ECOSAVE 200 Recap: Corey Heim’s Desert Victory

This past Friday night on March 14, Las Vegas Motor Speedway played host to the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series’ ECOSAVE 200, which was plagued by weather, but still managed to finish under Green Flag Conditions. Here’s a breakdown of the weekend’s events.

Hendrick Motorsports development driver, Corey Day, led the field to the green, after collecting his first-career NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Pole in his #7 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet, with Tyler Ankrum on the inside. Day’s teammate, Justin Haley, made a charge to the front early on, before Ankrum took the lead on Lap 2. Ankrum was able to hold off Day until Lap 16, when he reclaimed the lead, before defending NCTS Champion, Ty Majeski took advantage of Day getting loose in Turn 3 on Lap 17. Majeski was able to cruise to the Stage 1 victory, as the weather got bad at LVMS. Rain plagued the area, with a Red Flag being thrown out for 55 minutes.

During the delay, Matt Crafton was sent to the rear of the field for a penalty, after one of his crew members worked on his #88 Ford F-150 during the rain delay. When the Green Flag dropped on 38, Tyler Ankrum surged ahead of Ben Rhodes to kick Stage 2 off. There was hard racing throughout the pack, with Corey Day getting into Ty Majeski on the Fronstretch, door-slamming him at the Start/Finish line. Corey heim made a hard charge from the tail of the field, finding himself in 16th halfway through Stage 2, picking up 11 positions since the beginning of the stage, passing 39 trucks total throughout the night. Ultimately, it was Ankrum winning the stage, as Chandler Smith, Stewart Friesen, Heim and Rhodes rounding out the Top-5.

On Lap 70, the race was paused due to weather once again, causing another extended delay. This delay lasted 19 minutes, as the Trucks got the Green Flag for the final stage, with Corey Heim and Stewart Friesen leading the pack. Friesen got the advantage on this restart, as the Billy McAnally teammates, Connor Mosack and Daniel Hemric made contact going into Turn 3, further in the pack.

Friesen enjoyed his time up front int he pack, prior to Kaden Honeycutt spinning coming out of Turn 4, prompting another caution. With 44-to-go this time, Heim got the advantage, getting a truck-length going down the Backstretch. Before Heim could get away, Front Row Motorsports’ Layne Riggs challenge for the lead on Lap 92, before Jack Wood smacked the Turn 4 wall, bringing out the final caution of the night.

The Green Flag waved for the final time this evening, as Heim was able to hold off the hard-charging Tanner Gray and Layne Riggs. Riggs got loose coming out of Turn 2 with 25-to-go, but was able to save his #34 Love’s Travel Stops Ford. With a few laps remaining, the Marietta, Georgia native had to hold off Grant Enfinger and emerged victorious in the ECOSAVE 200.

This win was Heim’s second this season, and heading into tonight’s Baptist Health 200 at Homestead-Miami Speedway (8:00PM EST/5:00PM CST on FOX), he trails Ty Majeski for the points lead by -5. This’ll be the fourth race of the NCTS season and Heim looks to close the gap tonight from the Sunshine State. You won’t want to miss tonight’s race, as the “tough trucks” will put on a show as always in South Florida.