Hard-charging Heim no match for Nick Sanchez at Charlotte
CONCORD, N.C. — Corey Heim led twice for 72 laps but was no match for Nick Sanchez who led just the final nine laps to win Friday at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
A caution for Chase Purdy hitting the wall on lap 121 of 134 was the deciding factor in Sanchez going to victory lane. When the caution flew, Sanchez was in ninth.
However, with half-a-dozen drivers staying out and leaders Kaden Honeycutt and Heim having issues, Sanchez rallied.
Sanchez restarted ninth and quickly drove to the lead after a brief battle with Christian Eckes, who had older tires on. Sanchez held off Corey Heim, who emerged from traffic with a head of steam but not enough to blow by Sanchez, to earn his second NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series win of the 2024 season.
The REV Racing driver earned his first career Truck win at Daytona in February.
TOP-10: Sanchez (9 laps led), Stewart Friesen, Grant Enfinger, Matt Mills, Ben Rhodes, Jake Garcia, Kaden Honeycutt, Connor Mosack, Dean Thompson, Christian Eckes (led twice for 37 laps)
Eckes finished 10th after restarting on old tires as the leader. He led 37 laps after strategies shuffled him to the lead after he dealt with voltage issues.
Corey Heim crossed the line in second but didn’t get to keep it. He was disqualified for being found with too many loose lugnuts.
On the final pit stop, his team had issue with the air gun and getting the lugnuts secured, which dropped them from first onto pit road to fifth exiting pit road.
It wasn’t the first time his team had an issue as during a pit stop after a caution on lap 82, the jack broke. That sent Heim back to 27th when the race restarted on lap 87. 16 laps later, he was in the top-5, ultimately preparing him for what he would face at the finish.
Nothing could prepare Kaden Honeycutt’s team for the issue they had on the final stop.
When his crew went around to change the right-side tires, the rear tire changer took the tire off okay but then had to go back to the pit box. The air gun had an issue, preventing them from putting the fresh tire on the truck.
Honeycutt restarted outside of the top-25. In nine laps, however, he tore through the field and finished eighth.
Through the Field
Stefan Parsons, Rajah Caruth, Ty Majeski, Ty Dillon and Mason Maggio restarted second through sixth on old tires as well. They finished 25th, 16th, 23rd, 24th and 27th, respectively.
Parsons ran as high as third and was running fourth when the caution for Chase Purdy came out. Purdy finished 13th after leading twice for five laps.
Tanner Gray finished 17th after issues late in the race. He won the pole and was the only other leader, leading twice for 11 laps and challenging Heim early on.
Playoff bubble drivers Matt Crafton and Tyler Ankrum finished 31st and 32nd, respectively, out of contention after incidents on laps 69 and 82 respectively.
Ankrum spun entering turn three. Then, when he came back across the track, Thad Moffitt had nowhere to go but into the passenger side of his truck. The wreck took them out and also collected Keith McGee and Jeffrey Earnhardt.
The next caution claimed Crafton who popped a tire and hit the wall in turn three.
The only other cautions during the race were for the stage breaks:
STAGE ONE TOP-10 (LAP 30): Kaden Honeycutt, Tanner Gray, Rajah Caruth, Ty Majeski, Layne Riggs, Chase Purdy, Dean Thompson, Ben Rhodes, Connor Mosack
STAGE TWO TOP-10 (LAP 60): Tanner Gray, Purdy, Honeycutt, Majeski, Thompson, Riggs, Mosack, Taylor Gray, Nick Sanchez
Points, Results and What’s Next
After his issues, Tyler Ankrum is still +63 points to the cutline. However, Matt Crafton is now -32 points to the cutline after his.
Just six races ago, Crafton was +40 to the cutline.
Here is a look at the full playoff picture:
- Corey Heim – IN
- Christian Eckes – IN
- Nick Sanchez – IN
- Ty Majeski: 386 points (+130 points to the cutline)
- Taylor Gray: 352 (+96)
- Rajah Caruth – IN
- Tyler Ankrum: 319 (+63)
- Grant Enfinger: 289 (+33)
- Tanner Gray: 288 (+32)
- Ben Rhodes: 287 (+31)
- Stewart Friesen: 256 (-31 points to the cutline)
- Matt Crafton: 255 (-32)
- Daniel Dye: 253 (-34)
- Jake Garcia: 236 (-51)
- Chase Purdy: 231 (-56)
- Bayley Currey: 212 (-75)
- Dean Thompson: 209 (-78)
- Layne Riggs: 208 (-79)
- Bret Holmes: 204 (-83)
- Ty Dillon: 189 (-98)
The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race is the June 1 Toyota 200 at World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway. The green flag flies just after 1:30 p.m. ET on FOX, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio. Grant Enfinger is the defending winner.
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Jonathan Fjeld View All
Jonathan Fjeld is the co-owner of the The Racing Experts, LLC. He has been with TRE since 2010.
A Twin Valley, MN, native, Fjeld became a motorsports fan at just three years old (first race was the 2002 Pennsylvania 500). He worked as a contributor and writer for TRE from 2010-18. Since then, he has stepped up and covered 24 NASCAR race weekends and taken on a larger role with TRE. He became the co-owner and managing editor in 2023 and has guided the site to massive growth in that time.
Fjeld has covered a wide array of stories and moments over the years, including Kevin Harvick's final Cup Series season, the first NASCAR national series disqualification in over 50 years, Shane van Gisbergen's stunning win in Chicago and the first Cup Series race at Road America in 66 years – as well as up-and-coming drivers' stories and stories from inside the sport, like the tech it takes for Hendrick Motorsports to remain a top-tier team.
Currently, he resides in Albuquerque, N.M., where he works for KOB 4, an NBC station. He works as a digital producer and does on-air reports. He loves spending time with friends and family, playing and listening to music, exploring new places, being outdoors, reading books and writing among other activities. You can email him at fjeldjonathan@gmail.com