Corey Heim took the lead from an out-of-gas Ty Majeski on the final lap to score his sixth victory of the 2024 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series season, driving from a next-to-last-place starting spot to win Friday night at Kansas Speedway.
Heim led 64 of the 134 laps in the Kubota Tractor 200, and his No. 11 Tricon Garage Toyota was 7.638 seconds ahead at the checkered flag. He started at the rear of the field after trouble in Friday afternoon’s practice session but rolled to his first win at the 1.5-mile Kansas City track and the 11th of his Truck Series career.
Layne Riggs drove home second in the No. 38 Front Row Motorsports Ford, ending a two-race win streak. Christian Eckes placed third with Kaden Honeycutt fourth and Dawson Sutton completing the top five.
The Craftsman Truck Series’ playoff field was trimmed from 10 drivers to eight after the Round of 10 finale. Eckes, Heim and Nick Sanchez had already advanced based on points accumulated in the round’s first two races, and Majeski clinched his Round of 8 berth after Stage 1. Rajah Caruth, Taylor Gray, Tyler Ankrum and Grant Enfinger filled out the remaining spots.
Two playoff-eligible drivers were eliminated from championship contention — Ben Rhodes and Daniel Dye. Rhodes, a two-time series champion, started fourth and surrendered ground early, losing 13 spots in the first stage. The ThorSport Racing driver entered the event with a 12-point deficit to the elimination line, and a late gamble to stretch his fuel to the end after a Lap 81 pit stop wasn’t enough, and when his No. 99 Ford sputtered out of gas with two laps to go, it handed him a 22nd-place result.
Dye scraped the outside wall twice in the opening stage, damaging his McAnally Hilgemann Racing No. 43 Chevrolet and forcing two unscheduled pit stops before the first intermission. “Just like that, up in flames,” Dye said over the team radio after Stage 1, when he lost four laps to the front-runners. He finished 27th in the 34-truck field.
The Truck Series will begin the Round of 8 at Talladega Superspeedway next Friday (4:30 p.m. ET, FS1, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
