Corey Heim leads most laps but finishes fourth at Homestead-Miami Speedway

HOMESTEAD, Fla- Corey Heim looked to be the strongest driver in the field early on Saturday in the Baptist Health 200 at Homestead-Miami Speedway, but settled for a fourth-place finish and a solid points day.

“It was pretty drama-free on my side,” Heim said. “Just kind of internal battles as far as truck handling on late race runs and what not but can’t be mad about a top three truck all day.” 

Race winner Grant Enfinger played the fuel strategy correctly and saved enough fuel to survive Saturday’s Baptist Health 200, beating trucks that arguably had more speed than him. 

Heim looked very strong early, winning stage one and finishing second in stage two. He didn’t have enough laps to catch Enfinger in the end.

The No. 11 truck led 68 of 134 laps on the day, over double the amount Enfinger led. 

“I don’t necessarily think we were on the wrong end of the strategy. I just think the 9 was able to make it,” Heim said. “He probably had his plan drawn up from the start to save a little bit of fuel and he made it work. He’s the only guy who made it work except for the 7.” 

The points collected in the stages and the fourth-place finish will go a long way to making Heim’s day much easier at Martinsville next week. He’ll enter at +49 points to the cutline, only needing 29 points to advance to the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series’ Championship 4. 

“I thought we had a lot of short run speed today,” Heim said. “Definitely lacked from about lap 20 on, kinda showed in both stages and it progressively got worse as rubber built up on the track. Overall a good points day, it makes Martinsville a whole lot easier but still gotta put together a good race next week.”