For the second event in our Thursday night double-header at Bristol, the truckers of the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series take to the challenging Bristol Motor Speedway for the annual UNOH 250. Of course, the driver everyone was watching tonight was Corey Heim. He has been lights out better than everyone this year. In fact, it’s like playing the NASCAR Heat video games on Rookie mode! But also, the focus tonight was the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Playoffs! It was the second race of the Round of 10! Heim already punched his ticket to the Round of 8 a couple of weeks ago by winning Darlington. Tonight, he was just chasing bragging rights.
Meanwhile, we had nine other drivers chasing to secure their spot in the Round of 8. So, with that in mind, did Corey Heim spoil the show or was someone else able to clinch their berth in the Round of 8? Or, did one of the non-playoff drivers play spoiler tonight? Let’s break it down. Here’s everything that happened in the UNOH 250 at Bristol Motor Speedway!
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Layne Riggs took the lead for the first time tonight to start the final stage after a great pit stop during the break. Meanwhile, Heim was slow getting off and that No. 11 truck did not look as dominant in this final stage. Heim was having a bear of a time trying to pass teammate Tanner Gray for 4th with 30 laps to go. Meanwhile, out front, Riggs continued to lead and was starting to pull away after a brief hard-fought battle with Ben Rhodes.
Late in the run, Riggs seemingly backed off as Rhodes started to creep back into the picture. However, it was never enough. Riggs went on to capture his third win of the season and lock himself into the Round of 8!
At the start of the stage, it seemed like same-old-same-old. Jake Garcia was a little slow to start from the pole, handing the lead to championship favorite Corey Heim. Heim led a number of laps but, once we shook off the cautions and got a long green flag run, Garcia inched his way forward and retook the lead. He led the final 14 laps of the stage, securing the first stage win of his career.
There were a couple of issues for the Playoff drivers in this stage. The first driver to have issues was Layne Riggs, who spun at the beginning of the race. Thankfully, the damage was minimal. Later on in the stage, Chandler Smith radioed his crew and said that he was having electrical issues. Smith made several pit stops under green, losing 12 laps in the process. Not a great start for the Front Row trucks tonight.
*Playoff drivers depicted in BOLD.
Again, Corey Heim rocketed out front to start the second stage. As he led, Jake Garcia started to plummet through the field. Prior to that, Garcia came down pit road during the stage break, extremely happy with his truck. He ordered that no adjustments be made to the No. 13 Ford F-150. Unfortunately, almost immediately after the drop of the green flag to start the second stage, Garcia told his team that he had lost power steering. This forced him down pit road and his night was effectively done.
Another Playoff driver who had issues in this stage was Tyler Ankrum. The driver of the No. 18 Chevy went around at the hands of Kaden Honeycutt, who gave him a classic Bristol bump-‘n-run. Check it out.
Corey Heim continued to lead through to the end of the stage. That was not without a valiant effort on the part of Layne Riggs who, after his early race issues, battled back to challenge for the lead in the closing laps of Stage 2. While it could be argued that the No. 34 truck was stronger than the No. 11 in those final laps, lapped traffic provided enough of a buffer between Heim and Riggs. Heim went on to win the stage. But the 34 truck was one to watch out for heading into the final stage.
*Playoff drivers depicted in BOLD.
The following are the unofficial results following the conclusion of the 250-lap race at Bristol Motor Speedway. This list will be updated once tech inspection is completed and the results become official.
*Playoff drivers depicted in BOLD.
The following drivers have advanced to the Round of 8. Corey Heim clinched his Round of 8 Playoff berth by winning at Darlington a couple of weeks back. Layne Riggs’ win tonight at Bristol clinches his spot for the Round of 8.
These drivers are currently in a points position to advance to the next round. However, anything can happen and a few of them are far from safe.
The following drivers are currently outside of the top 8 to advance to the next round with only 1 race remaining. While it is possible for some of them to be able to point their way in, a win might be in order to advance to the Round of 8.
That does it for tonight’s atypical double Thursday night racing double header! The UNOH 250 is officially in the books and Chandler Smith won. What did you think of the race? What do you make of the Playoff battle right now? Who do you think will get into the Round of 8 and who do you think is in trouble? Are we starting to see Heim fall off a little bit? Let us know what you think! And be sure to tune back in here at DailyDownforce.com tomorrow night for our coverage of NASCAR Xfinity Series action at Bristol Motor Speedway!
