Heim snags Pocono win from Gibbs
Five in a row was not to be for Ty Gibbs as Corey Heim bested him to win Friday’s ARCA Menards Series General Tire 200 at Pocono Raceway.
Heim claimed his third win of the 2021 season, with a margin of victory of 2.8 seconds ahead of Gibbs.
Coming into Friday’s race, Heim led the points standings by one point over Gibbs but Gibbs had led 70 percent of the laps and won five of the seven races run, including four race wins in a row.
Gibbs led the first 12 laps, which included a caution for Nick Igdalsky spinning on Lap 8. On the restart, Chandler Smith passed Gibbs for the lead. Smith held the lead and Gibbs eventually fell back to second on a Lap 26 restart following Scott Melton leaking fluid on the track. During the caution, Sam Mayer hit a driveshaft and blew an engine, which took him out of the race on Lap 19.
Smith held control of the lead even as Jack Wood stayed out to lead during a Lap 34 restart following Bryan Dauzat spinning. However, Gibbs returned to form and took the lead from Smith on Lap 39. Gibbs, Smith and Corey Heim battled each other before Gibbs pulled away. The lead was erased by a Lap 54 caution for Don Thompson stalling on pit road.
Jason Kitzmiller stayed out and took the lead from Ty Gibbs for the Lap 59 restart, which would be the last hurrah for Kitzmiller’s day. Kitzmiller crashed with Jack Wood between turns two and three, which caused each driver to fall out of the race.
On the ensuing restart, Chandler Smith attempted a three-wide pass on Ty Gibbs, which Gibbs blocked.
Smith and Gibbs made contact, resulting in Smith making a bold save and giving each car damage. Smith pitted but Gibbs stayed out despite left-rear fender damage.
Gibbs closed to within 0.5 seconds of Corey Heim but was unable to catch and pass him, leading to Heim’s third win of the 2021 ARCA Menards Series season.
Top 10 Finishers were as follows: Corey Heim, Ty Gibbs, Drew Dollar, Nick Sanchez, Thad Moffitt, Kyle Sieg, Andy Jankowiak, Jade Buford, Sean Corr, Ryan Huff.
Corey Heim leads the ARCA Menards Series standings by four points over Ty Gibbs as the series heads to Elko Speedway July 10 (10 p.m. ET; TV: MAVTV, NBC TrackPass).
SOURCES:
ARCA Racing
FOX Sports
Racing-Reference.Info
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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