Pit Stops : North Wilkesboro Speedway

• Thursday, May 15th, 2025
• NASCAR Wire Service - Reid Spencer

Corey Heim Defends Wilkesboro Crown with Kyle Busch Looming in Truck Series Showdown

Corey Heim has been the dominant force in the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series this season.

With three victories already in hand, the driver of the No. 11 TRICON Garage Toyota is the only multiple winner in the series so far this year.

Atop the standings by 64 points over second-place Chandler Smith, Heim also is the defending winner of Saturday’s Window World 250 at North Wilkesboro Speedway (1:30 p.m. ET on FS1, NRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

He’s the only driver to lead laps in every race this season, and he’s the only active North Wilkesboro winner entered in Saturday’s race.

Heim, however, will face a stern challenge from a driver doing double duty in both the Truck Series event and the NASCAR All-Star Race on Sunday.

Kyle Busch is making his second Truck Series start of the season, this time in the No. 07 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet. In February, Busch won at Atlanta in Spire’s No. 7 Silverado, extending his career record for victories in the series to 67.

“It’ll be my first time racing a truck at North Wilkesboro and my first time racing with (crew chief) Allen (Hart) and the No. 07 group, so practice will be important for us this week,” Busch said.

“The 07 team has shown good speed winning with (Kyle) Larson (at Homestead-Miami Speedway) and picking up a couple runner-up finishes in recent weeks, so hopefully we can continue the momentum they’ve been building and put our Gainbridge Silverado in Victory Lane this weekend.”

• Saturday, May 17th, 2025
• NASCAR Wire Service - Reid Spencer

Chandler Smith Steals Wilkesboro Truck Win as Heim-Riggs Rivalry Boils Over

Chandler Smith owes Front Row Motorsports teammate Layne Riggs a vote of thanks after Saturday’s Window World 250 at North Wilkesboro Speedway.

After Riggs’ Ford slid up into the No. 11 Toyota of Corey Heim in Turn 2 of the final lap, Smith took the lead and held on for the win, his first at the 0.625-mile short track and his second of the season in the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series.

Heim, who led 162 of 255 laps, left North Wilkesboro with a 17th-place finish and a percolating rivalry with Riggs, his nemesis throughout the race.

Riding on tires that were 68 laps older than Smith’s, Heim had the lead for the overtime restart on Lap 254. He quickly cleared Smith on his inside and Riggs behind him, but Riggs mounted a strong run through Turns 3 and 4 on the white-flag lap and steered to Heim’s inside.

Riggs slid up into Heim’s truck, which turned sideways as Smith claimed the lead and headed for the finish line with Riggs in his wake. Smith’s margin of victory over his teammate was 0.611 seconds.

The final overtime lap was the only one Smith led on Saturday in collecting his seventh career Truck Series win.

“I feel like this place… tires kind of mattered but they also kind of didn’t,” said Smith, who started from the rear of the field after unapproved adjustments to fix a break issue in his No. 38 Ford. “I didn’t think we were as good as the 11—obviously we had a tire advantage on him there.

“That last restart, I did everything but the right thing. My teammate, Layne Riggs, executed perfectly, and we came out on the right end of the stick.”

Heim doubtless would take exception to the characterization “perfect execution.”

On a Lap 81 restart after the first stage break, Riggs ran Heim up toward the outside wall, handing the lead and ultimately the Stage 2 win to Grant Enfinger.

Then came the controversy in overtime.

After the race, Heim briefly expressed his displeasure to Riggs on pit road.

“He tried to do it to the 7 (Carson Hocevar) last week for the win, and mission accomplished for him, I guess, this week,” Heim said. “And it cost him one, too. I don’t know. We’ve given up so many of them this year, after dominating the race.

“The 38 (Smith) was the only other guy that was rightfully good. I felt like he deserved to win over anyone else, not the 34 (Riggs). I got really loose into (Turn) 3. Just struggled being loose on the short runs, and he had an opportunity to wreck me. Just disappointed.”

Predictably, Riggs had a different perception of the final lap.

“I feel like he got really loose into (Turns) 3 and 4 and kind of gave the bottom up, and we’re side by side on the frontstretch,” Riggs said. “I had a huge run, and I went bottom. I didn’t fence him. I slid him up the track and gave him one lane there.

“It’s North Wilkesboro on the last lap for a truck win. I feel like I didn’t really do anything wrong there.”

After the last-lap melee, Tyler Ankrum finished third, followed by Daniel Hemric and Enfinger. Defending series champion Ty Majeski, Giovanni Ruggiero, Kaden Honeycutt, Kyle Busch and Sammy Smith completed the top 10.

Busch’s efforts were hampered by a pair of pit road speeding penalties in his second start of the season.

Heim retained the series lead by 47 points over Chandler Smith in second heading to next Friday’s North Carolina Education Lottery 200 at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

• Drivers Entered: 35
• Laps Scheduled: 250
• Laps Actual: 255 - NASCAR OVERTIME!
• Margin of Victory: Under Caution Seconds
• Time of Race: 1 Hours 45 Minutes 33 Seconds
• Average Speed: 90.597
• Cautions: 6 for 42 laps
• Lead Changes: 7
• Green Flag Passes: 1,098 (5.2 passes per green flag lap)

• North Wilkesboro Speedway
• Window World 250
• Race Winner: Chandler Smith
• Age: 22
• Team : No 38 - QuickTie Ford
• Owner: Travis Jenkins
• Crew Chief: Jon Leonard
• Chandler Smith won the Window World 250, his seventh victory in 72 CRAFTSMAN Truck Series races
• This is his second victory and seventh top-10 finish in 2025
• This is his first victory and first top-10 finish in one race at North Wilkesboro Speedway
• Layne Riggs (second) posted his second top-10 finish in two races at North Wilkesboro Speedway It is his fourth top-10 finish in 2025
• Tyler Ankrum (third) posted his second top-10 finish in three races at North Wilkesboro Speedway
• Giovanni Ruggiero (seventh) was the highest finishing rookie
• Corey Heim leads the point standings by 47 points over Chandler Smith