On this July Friday afternoon, it’s time for the truckers of the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series to take to the Tricky Triangle of Pocono Raceway. Heading into today, weather was a big question mark with scattered showers likely throughout the afternoon into the evening. Qualifying for the CRC Brakleen 175 was washed out earlier today, meaning that the starting lineup was determined by the qualifying metric. Christian Eckes scored the pole with Corey Heim in second. Both were heavy favorites heading into today’s race.
So, in the end, who ran strong and who struggled? What further role (if any) did weather play into today’s race? Let’s break it down! Here’s everything that happened in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Race at Pocono Raceway.
With a variety of strategies at play, Jake Garcia was able to hold onto the lead battling Matt Mills. But it didn’t take long, however, for Corey Heim to run down the number 13 truck and take the lead. Also charging into the top 5 early in this final stage was Ross Chastain and Christian Eckes who rallied back from a terribly slow pit stop under caution.
During an aggressive battle with Nick Sanchez, Jake Garcia in the number 13 made contact with the 2 of Sanchez. He quickly found himself pitting, making major adjustments to his horribly tight truck. Meanwhile, Ross Chastain was through to 2nd as Eckes set his sights on Grant Enfinger for 3rd. With 30 laps to go in the race, Heim led over Chastain by 2 seconds.
The first caution for incident flew at Lap 45 as Rajah Caruth spun, getting loose as he battled teammate Connor Mosack for 9th. Thankfully, Caruth was able to keep his number 71 Silverado off the wall. As they ran under caution, Grant Enfinger’s crew chief warned that there was rain fifteen minutes away from the track.
When the race restarted, weather once again because a highlight of conversation. Corey Heim remained in the lead with Grant Enfinger in 2nd and Ross Chastain in 3rd. Surprisingly, Enfinger was able to stay with Heim throughout this run, never losing more ground than 0.45 seconds.
As the field approached 10 laps to go, Heim was able to stretch his lead to 1 second ahead of Grant Enfinger. Meanwhile, if weather didn’t hit, fuel was going to become an issue for most of the field. As the field took 9 laps to go, however, the 4th caution came out for rain in turns 2 and 3. As soon as the caution came out, Heim and the rest of the field started shutting off their engines, going into full fuel conservation mode.
With 8 to go, NASCAR red flagged the race and deemed it a timed race. The clock started ticking at 1:08:59 and the waiting game began. Just under the hour mark, NASCAR ordered drivers back out on the track. We did not lose the racing surface…or so we thought. After running 1 lap under caution, NASCAR made the decision to bring trucks back down pit road as the rain picked up again. Drivers were told that they could exit their trucks. It looked less and less likely that we’d go back racing.
However, track drying continued and the rain let up. Drivers were called back to their trucks at 7:35 PM. With the possibility of a/multiple overtime finish(es), a few drivers 16th on back pitted when pit road was reopened. But everyone inside the top-15 stayed out, believing that they had enough to make it to the finish. When it came time for the choose rule, Coey Heim and Grant Enfinger elected to take the outside lane. Meanwhile, Christian Eckes and Ross Chastain picked the inside.
The race restarted with 3 laps to go. Corey Heim was able to take the lead in convincing fashion as Eckes nearly got Chastained on the bottom. The 19 was able to save it. Despite a spin in the back of the pack, we stayed green and Heim took 2-to-go. He stretched his lead out to nearly 1 second as he took the white flag. He never looked back: Corey Heim went on to redeem himself by winning his first race at Pocono after coming up just short to Kyle Busch in 2023.
For Heim, this was a max-point day. He scored his fifth win of the 2024 season and swept all of the stages. He earned a total of 60 points and 7 playoff points. He is now marching towards the regular season Truck Series Championship. Congratulations to Corey Heim and the entire number 11 Tricon Garage team.
The layout for the 2024 edition of the CRC Brakleen 175, per FOX Sports’ Bob Pockrass, was as follows:
The race is an extra 10 laps compared to last year’s race, meaning that drivers will have to make at least 1 pit stop. Teams were given 4 sets of Goodyear tires and the average fuel run was expected to be between 29 and 32 laps.
Drivers who were forced to go to the rear were:
The race went green and though many of the truckers were aggressive early, they were able to keep it clean enough to give us a full green flag run towards the end of the stage. Christian Eckes in his number 19 Napa Silverado led the first eleven laps of the stage with Heim overtaking him with less than 4 laps to go. Heim drove away from Eckes to almost a 2-second lead to win the opening stage. It was his fifth stage win of the season. With it, he earns 10 points and an additional bonus playoff point.
Charging through the field into the top-15 was Ross Chastain in the number 45 Chevy for Neice Motorsports. Falling hard outside the top-15 from his top-5 starting spot was Rajah Caruth. The number 71 Spire truck certainly needed some adjustments by the end of this opening stage.
Following pit stops, the top-6 trucks opted to stay out along with an additional 6, meaning the top-12 did not pit.
When the green flag dropped to kick off the 15-lap second stage, Coey Heim rocketed out front over Christian Eckes. The driver of the number 11 Toyota led every lap of the stage with Eckes trailing behind at nearly 3 seconds. This marked Heim’s sixth stage win of the season, the most of all drivers, and meant that he had swept the stages. He and his team were clear: their goal, despite being 4-time winner on the year, was to go for a maximum points day. He looked to be on his way to doing just that. After this stage, his point count for the day was 20 + 2 playoff points.
Some of the key drivers who played strategy by short pitting were Tanner Grey and Nick Sanchez as they both pitted with 3 laps remaining in the stage. When the leaders came down put road following the conclusion of the stage, a couple of drivers played strategy to gain track position. Matt Mills elected to take only 2 tires to win the race off of pit road while Timmy Hill took gas only. Jake Garcia and Nick Sanchez stayed out, inheriting the lead.
Meanwhile, a slow pit stop mired the 19 of Christian Eckes back in the pack. He lined up for the restart in 16th.
Heading into Pocono, Ty Majeski was poised to clinch a playoff berth. Unfortunately, a batter issue with less than 20 laps to go ruined his chances of clinching this afternoon. He’s still in great shape, though, and should clinch next week.
As reported by Jim Utter, NASCAR was clear early on: If weather became a factor in today’s race, the race would conclude at either the scheduled distance or at 8:20 PM EST/Local.
During the caution for the Rajah Caruth spin with less than 30-laps to go, Jim Utter reported that rain was headed towards the track. At the time, it was 15 minutes or less away.
NASCAR threw the caution flag with 9 laps remaining due to rain in turns 2 and 3. With 8 to go, they elected to bring the trucks down pit road to wait out the weather.
What did you think of that truck race at Pocono, Daily Downforce readers? Are you surprised by the winner? I’m not. Coey Heim dominated and was truly deserving of the trophy today. What do you make of NASCAR’s seemingly new standard procedure when it comes to rain delays? Do you like the timed race clock or do you dislike it? Let us know what you think!
Tune back in here tomorrow at DailyDownforce.com for our coverage of NASCAR Xfinity Series action at Pocono Raceway!
