After a relatively uneventful ARCA race last night, the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series rolled into the Kansas Motor Speedway tonight looking to put on a show. Corey Heim has been hot this year. With three wins to his name already, he currently sits atop the Truck Series standings, 46 points over second-place Chandler Smith. Additionally, he has 5 stage wins, which is the most of the series by far. Tonight, he was looking to continue his reign of terror over the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series. Did anyone have what it took to dethrone him? Let’s talk about it. Here are the 3 biggest takeaways from tonight’s Heart of Health Care 200 from Kansas Speedway.
GREEN FLAG IN KANSAS … and things are heating up fast 😳 We stay green!#NASCARonFS1 pic.twitter.com/4oG57pwxeo
— FOX: NASCAR (@NASCARONFOX) May 10, 2025
Carson Hocevar became the race leader during the second stage after Corey Heim had an issue. He went on to win the stage, and after Heim got trapped a lap down when green flag pit stops were interrupted, he became the clear favorite to win. He had to earn it, though. His number 7 Chevy was really good on the short run. However, Layne Riggs in the Front Row number 34 was a rocket ship on the longer run. Despite being in a deep, seven-second deficit, Riggs was able to run down Hocevar and give him a run for his money on the last lap.
As you can see in this clip provided by FOX Sports, Riggs drove it in super hard in Turns 1 & 2. This led to him chasing it up the track and making contact with Hocevar. Both drivers got into the wall but kept digging to the finish. This win marks Hocevar’s 5th win in the series.
Following post-race inspection, it was announced that the number 34 truck of Layne Riggs was disqualified. The rule the team is said to have violated is Rule 14.4.9.A.3. The language of the rule stats: “Bed cover material must be strong enough to prevent the cover from deflecting or sagging and must be sealed around the perimeter of all bed panels while the vehicle is in competition.”
With this disqualification, Riggs is credited with a 31st-place finish. William Byron moved up to 2nd with Corey Heim now being credited with 3rd.
Arguably, Corey Heim was the best driver of the Craftsman Truck Series the last couple of years. In fact, many fans and industry insiders believe him to be Cup-ready right now. There is a case to be made that if it weren’t for the Playoff format and general bad luck, Hocevar would have two titles to his name. In 2023, he had the best truck at phoenix and was on his way to winning it all before he was inexplicably taken out by Carson Hocevar in the closing laps. Then, in 2024 he just barely missed it, finishing 2nd to Championship rival, Ty Majeski.
Unsurprisingly, he’s been head and shoulders above the rest of the field so far this season. No, he hasn’t won every race but he is the only driver to lead at least one lap in every race so far this year. He’s clearly the fastest truck in the field and it’s not even close. It’s just that when things go wrong, they go wrong hard and opens the door for some of the other competitors.
While no one equals Heim in terms of speed, there have been three other winners this year. Daniel Hemric, Tyler Ankrum, and Chandler Smith all have 1 win apiece. But whereas Heim is consistently running up front every weekend, contending for wins, there’s more ebbs and flows with these other three drivers in terms of consistency. In fact, Heim realistically could have won every single race so far this season. So, it doesn’t look like Heim has a clear-cut championship rival this year. As long as he can put together a full playoff run, he might just be the one hoisting the Championship trophy in Phoenix this November.
A lot has changed in the last year and a half for Hocevar and his team. When Spire Motorsports signed Corey Lajoie, it was understood that he was seen as their franchise driver. Heck, even going into the 2024 season, he was the guy at Spire. But now, everything is different. Corey Lajoie was released from the team late last year, and he doesn’t even race full-time in the Cup Series anymore. Taking his place was Justin Haley, who has improved some in that number 7 car, but not a whole lot. Similarly, Michael McDowell has shown some speed this year, but it often falls away by the end of the race.
But when it comes to Carson Hocevar, things appear a little steadier, like he’s in a groove. Like his teammates, he has shown speed all year. However, unlike them, he’s often in contention for top 10 finishes at the end of races. He has shown maturity and patience in the last couple of years and it’s remarkable just how fast he went from being the team’s rookie to their flagship driver. It’s almost as if it happened overnight. It’s fun to see Hocevar when he dips down to run for his Cup team in the Truck Series. It really showcases his talents that may get overlooked (unjustly!) on Sundays.
There was a lot of hype over Frankie Muniz’s career in NASCAR. When it all started in 2023, many fans were impressed with his string of top 10 finishes and a 5th-place finish at Michigan in the ARCA Menards Series. He finished 4th in the standings at year’s end. In 2024, he went part-time, running a handful of races across the Xfinity, Truck, and ARCA series. These results were a little less impressive. Nonetheless, it earned him a full-time gig in the Truck Series, driving the 33 truck for Reaume Brothers Racing.
Thus far, Muniz’s full-time truck effort looks a lot like his part-time drives last year. His best finish of the year so far was a 10th-place run at Daytona in February. Since then, he has a slew of finishes in the mid-20s to the mid-30s and he’s found himself in a number of on-track incidents. Unfortunately for him, that continued tonight in Kansas as he spun out on his own, triggering a caution. Luckily, he didn’t receive any damage. But when you take his poor runs into account, as well as the upcoming reboot of Malcolm in the Middle, which is taking up a lot of his time, one starts to wonder what his future NASCAR career will look like. Would you consider it a failed experiement at this point? Or do you think he still has time to grow and learn as a racing driver? Would you suggest he drop back down to ARCA? Let us know what you think.
What do you think of that race, Daily Downforce readers? Were you not entertained? How do you feel about Heim coming up short? It seems like something happens every week with him. He really could have been on a 9-race winning tear. Do you think he’s the championship favorite? Let us know what you think! And tune in back here at DailyDownforce.com tomorrow for our coverage of the Cup Race at Kansas.
