Practice #1 : World Wide Technology Raceway

• World Wide Technology Raceway
• 9th Annual Toyota 200
• Pole Winner: Corey Heim
• Age: 19
• Team : No. 51 - JBL Toyota
• Owner: Kyle Busch
• Crew Chief: Mardy Lindley
• Corey Heim won the Pole Award for the 9th Annual Toyota 200 with a lap of 32.554 seconds, 138.232 mph.
• This is his first pole in nine NASCAR Camping World Truck Series races.
• This is his first pole and fifth top-10 start in 2022.
• This is his first pole in one races at World Wide Technology Raceway.
• Zane Smith (second) posted his seventh top-10 start of 2022 and his fourth in four races at World Wide Technology Raceway.
• Stewart Friesen (third) posted his third top-10 start at World Wide Technology Raceway. It is his eighth in 11 races this season.
• Corey Heim (first) was the fastest qualifying rookie.

• Saturday, June 4th, 2022
• NASCAR Wire Service - Reid Spencer

Corey Heim grabs overtime NASCAR Truck Series victory at Gateway

Pole winner Corey Heim lost the lead on Lap 18 of Saturday’s Toyota 200 at World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway. 

He didn’t regain it until the first lap of overtime, when frontrunner Christian Eckes spun his tires on a restart on Lap 164.

But that was enough for Heim to score his second NASCAR Camping World Truck Series victory of the season in a part-time role in the No. 51 Kyle Busch Motorsports Toyota. 

Eckes was leading comfortably with just over two laps left in regulation when Tanner Gray spun in Turn 3 to cause the 10^th caution of the race. Eckes chose the outside lane for the overtime restart, with second-place Derek Kraus lining up behind him. 

That opened the bottom row for Heim, who lined up to the inside of Eckes and surged into the lead when Eckes’ No. 98 Toyota failed to launch. 

After taking the white flag, Heim got the win when a four-car wreck in Turn 2 brought out the 11^th caution and froze the field. 

“I can’t believe I got the bottom right there—that’s unbelievable,” said Heim, who picked up his second career win in his 12^th start in the series. “A great push from my teammate Chandler Smith right there…” 

Smith finished third behind Heim and Eckes after leading twice for 40 laps. Stewart Friesen came home fourth, followed by former series champion Johnny Sauter who scored his second straight top-five finish in his third start of the year. 

It took a succession of bizarre circumstances to give Heim the window of opportunity he needed. On Lap 54, pre-race favorite John Hunter Nemechek, who entered the race as the series leader, spun in Turn 4 while trying an aggressive inside move on Friesen. 

With his Toyota damaged beyond repair, Nemechek dropped out of the race. 

“That was on me,” Nemechek said. “I put myself in a vulnerable spot.” 

Eight laps after Nemechek’s wreck, Grant Enfinger spun while battling Chandler Smith for the lead, and both trucks slid sideways in tandem, with Enfinger suffering the bulk of the damage. 

During a two-lap shootout at the end of Stage 2, Friesen, who had been running consistently in the top five, suffered a flat tire after contact from Hailie Deegan’s Ford and expressed his displeasure by crowding Deegan toward the apron. 

On Lap 102, three-time 2022 winner Zane Smith fell off the pace with a flat tire after contact from Carson Hocevar’s Chevrolet. He recovered to finish ninth.

That left Eckes, Kraus and Heim to battle for the lead late in the race. Eckes passed Kraus for the top spot on Lap 154 of a scheduled 160 and appeared bound for victory until the overtime scrambled the finishing order. 

“It’s really frustrating,” Eckes said. “The last three weeks, we should have won, but we didn’t. So we’ll go back to the drawing board and try to figure something out.” 

Matt DiBenedetto ran sixth, followed by Kraus, Ben Rhodes, Zane Smith and Chase Purdy. Rajah Caruth finished 11^th in his series debut. Rhodes regained the series lead by 17 points over Chandler Smith. 

Toyota’s sweep of the top five was its sixth in Truck Series history. The first such sweep occurred at Gateway in 2006.

Hocevar, who was involved in the wreck that ended the race under caution, was transported to a local hospital for further evaluation.

• Drivers Entered: 39 (3 drivers will not make the race)
• Laps Scheduled: 160
• Laps Actual: 165 - NASCAR OVERTIME!
• Margin of Victory: N/A Seconds
• Time of Race: 2 Hours 23 Minutes 14 Seconds
• Average Speed: 86.397
• Cautions: 11 for 54 laps
• Lead Changes: 11
• Green Flag Passes: 1,460 (13.2 passes per green flag lap)

• World Wide Technology Raceway
• 9th Annual Toyota 200
• Race Winner: Corey Heim
• Age: 19
• Team : No. 51 - JBL Toyota
• Owner: Kyle Busch
• Crew Chief: Mardy Lindley
• Corey Heim won the 9th Annual Toyota 200, his second victory in nine Camping World Truck Series races. Heim is also the winner of the first Triple Truck Challenge race of the year. The next race is at Nashville Superspeedway on June 24.
• This is his second victory and third top-10 finish in 2022.
• This is his first victory and first top-10 finish in one race at World Wide Technology Raceway.
• Christian Eckes (second) posted his first top-10 finish in five races at World Wide Technology Raceway. It is his seventh top-10 finish in 2022.
• Chandler Smith (third) posted his second top-10 finish in four races at World Wide Technology Raceway.
• Corey Heim (first) was the highest finishing rookie.
• Ben Rhodes leads the point standings by 17 points over Chandler Smith.