The NASCAR Truck Series headed to Watkins Glen for one of the most chaotic races of the season. After three overtime attempts, leaders running out of fuel, and a mix of strategies, Corey Heim came out on top. Heim secured the checkered flag by passing Cup Series regular Christopher Bell, who was filling in for an injured Stewart Friesen, on a restart, then held off a charging Daniel Hemric on the final lap to claim his sixth win of the season, further extending his points lead.
Stage 1 was relatively calm. The only major incident came on the opening lap, when Rajah Caruth suffered an early issue that left him more than 40 laps down and out of contention. The main story was Heim’s dominance. Starting from pole, he showed little concern for a stacked field featuring Cup Series drivers Kyle Busch (who dropped out early with a mechanical issue), Ross Chastain, and Christopher Bell, along with standout prospect Connor Zilisch. Despite a late caution for a stalled Number 2 truck, Heim powered through to take his 15th stage victory of the year.
The opening laps of Stage 2 featured tight battles up front, but the race soon settled into a rhythm similar to Stage 1—Heim out front and minimal changes in position. That changed when Jack Wood suffered a hard hit into the wall following a mechanical failure with only a few laps remaining in the stage. The caution triggered a split in pit strategies, allowing Connor Zilisch to cycle to the lead over those who pitted.
However, Zilisch’s momentum ended abruptly after being spun while running just outside the top five, being trapped a lap down for most of the race, hurting his chances for the win. In the shuffle, Ben Rhodes emerged to take the stage win.
At the start of the final stage, Heim’s dominant truck was shuffled into mid-pack traffic, and Christopher Bell appeared to be in control with less than 20 to go. But the race quickly unraveled into chaos:
Heim made the decisive move on one restart, overtaking Bell and reclaiming the lead. From there, he held firm, defending against Hemric’s aggressive charge on the final lap to secure the win.
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