This weekend’s Boys and Girls Club of the Blue Ridge 200 was a night Daniel Hemric will never forget, as he was able to shock the world, collecting his first-career NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series victory, en-route to a Playoff Berth and a $50,000 bonus. The tough Trucks of NASCAR always put on a show at the 0.533-mile of Martinsville Speedway and last Friday night’s race was no exception.
When the Green Flag flew, Corey Heim and Ty Majeski on the front row, after Heim flexed his muscle in qualifying, posting a time of 19.654. Heim quickly took the lead, with Majeski, Kaden Honeycutt, Chandler Smith and Tanner Gray rounding out the Top-5 at the time of the first caution on Lap 13. Heim got into the lapped vehicle of Ryan Roulette, causing his #67 Chevrolet around on the Frontstretch.
The field was hungry, but Heim’s #11 Mobil 1 Toyota Tundra was no match for everyone else. Honeycutt, who was still looking for his first-career win in the NCTS, found himself in second, as Layne Riggs was spun by Connor Moscak in Turn 4 on Lap 25. On the restart, Heim was strong once again, as the entire field was ultra-competitive, fighting for every bit of real estate.
Truck Series Veteran, Norm Benning, took his Truck to the garage on Lap 44 due to a brake issue, but was able to carry on for the rest of Stage 1. With only a few laps to go in the Stage, Heim was on fire, lapping the tail-end of the field one-by-one. He wound up collecting the Stage win and even more points towards his Championship Quest. Rounding out the Top-5 were Heim, Honeycutt, Majeski, Mosack and Gray.
Stage 2 began with the Top-5 unchanged from the previous finishing order. Connor Mosack surged into fourth, while Daniel Hemric moved up to fifth. The Billy McAnally Racing teammates held those positions through the end of the stage, as Corey Heim, Kaden Honeycutt, and Ty Majeski finished first, second, and third, respectively.
To begin the final stage and last half of the race, Rajah Caruth and Matt Crafton started on the front row, with Caruth getting a truck-length lead over the veteran. Throughout the pack was calamity, as Luke Baldwin, who was making his Truck Series debut in the #66 Ford F-150, was collected in a spin going into Turn 2, prompting a brief caution. Caruth maintained the lead after the caution, keeping him in the hunt for the Triple Truck Challenge $50K bonus. Eventually, Heim caught Caruth and hoped to collect the win and the money.
Dawson Sutton dive bombed Corey Day going into Turn 1 with 48-to-go, forcing NASCAR to throw another yellow. On the next Green Flag, Ty Majeski did not get a good start, as Baldwin and Day once again got wrecked in the middle of the pack. With 35 remaining, Honeycutt held his own against Corey Heim, as Heim’s tire was cut by Ty Majeski, sending him around and into the wall.
With 27-to-go, Honeycutt took the lead over Tyler Ankrum and Majeski, as Daniel Hemric began charging after the Top-3. It took Majeski and Honeycutt taking each other out for Hemric to challenge his teammate for the lead with less than eight-to-go.
Hemric sealed the deal with three-to-go and was able to collect his Playoff spot and won the first Triple Truck Series Challenge race. This gives the Kannapolis, North Carolina driver momentum going into Bristol Motor Speedway next weekend for the Weather Guard Truck Race, which will take place Friday, April 11 at 7:30PM EST/4:30PM PST on FS1. Corey Heim now has 30+ over Ty Majeski in the Championship Standings, and will be looking to collect the money in the Triple Truck Challenge.
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