Daniel Hemric’s long-awaited return to victory lane finally happened Friday at Martinsville, as he scored his first career Truck Series win in the Boys & Girls Club of The Blue Ridge 200. Hemric started fifth and led the final four laps to score his first win in any series since the Xfinity Series championship race at Phoenix in 2021. Hemric also took home an additional $50,000 by winning the first Triple Truck Challenge race of the season.
Hemric’s victory is also the third in a row for the McAnally Hilgemann Racing No. 19 team at Martinsville, as Christian Eckes swept the two races held at the track last season.
“We found a way there at the end. I wanted to race Tyler [Ankrum], obviously we have a long season ahead I wanted to race him as clean as I can”, Hemric said in his post-race interview. “I’ve walked out of here twice thinking there’s a missing spot in my dining room for a clock so it’s cool to finally get one here, to have Mike and Paula here from Gates Hydraulics, their first race with me, this truck is now three-for-three here, same exact chassis”.
Just enjoy the journey … and the $50k! pic.twitter.com/mf9a7N7m2H
— NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Trucks (@NASCAR_Trucks) March 29, 2025
Hemric’s teammate Tyler Ankrum finished in the runner-up spot. Ankrum briefly held the lead but was unable to fend off Hemric and settled for his best career short track finish.
Jake Garcia finished third in his No. 13 Ford. This is Garcia’s best career short track finish and his first podium result since the 2023 season finale at Phoenix.
Chandler Smith and Ben Rhodes completed the top five finishers. Rhodes’ finish is the second straight top five for him at the track.
Corey Heim, Andres Perez de Lara, Rajah Caruth, Stewart Friesen, and Lawless Alan rounded out the top ten. Perez’s seventh place finish is a new career best, beating his ninth place finish in his series debut at Gateway last season. Heim was the dominant truck of the night, sweeping both stages and leading a race-high 149 laps.
RELATED: Boys & Girls Club of The Blue Ridge 200 Results
Corey Heim and Ty Majeski, the top two drivers in points coming into the race, led the field to the green flag to begin the night of action. Heim quickly cleared Majeski for the lead, who came under attack from Kaden Honeycutt for the runner-up position. Heim’s lead hovered around one second until the caution flew on lap 14 for a crash involving Ryan Roulette. Roulette, making his Truck Series debut, got loose out of turn four and made contact with the inside wall. The No. 67 lost a lap while repairs were made but was able to continue.
Heim and Majeski led the field back to green on lap 20, with Heim once again pulling away.
One lap later, however, the caution came back out for a spin for Layne Riggs. The No. 34 was driving into turn three when he received contact from Connor Mosack, sending Riggs spinning. Riggs was not hit by any other trucks and did not hit the wall, and was able to continue in the event.
Another look at the incident on Lap 24. pic.twitter.com/G0kMDhST60
— NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Trucks (@NASCAR_Trucks) March 29, 2025
Heim was joined on the front row by Honeycutt for the following restart, but was unchallenged for the lead, and the No. 11 cruised to the stage one victory.
Heim and Honeycutt led the pack to begin stage two. Heim quickly pulled away from Honeycutt and dominated the second segment, leading every lap en route to sweeping the race’s stages. This marked the second consecutive race that Heim swept each of the two segments.
A split strategy on pit road led to Rajah Caruth and Matt Crafton being at the front to begin the final stage, with the No. 71 making quick work of Crafton to retain the top spot. Two laps later, the No. 66 of Luke Baldwin got into the side of Corey Day in turn one and spun out. Baldwin, who was making his Truck Series debut, was able to gather his truck up and continue on.
The restart was controlled by Caruth and Crafton once again, but Heim, on new tires, got back to the front and passed Caruth within three laps. Heim’s lead ballooned to almost 2.5 seconds before a crash involving Corey Day brought the caution back out. The No. 7 was racing into turn three when he received contact from Dawson Sutton in the No. 26, sending Day hard into the outside wall. The No. 7 was able to soldier on in the race
The race resumed with 45 laps remaining, with Heim maintaining control of the lead, but the race did not stay green for long. Luke Baldwin’s No. 66 truck went for another spin coming out of turn four, collecting Matthew Gould, Day, and Toni Breidinger.
Big stack-up on the restart! ? pic.twitter.com/Jg6FRJBCxN
— NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Trucks (@NASCAR_Trucks) March 29, 2025
Day was the only retiree from the incident, as the other trucks were able to continue on.
Cautions continued to breed cautions, as Heim was the next crash victim on the following restart. Heim and Honeycutt made contact coming to the green flag, cutting Heim’s left rear tire and causing the No. 11 to spin from the lead in turn one. Heim was able to continue but lost all of his track position.
Video: Corey Heim Cuts Tire, Spins from Lead at Martinsville
The restart was led by Honeycutt and Tyler Ankrum, with Ankrum quickly dropping to third behind Majeski. Yet another caution came out a few laps later, after Tanner Gray spun from contact with Grant Enfinger. Spencer Boyd and Jack Wood were also involved in the caution, the ninth of the race.
Majeski and Honeycutt, the two best trucks of the race besides Heim, found themselves in their own trouble on the following restart, as Majeski wheel-hopped and took both trucks out going into turn one. Honeycutt’s truck was left with major left-rear damage and the No. 98, despite not getting major damage, lost all of his track position very late in the race.
Video: Honeycutt, Majeski Spin from Lead Late at Martinsville
Teammates Ankrum and Daniel Hemric restarted at the front with eight laps remaining. Coming to four laps to go, Hemric got to the inside of his MHR teammate, taking the lead from Ankrum. The No. 19 was able to fend off a charge from Ankrum and Jake Garcia to score his maiden series victory.
On top of leading the most laps and sweeping both stages, Corey Heim also took home the Xfinity Fastest Lap, earning him one bonus point. Leaving Martinsville, Heim leads Ty Majeski by 20 points in the points standings.
The next Craftsman Truck Series race is scheduled for Friday, April 11, at Bristol Motor Speedway, and will be broadcast on FS1.
