Practice #1 : North Wilkesboro Speedway

• Thursday, May 16th, 2024
• NASCAR Wire Service - Reid Spencer

NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series race will feature a varied field

After a hiatus of 26 years, the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series returned to North Wilkesboro Speedway for last year’s points race, won by Kyle Larson.

Larson, however, won’t be around to defend his victory in Saturday’s Wright Brand 250 (1:30 p.m. ET on FS1, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

That doesn’t mean there won’t be interlopers. CARS Tour late model stock car star Brenden “Butterbean” Queen will make his series debut in the No. 1 TRICON Garage Toyota.

Aric Almirola will attempt to qualify for his first CRAFTSMAN Truck Series race since 2012 in the No. 16 Hattori Enterprises Toyota.

NASCAR Xfinity Series regular Sammy Smith will make his second start of the season in the No. 7 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet.

Dawson Sutton, 18, the Pro Late Model rookie of the year, will attempt to make the field for his series debut in the No. 26 Rackley W.A.R. Chevrolet.

Full-time NASCAR Cup Series driver Ross Chastain will pilot the No. 45 Niece Motorsports Chevrolet, hoping to improve on last year’s ninth-place finish at North Wilkesboro.

The drivers enumerated above will be competing against Truck Series regulars, among them Ty Majeski, the 2023 runner-up, and Corey Heim, who led 75 laps in last year’s race (second to Larson’s 138) in finishing fifth.

Las Vegas winner Rajah Caruth will make his second start at North Wilkesboro, hoping to improve on last Friday’s 30th-place result at Darlington.

“Honestly, it’s really special to go to North Wilkesboro, because I know the history and I am a nerd about NASCAR as a whole,” Caruth said. “It’s been really cool to be part NASCAR’s return to a track with such a deep history.”

• North Wilkesboro Speedway
• Wright Brand 250
• Pole Winner: Christian Eckes
• Age: 23
• Team: No. 19 - Instacoat Premium Products Chevrolet
• Owner: McAnally Hilgemann Racing
• Crew Chief: Charles Denike
• Start positions set by NASCAR's Performance Metrics Qualifying (PMQ).
• Christian Eckes won the Pole Award for the Wright Brand 250 by having the highest total PMQ.
• PMQ is a total number calculated on four performance metrics from the previous race:
• 15% of the driver's fastest lap time position
• 25% of the driver's final race finish position.
• 25% of the owner's final race position.
• 35% of the Owner Points position.

• Sunday, May 19th, 2024
• NASCAR Wire Service - Reid Spencer

Corey Heim dominates rain-delayed NASCAR Truck race at North Wilkesboro

Corey Heim dominated Saturday’s weather-delayed Wright Brand 250 at North Wilkesboro Speedway, but the driver of the No. 11 TRICON Garage Toyota had to share the spotlight with his teammate, Brenden “Butterbean” Queen, who finished fourth in his NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series debut.

Heim grabbed the lead from Jake Garcia after a restart on Lap 186 of 250 and held it the rest of the way to win for the third time this season, the first time at North Wilkesboro and the eighth time in his career.

Crossing the finish line 2.474 seconds ahead of runner-up Grant Enfinger, Heim trimmed the series lead of sixth-place finisher Christian Eckes to four points in a race that was halted on Saturday by extreme weather after 81 laps and resumed on Sunday after a red-flag period of 21 hours, six minutes, 14 seconds.

When five inches of rain fell during a 90-minute stretch on Saturday, Heim’s truck was all but submerged at the legendary short track, which experienced drainage issues during the deluge.

“Of course, we hoped for no water damage,” Heim said. “The truck was submerged in almost three feet of water—we picked probably the worst pit box in that scenario, but obviously you can never really intend on something like that happening.

“I’ve never seen so much rain come down in an hour in my life. That was crazy, but eventually we were able to wipe it down and make sure there was no damage, and I was able to recover from that, for sure.”

Layne Riggs came home third, holding off Queen in the late going, but Queen enjoyed the raucous support of “Bean Nation” as soon as he climbed from his No. 1 Toyota. To finish fourth, Queen had to overcome a pit road speeding penalty incurred under caution on Lap 118.

“Oh, man, I can’t believe it,” said Queen, who restarted 26^th on Lap 124 and worked his way back through the field. “We got that speeding penalty. I thought I was conservative on the lights, and it just got us—rookie mistake.

“But I told the team I was going to get ‘em back in position, and we did.”

The season-best second-place finish was a welcome result for Enfinger, who leaves the 0.625-mile short track eighth in the series standings, 170 points behind Eckes.

“We haven’t been performing to our ability or our standards,” said Enfinger. “I feel like last week at Darlington was the turning point in our season (despite a 16^th-place finish). I’m standing by that.

“Very, very proud of this truck. Proud of our pit crew all year long. Finally, we have a little bit of a result to show for it.”

Riggs got his first top five of the season in the No. 38 Front Row Motorsports Ford.

“We really, really needed this finish,” Riggs said. “It was a great day for us, and I hope we can continue to build on this momentum.”

Varying pit strategies produced considerable movement with the field throughout the race. Heim restarted 13^thon lap 124 but methodically worked his way up the running order. On Lap 175 he passed Riggs for second place, and after Conner Jones spun in Turn 4 to cause the sixth of seven cautions on Lap 177, Heim shot past Garcia on the Lap 186 restart.

Staying out on older tires, Ty Majeski won the first stage of the race. Using the same strategy, Tyler Ankrum triumphed in Stage 2. But Heim had the fastest truck and quickly proved it after the second stage break.

Moonlighting from the NASCAR Xfinity Series, Sammy Smith finished fifth, followed by Eckes, Nick Sanchez, Ankrum, Daniel Dye and Stewart Friesen.

• Drivers Entered: 38 (2 drivers will not make the race)
• Laps Scheduled: 250
• Margin of Victory: 02.474 Seconds
• Time of Race: 1 Hours 53 Minutes 2 Seconds
• Average Speed: 82.940
• Cautions: 7 for 58 laps
• Lead Changes: 7
• Green Flag Passes: 1,648 (8.6 passes per green flag lap)

• Wright Brand 250
• Race Winner: Corey Heim
• Age: 21
• Team : No 11 - Safelite Toyota
• Owner: Johnny Gray
• Crew Chief: Scott Zipadelli
• Corey Heim won the Wright Brand 250, his eighth victory in 51 CRAFTSMAN Truck Series races
• This is his third victory and ninth top-10 finish in 2024
• This is his first victory and second top-10 finish in two races at North Wilkesboro Speedway
• Grant Enfinger (second) posted his second top-10 finish in two races at North Wilkesboro Speedway It is his third top-10 finish in 2024
• Layne Riggs (third) posted his first top-10 finish in one races at North Wilkesboro Speedway
• Layne Riggs (third) was the highest finishing rookie
• Christian Eckes leads the point standings by 4 points over Corey Heim