NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series – The Clock Strikes Heim Time

Corey Heim triumphed at Martinsville Speedway late Friday night to earn his first NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series victory of the season. The rain-shortened Truck race was Heim’s third win of his career, winning twice while running a partial schedule last season. The driver of the No. 11 TRICON Garage Toyota is the tenth different winner in the last ten races at Martinsville, marking it the longest active streak in the Truck Series.

The 20-year-old Georgia native swept stage one and two, as well as led 82 of 124 laps. Heim persevered through both rain and dry conditions and two red flag periods for weather, while holding off veteran Kyle Busch, who was on the hunt for Kyle Busch Motorsports’ 100^th win.

Busch, the winningest driver in Truck Series history, finished second and posted his ninth top-10 finish in 12 races at Martinsville Speedway. This was his third top-10 finish in the 2023 season.

Following suit was reigning CRAFTSMAN Truck Series champion and Martinsville Pole Winner, Zane Smith, posting his fourth top-10 finish in four races at the Paperclip track and his fourth top-10 finish this year.

NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series – NEXT RACE

Next Race: Heart Of America 200

The Place: Kansas Speedway

The Date: Saturday, May 6

The Time: 8 p.m. ET

The Purse: $734,551

TV: FS1, 7 p.m. ET

Radio: MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio

Distance: 201 miles (134 Laps); Stage 1 (Ends on Lap 30),

Stage 2 (Ends on Lap 60), Final Stage (Ends on Lap 134)

Wet weather tires make oval debut in CRAFTSMAN Truck Series race at Martinsville

NASCAR got its first chance to use Goodyear’s wet weather tires on an oval track in last Friday’s CRAFTSMAN Truck Series race at Martinsville Speedway. The treaded tires are intended to allow NASCAR to put cars on track before the racing surface is dry, reducing the amount of time fans must wait for an event to start or resume.

Trucks, Xfinity, and Cup have all used rain tires on road courses, but they have never been utilized on an oval until this visit to the half-mile short track.

The race commenced without a hitch, running 27 laps before officials displayed the competition caution, inducing all competitors to change back to slicks.

The yellow brick road awaits

The NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series is taking two weekends off while the Xfinity Series and Cup Series will tackle on the high banks of Talladega Superspeedway and then head to the concrete oval of Dover Motor Speedway. The CRAFTSMAN Truck Series will jump back into action under the lights at Kansas Speedway for the Heart Of America 200 (Saturday, May 6, at 8 p.m. ET on FS1, MRN, and SiriusXM Radio).

Kansas has hosted 24 CRAFTSMAN Truck Series races with 21 different drivers posting a win. Matt Crafton and Kyle Busch lead all drivers with three victories at the 1.5-mile track.

Toyota trucks lead the pack with the most wins in the Sunflower state, coming in at a whopping 11 victories.

Chevrolet follows behind with eight trips to Victory Lane and Ford with six.

NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series, Etc.

Zane Smith to compete this weekend at Talladega – The 2022 NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series champion Zane Smith will be the only full-time Truck Series driver competing this weekend in Talladega. He will pilot the No. 38 Front Row Motorsports Ford in the Cup Series on Sunday.

Smith has made four previous career starts in the NASCAR Cup Series, posting an average finish of 23.8.

Garcia cutting into the Sunoco Rookie of the Year standings lead – As the 2023 NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series Sunoco rookies take a couple weeks off before returning to Kansas Speedway, Rev Racing’s Nick Sanchez continues to sit atop the Sunoco Rookie of the Year standings.

Despite missing the first race of 2023, McAnally Hilgemann Racing’s Jake Garcia is quickly beginning to cut into Sanchez’s lead in the rookie standings, trailing by just 22 points. Garcia has had quite the run in the last three races, finishing twice in the top-10 (fifth and sixth) and leaving Martinsville Speedway with a 13th-place finish.