Reigning NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series champion Corey Heim held off a dramatic checkered-flag charge — in lapped traffic — from his Tricon Garage teammate Kaden Honeycutt to claim the win at the iconic Michigan International Speedway in Saturday’s DQS Solutions & Staffing 250 powered by Precision Vehicle Logistics.
It’s Heim’s 26th career victory, but first ever on the 2-mile Michigan high banks, giving him series wins now on 22 different tracks — second best all-time; only NASCAR Hall of Famer Ron Hornaday Jr. has won at more venues with 31. It’s also Heim’s third win in only five Truck starts this season and comes a week after announcing he will join the championship-leading 23XI Racing organization full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series for 2027.
Heim’s No. 1 Tricon Toyota passed the day’s most dominant truck, driven by Cup Series regular Carson Hocevar with 15 laps remaining and crossed the line only 0.065 seconds ahead of Honeycutt’s No. 11 Tricon Toyota — the truck Heim drove to the championship last season.
RELATED: Race results | At-track photos: Michigan
He immediately thanked Honeycutt for the push forward in the final laps — his only laps out front all day — acknowledging the help put just enough distance on Hocevar, who led a race-best 65 of the 125 laps.
“We discussed it pre-race that we were going to race it out in the end, and that’s what we did,” the 23-year-old Georgia native Heim said. “He tried to get to my right rear there, which would have probably won the race and I had to protect it.
“Props to Kaden there and to [fellow Toyota driver] Christopher Bell, I don’t know where he ended up, but he was strong all day. The last couple laps there at the end, were pretty awesome.
“That was a lot of fun, I had a blast,” he added.
The 21-year-old Honeycutt certainly kept Heim honest in the closing run to the checkered, hoping to earn his second career win, matching his work at Watkins Glen in May.
“Good race there at the end, us five up there and I’m sure it was a good race for the fans so that was good,” Honeycutt said. “It was unfortunate I didn’t get the win there. Just feel like I’ve lost too many of them on my part so I think that’s what bothers me the most.”
Although boosted by a strong showing all day at his “home track,” the Michigan native, Carson Hocevar, was clearly disappointed with his finish, explaining his No. 77 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet truck had been overheating all day. He was hoping to win for the hometown crowd and especially for his mother, who is celebrating her birthday this weekend.
“Everyone did a good job,” he said, adding, “Just sucks we didn’t close it out there. Felt like I could have done a better job, but don’t know what I could have done differently. Would like to see what I would have had full power.
“A lot of reasons to win here at Michigan.”
Front Row Motorsports teammates Chandler Smith and Layne Riggs rounded out the top five — an especially valiant effort from Riggs, who went a lap down early after a pit-stop issue. A winner in the previous two races, Riggs’ comeback to fifth place keeps him atop the championship standings by 26 points over Honeycutt.
Bell finished sixth in the No. 62 Halmar Friesen Toyota after sweeping both stage wins and leading 37 laps — one of six race leaders on the afternoon. Fellow Cup Series driver Ricky Stenhouse Jr was seventh, followed by Connor Mosack, Jake Garcia and Tyler Ankrum.
Fan favorite Cleetus McFarland rallied from a late-race spin that brought out one of seven yellow flags — and finished 25th on the lead lap in only his second series start.
After six consecutive races, the trucks go into an off week and will return to action Friday, June 19, in the inaugural Craftsman Truck Series race at Naval Base Coronado in San Diego (7 p.m. ET, FS1, NRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
NOTE: Post-race technical inspection concluded without issue, confirming Heim as the race winner. The Nos. 12, 38, 52 and 91 trucks will be taken by NASCAR for additional wind-tunnel testing at Aerodyn in Mooresville, North Carolina.