“I have no idea what just happened.”
NASCAR Cup Series regular Ross Chastain looked like he was well on his way to a second NASCAR Truck Series victory at Darlington, after holding the lead throughout two late restarts. But, then, before the Alva, Florida-native could even register what was happening, he crossed the line in second-place.
Corey Heim, driving the No. 5 Frontline Enterprises Toyota Tundra TRD Pro, all of a sudden, blew by Chastain on the inside in Turns 3 and 4 on the race’s final lap, coming from a long way back (ninth-place, to be exact) to collect yet another NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series victory.
It was a caution inside the final five laps of Friday’s 147-lap contest, which was thrown for an incident involving race-leader Carson Hocevar, that set up an opportunity for Heim and crew chief Seth Smith to make a bold move.
Heim was called to pit road, from fifth, to change tires, putting on tires that already had five laps on them. Restarting back around 15th place, with two laps to go, the task at hand seemed nearly impossible.
RACE RESULTS: NCTS Buckle Up South Carolina 200 at Darlington
Then, Tyler Ankrum blew a right-front tire on the ensuing overtime restart, and Heim, luckily restarting on the inside lane, was able to gain a handful of spots without putting too much strain on his tires, leaving him to sit in ninth.
What followed, between choosing the inside again, a Turn 1 dive on the restart, a three-wide dive coming to the white flag, and a wild dive in the final corner, was a masterpiece that landed the 23-year-old a 24th win in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series.
“I’m out of breath, for sure. Man, we had those set of scuffs lying, and they were five laps fresher than everybody else’s, and I was like, it’s worth a shot, I don’t think we can win from where we’re at,” Heim said. “But sure enough. I just felt like I made all of the right moves — went three-wide into [Turn 3] there coming to the white, and then bombed it off in there on Ross [Chastain]. I was shocked he gave me the bottom like that with fresher tires.”
Heim, on the final lap of the race, ran a lap time a half-second faster than the driver who led at the white flag, Ross Chastain, and a second-and-a-half faster than any other driver on the lead lap.
Ross Chastain was flabbergasted post-race after losing the race in its final seconds.
Christian Eckes had a strong showing on Friday and earned his best result of the season, coming home in third-place. Kaden Honeycutt led a race-high 59 laps at Darlington Raceway, but faded to fourth. Connor Mosack surged in NASCAR Overtime to score a top-five.
Christopher Bell, Grant Enfinger, Gio Ruggiero, Daniel Hemric, and William Sawalich, after a spin, rounded out the top-10.
Carson Hocevar was poised to fight for the victory with Ross Chastain late in the going at Darlington, but had a mechanical issue on his No. 77 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet Silverado RST, which caused a crash, and ultimately, set the field up for two NASCAR Overtime attempts.
Chandler Smith came into the race as the points leader and had a mediocre day, finishing 17th. However, his closest competition in the standings, Ben Rhodes, had an even worse day, and cut a tire on Lap 2, leading to a day-ending crash.
Smith leaves Darlington with a 33-point advantage over second-place Kaden Honeycutt in the series point standings, with Layne Riggs, Gio Ruggiero, and Ty Majeski rounding out the top-five.
Next, the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series heads to Rockingham Speedway in two weeks on Friday, April 3, on FOX Sports 1, NASCAR Radio Network, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.
