Corey Heim Earns Pocono Redemption for 5th Win of Year

In A Nutshell

Corey Heim is inevitable.

The Marietta, Ga. native earned his fifth win (yes, five) of the season at Pocono Raceway on Friday (July 12), overcoming near disaster on the first lap to lead 55 of 70 laps and sweep both stages.

The win comes as redemption for Heim, as he was two corners away from winning this race last year until his former boss Kyle Busch pulled an epic last-lap pass on him in turn 2 to take the win.

Despite the pure dominance, it wasn’t an easy win for Heim. He nearly wrecked his truck in turn 2 on lap 1, losing several spots and spending most of the first stage recovering. Eventually, he passed polesitter and championship rival Christian Eckes after just 11 laps.

In the final stage, Heim had to hold off Grant Enfinger, who looked to have a slightly faster truck as the laps ran down. However, Heim remained mistake-free, and despite a halt for rain with under 10 laps to go, he held on to take win No. 5 in just the 14th race of the season.

The Top Truckers at Pocono Raceway

Winner, Stage 1 & 2 Winner, Most Laps Led (55 of 70 laps): Corey Heim
Polesitter: Christian Eckes
Biggest Mover: Ross Chastain (started 27th, finished fifth)
Rookie of the Race: Connor Mosack (15th)

Top Storylines of the Race

• Thad Moffitt returned to the track after missing Nashville Superspeedway. However, he was not with Faction46, instead joining Young’s Motorsports for the rest of the season. Young’s acquired the number and owner points of Faction46 to accommodate Moffitt, who will now join Mason Massey as the team’s full-time drivers the rest of the season.
• Aside from the stage cautions and the late rain, the only caution for cause came on lap 44, when Rajah Caruth got loose in turn 1 and spun his No. 71. Despite the setback, Caruth received minimal damage (if any) and rebounded to finish 10th.
• Bryan Dauzat crashed on the final restart with three laps to go, hitting the wall down the Long Pond Straightaway. NASCAR withheld the caution, and Dauzat only managed to bring his mangled No. 28 back to his pit stall, settling for 34th at the checkered flag.
• The race was extended an additional 10 laps (25 miles) this year compared to year’s past. This additional distance came as a deterrent to the race’s finish, as rain hit the track with less than 10 laps to go. Had the race remained at 60 laps (150 miles) like it did in previous years, the race would have been over before rain fell.

The Winning…