NASCAR Truck Pocono: Heim wins after risky strategy

Corey Heim took the victory in the NASCAR Truck Series race at Pocono Raceway on Friday, thanks to a risky pit strategy and the weather conditions. With rain approaching, Heim's team, Tricon Garage Toyota, decided to wait to make their final fuel stop, a maneuver that was ultimately backed by nature.

During the race, a yellow flag on lap 45 helped Heim save fuel. When the rain brought out another yellow flag with eight laps remaining, his team was confident he had enough to make it to the end. After a delay of more than 20 minutes, the race restarted with three laps to go, and Heim maintained his lead to win by 0.867 seconds over Grant Enfinger.

"I felt like our truck was the best today, from practice to the race. We were able to manage the race and overcome the adverse conditions," Heim said.

Christian Eckes, who started from the pole, led the first 11 laps, but once Heim took the lead on lap 12, he was not seriously challenged. Eckes finished third, followed by Taylor Gray and Ross Chastain in fourth and fifth place, respectively. The rest of the top 10 were Chase Purdy, Stewart Friesen, Matt Crafton, Dean Thompson, and Rajah Caruth.

Stage Summary

Stage 1:

Heim overtook Eckes with four laps remaining in the first stage and won with a 1.753-second advantage. Tyler Ankrum was third, Daniel Dye fourth, and Enfinger finished fifth.

Stage 2:

Heim decided not to pit after the first stage and won the second stage with a 2.097-second advantage over Eckes. Dye, Enfinger, and Ankrum completed the top five.

Stage 3:

Several trucks pitted after the second stage, but Jake Garcia, who had pitted before the end of the second stage, stayed out and inherited the lead. Heim, on new tires, went from fifth to first on the restart with 34 laps remaining and quickly regained the lead.

As the laps went by, the teams that needed a final fuel stop began making their green-flag stops. Garcia had problems changing his tires and lost a lap. Caruth spun in turn 1 on lap 45, bringing out a yellow flag.

The race resumed with Heim leading Chastain and Enfinger. Enfinger quickly moved into second place. Ty Majeski was forced to pit with 16 laps remaining due to battery issues with his truck.

The rain brought out a yellow flag on lap 63, followed by a red flag that stopped the race for nearly 21 minutes. Once restarted, Heim maintained his lead and won the race.