“Definitely…It hasn’t been my friend in the past.” Corey Heim said these words about Richmond Raceway shortly before the eero 250 race. However, the 0.75-mile Virginia short track offered the ultimate friendship band to Heim on Friday’s race. Already dominating the Craftsman Truck Series schedule with 6 wins, Heim capped off the perfect finish to the 2025 regular season.

The 23-year-old Tricon Garage racer clinched the 12th pole of his career in Richmond. With a strength of a 23.095-second (116.908 mph) lap time, Corey Heim set the stage for a perfect race. And it all fell into place with his ambitions, as he beat the rest of the field again.

Corey Heim outsmarted his rivals yet again

Entering Richmond, the spotlight was on Ty Majeski. The defending race winner and defending Craftsman Truck Series champion had an optimistic outlook initially. “We’ve had success over the last three years here, so, yeah, just trying to replicate that,” he said ahead of the race. On the other hand, Corey Heim’s best finish in Richmond was only 5th. But little did Majeski suspect that the 0.082-second gap in qualifying with Heim would replicate itself in the final race. Majeski dominated the first two stages of the eero 250, leading for 143 laps in his No. 98 truck. He put Heim off the lead on Turns 1 and 2 multiple times. Majeski snatched the lead again in stage 3, but disaster struck shortly after.

Matt Crafton’s lap truck tagged Majeski in the left rear, bringing out a caution with 51 laps to go. That was enough to rattle Majeski’s pace, and he could not do anything about it when Corey Heim took the lead with 21 laps to go. Finally, the Toyota driver beat Majeski to the finish line, picking up his season’s 7th victory, and 18th career win. Thus, the 23-year-old reinforced his reign over the 2025 playoffs, with golden chances of winning the title in the No. 11 truck.

With this win, the playoff field is set for the Craftsman Truck postseason. The list of drivers – Corey Heim, Layne Riggs, Chandler Smith, Daniel Hemric, Grant Enfinger, Ty Majeski, Tyler Ankrum, Kaden Honeycutt, Rajah Caruth, and Jake Garcia. Before Richmond, Jake Garcia held an 11-point advantage over his ThorSport Racing teammate Ben Rhodes. But after, Jeff Gluck updated their status: “Jake Garcia gets the final playoff spot over Ben Rhodes after Stewart Friesen doesn’t request a waiver.”

In a post-race interview, Corey Heim humbly tipped his hat to his rival, Ty Majeski. He reflected on overcoming his season’s troubles: “I was very inconsistent…Obviously, the 98 was the best truck. I’m sure he got damaged there a little bit, slowed him down. You know, we’ve had some get away from us this year, and this is one that kind of redeems that a little bit… Once again, don’t think we were phenomenal today by any means. But we were definitely good enough to be the one that counted, and we were.” 

Now, Corey Heim looks forward to the final leg of his 2025 season. His competitive streak could have an impact back home as well.

Trying to win in any game

Well, that should be the spirit of any athlete, right? Corey Heim harbors that competitive spirit strongly in NASCAR, and it has been visible in 2025. He leads the championship standings with 7 wins, 12 top fives, and 14 top tens. This came after years of success across many disciplines. From Legend Cars and Super Late Models to ARCA, he has won at nearly every step on his climb to the Trucks. What is more, this hunger for glory is not limited just to the racetrack. In a recent interview with Jeff Gluck, Heim revealed that he battles with his girlfriend, Taylor Reimer, as well. The duo is deeply engrossed in playing Monopoly back at home, and it could lead to some friendly arguments.

Corey Heim recalled such an incident. “There was one instance where I went to check my phone, and I forgot to charge her rent for being on my property. And I’m like, ‘Hey, weren’t you on my property?’ And she’s like, ‘Yeah, but you weren’t paying attention. You have to tell me that I owe you money for rent.’”

He continued, “And I’m like, ‘What? That’s not how a board game works. If you’re on my property, you pay me rent.’ She’s like, ‘No, you weren’t paying attention.’ So, the next time comes around, and I was on some other person’s property, and I was doing everything I could to make sure they didn’t know I was on it, and they forgot.” Then both of them ended up calling each other a hypocrite, but Heim admitted, “That is part of the game, I guess.”

Clearly, Corey Heim is in no mood to pause his glorious ambitions. Now, he is heading to the Cup Series for another shot at Richmond – let us see how he performs.