In NASCAR’s fall homecoming, we get another triple-header weekend. For the first time since the configuration’s existence, the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series kick off the weekend action with their first-ever race at the Charlotte Roval: the EcoSave 250. This race was the start of their Round of 8. Corey Heim entered today with a 69 points advantage over the cutline. All he needed to do today was have a clean race and keep his nose out of trouble. Starting from the pole, that should not be a tall order. But the Roval is a wildcard race for a reason. Who knows the kinds of chaos we’ll see in their inaugural race at the track?
Trying to spoil things was road course ace Connor Zilisch. Zilisch made his second truck start of the year after dominating the NASCAR Xfinity Series on road courses (and then some) this year. He was driving the No. 7 Spire entry and was hoping to make some noise. And yet, there were seven other guys thirsting for a win to secure their spots in the Championship 4. Who left Charlotte standing tall, and who left with a deep Playoff hole? Let’s break it down.
Here’s everything that happened in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series EcoSave 250 at the Charlotte Roval!
The race restarted, again, with Brent Crews in the lead, Connor Zilisch in 2nd, and a wounded Corey Heim in 3rd. Just under 20 laps to go, Heim managed to work around Zilisch for the 2nd position. He set his sights on his teammate, the leader, Brent Crews.
As the field took 5 laps to go, Corey Heim was on the move. By that point, he had shrunk his lead down to just over a second and a half as they tried to worm their way through lapped traffic. The race was on and the two teammates started to run nearly identical lap times. But with 3 laps to go, Brent Crews came over the radio, saying that he was going to run out of fuel. Shortly after that, the teammate of Crews and Heim, Toni Breidinger, stalled on the track after she ran out of fuel. The caution flew once more. This triggered an overtime restart.
Under caution, Brent Crews, Connor Zilisch, and a host of other drivers opted to pit to get fresh fuel and tires. Corey Heim stayed out, taking over the race lead while also possibly being short on fuel. The race restarted with Heim, Mosack, Riggs, and Chandler Smith being the only drivers who stayed out. Riggs was slow to go, checking the outside lane up. Heim set sail, Mosack and Smith unable to keep up but holding up Zilisch and Crews. In a stack up, Ty Majeski divebombed a corner, taking out Chandler Smith. Crews got through relatively unscathed.
Corey Heim took the white flag with Crews just over two seconds behind. Barring some sort of disaster, it looked like Crews was going to run out of time to catch his teammate in the wounded No. 11 Toyota. Against all odds, Corey Heim went on to win his 10th win of the season, the most of any Truck Series Driver in a single season in history! He certainly cemented his spot as the clear-cut championship favorite. Furthermore, with this win, he locks himself into the championship round at Phoenix in a couple of weeks.
In the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series first trip to the Charlotte Roval, it did not take long for this difficult and unique track to reach out and bite a few of our Championship favorites. Grant Enfinger misjudged the first corner and made contact with the rear of Layne Riggs’ No. 34 Ford. Riggs then turned up into polesitter and leader Corey Heim and the two plowed into the tire barrier in Turn 1. This caused significant damage to all three of those trucks as Brent Crews snuck by to take the race lead. The race remained green until, a half a lap later, Ben Rhodes spun and backed in his No. 99 Ford into the tire barrier. The caution came out following Riggs’ and Heim’s pit stops, them both losing a couple of laps in the process. All cars were able to continue, but with heavy damage.
The race restarted without much further issue. As they ran, it was revealed that Layne Riggs had a broken sway bar. Still, he somehow managed to recover to finish 10th at the end of the stage. A number of drivers attempted to flip the stage. One of them was Brent Crews, who led until he pitted just before the stage ended. Staying out were the stage winners Kaden Honeycutt, as well as Ty Majeski, Tyler Ankrum, and Daniel Hemric.
*Playoff Drivers Depicted in BOLD.
The second stage was much of the same, minus the on-track issues. Brent Crews led the majority of the way, pulling away from Connor Zilisch in 2nd (extending out to a 7-second lead) and a rebounding Corey Heim in 3rd. With 3 laps to go, Crews came in and pitted as did many of the other drivers looking to flip the stages. Kaden Honeycutt regained the race lead. Enfinger cycled to 2nd, Caruth 3rd, and Daniel Hemric in 4th. Honeycutt went on to sweep the stages. It was the third stage win of his career, all three coming at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
*Playoff Drivers Depicted in BOLD.
The following are the unofficial results following the conclusion of the inaugural 67-lap NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race at the Charlotte Roval. This list will be updated once tech inspection is completed and the results become official.
Corey Heim secured his spot in the Truck Series Championship 4 at Phoenix by winning today’s race at the Charlotte Roval. He will be one of the four racing for a championship here in a few weeks.
These drivers are currently in contention to make the Championship 4 come Phoenix.
These drivers have some work to do heading into the final three races of the 2025 season. Currently, they are out of the Championship Round.
That does it for truck series action at the Charlotte Roval! What did you make of this race, Daily Downforce readers? How do you feel about Heim battling back to win? Do you think he’s the championship favorite or will he be upset in a few weeks at Phoenix? Let us know what you think! And be sure to tune back in here tomorrow as we gear up for an ARCA and Xfinity Series double header!
