BROOKLYN, Mich. — Corey Heim’s time came at the wrong time for Kaden Honeycutt, his foil and his teammate in Saturday’s NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series showdown at Michigan International Speedway. The Tricon Garage stablemates wound up being a 1-2 combination on the leaderboard, but a dramatic 1-2 punch of final-lap blocks by Heim put the two at odds.
Heim, last year’s series champion, won for the third time in five races in his partial Truck Series schedule before he launches to the Cup Series next year. Honeycutt, the driver who replaced him in Tricon’s No. 11 Toyota, finished a scant 0.065 seconds behind in the DQS Solutions & Staffing 250 powered by Precision Vehicle Logistics to mark his third runner-up result this season.
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Heim’s tactics, though, left Honeycutt stewing on an already steamy Saturday afternoon.
“Thank God it was a company truck ’cause I definitely wouldn’t have lifted in that situation,” Honeycutt said. “Just, it just sucks. I felt like I’ve given so many away this year, and I think that’s what’s angered me the most, for sure. Just unfortunate.”
Honeycutt led just one lap — the 99th of 125 — before Cup Series regular Carson Hocevar briefly took command. Hocevar eventually faded to third place after Heim took a lead on Lap 111 that he would hold to the end.
Hanging onto that lead became a bigger challenge after Honeycutt dispatched Hocevar for second place and closed in on the white-flag lap. He looked low then high on Heim at the end of the high-speed frontstretch, but Heim aggressively blocked each advance. Honeycutt recovered by the final lap’s end, but Heim kept him at bay one last time to deny Honeycutt his second career win.
Asked about the proper decorum when racing teammates for the win, Heim was less than sympathetic.
“Just get thicker skin and deal with it,” Heim said. “That’s honestly my advice to him.”
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Honeycutt may not have many more opportunities this season to be a concern for his teammate. Heim believed he had two more Truck Series races scheduled this year with the Tricon group, but was unsure of their timing.
Instead, Honeycutt was left with a sour taste from a tough tussle among teammates.
“When is it not? I don’t know, I’m just frustrated,” Honeycutt said. “We just need to work together better. That’s just really it. That’s all there is to it.”