Heim wins in Richmond and NASCAR Truck Series playoffs are set

Corey Heim started from the pole position at Richmond Raceway and secured his first short-track victory of the season by winning the eero 250 this Friday, setting a historic record as the youngest driver to reach 18 wins in the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series. The 23-year-old driver took the definitive lead with 20 laps to go when Ty Majeski suffered damage after contact with Matt Crafton, thus finalizing the 10 drivers who will compete for the championship.

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Majeski leads 143 laps at Richmond, surpassing entire 2025 season total

Ty Majeski controlled the pace from the second lap of the eero 250 at the three-quarter-mile Virginia oval. Majeski, driving the No. 98 Ford for ThorSport Racing, led 143 of the 250 laps, surpassing the laps he had led in all previous 2025 races combined. The driver claimed both stage wins and seemed on track for his first victory of the year.

Contact with his teammate Matt Crafton while leading in the late stages completely changed his chances. The damage to his Ford prevented him from maintaining the pace needed to withstand Heim's final attack.

Heim reaches 18 NASCAR Truck Series wins as the youngest ever

"I felt like we had the best truck at the short tracks of Martinsville and North Wilkesboro, but those races got away from us, and in a way, we made up for it with this one," explained Heim after his seventh win of 2025. "I didn't feel like we had the best truck tonight. I think the 98 was really solid, but obviously, they had an incident and suffered damage. Being there when it mattered was the first goal, and we were there and executed from that point."

The driver of the No. 11 Toyota for TRICON Garage led for 75 laps in total and capitalized on Majeski's situation to take definitive control. With 18 wins in his career at 23 years old, Heim breaks the previous record for precocity in the Truck Series.

Garcia holds off Rhodes and Ruggiero by 19 points for playoffs

Jake Garcia needed a strong result to maintain his position among the 10 playoff qualifiers and achieved it with a seventh-place finish at Richmond. Garcia, driving the No. 13 Ford for ThorSport Racing, finished with a 19-point cushion over Ben Rhodes and 31 points ahead of rookie Gio Ruggiero.

"I just did my best to run a smart race in the second half," Garcia commented. "There were moments when we were four-wide, and that wasn't going to work at Richmond. There were some points where I had to back off and lost a lot of positions on restarts by being really conservative. But our truck was really fast, and I think we could have finished in the top five."

Ruggiero started last in the field of 35 trucks and delivered a spectacular comeback, restarting second in the final restart with 35 laps to go. His sixth-place finish wasn't enough to displace Garcia from the final playoff spot.

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Darlington hosts NASCAR Truck Series playoffs for the first time on August 30

The 2025 NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series playoffs will begin on Saturday, August 30, with the Sober or Slammer 200 at Darlington Raceway. The South Carolina oval will host the Truck Series as part of the championship battle for the first time, as it historically hadn't been included in the playoff schedule.

The six drivers who advanced with wins are Heim, Layne Riggs, Chandler Smith, Daniel Hemric, Tyler Ankrum, and Rajah Caruth. The four drivers who qualified on points include Majeski, Grant Enfinger, Kaden Honeycutt, and Garcia.

Riggs finished third in the No. 34 Ford for Front Row Motorsports. Sammy Smith and Corey LaJoie, both from Spire Motorsports, placed fourth and fifth, respectively.

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RESULTS - eero 250, Richmond Raceway: