‘A Half Mile of Mayhem’ read the menu board at the iconic infield hot dog stand at Martinsville. Corey Heim was pinned against the menu board as a flurry of punches and abuse came his way as Chad Bryant’s pit crew expressed their anger after Heim and Treyten Lapcevich came into pit lane with shredded race cars at the end of the Valley Star Credit Union 300 at Martinsville.
Watch What’s Trending Now!
A week after the Bristol brawl between Ryan Blaney and Carson Hocevar dominated the headlines, it’s time for another pit lane brawl to take over. And FloRacing broadcaster Matthew Dillner celebrated the showcase at Martinsville, praising everything, including the fact that Heim was cornered by many members of Lapcevich’s crew.
“They’ll come a day that we look at the craziness of today a little differently. A brawl after a heat race. A fight at the @MartinsvilleSwy Hot Dog Stand? Iconic.” Dillner wrote on X. “Short Track racing is pumped full of passion. Good. Bad. Ugly. Put it in a pot, stir it, and it comes out wonderful.”
Denny Hamlin, co-owner of 23XI Racing, wasn’t happy about the assault on Heim. Hamlin’s reply was curt. “Not sure what is wonderful about that.”
The anger and aggression on pit road were ripple effects of a dogfight on the last lap between Heim and Lapcevich, which boiled over into the cool-down laps as well. Heim’s car went airborne, and his right-front rode over Lapcevich’s left front, shredding the bodywork on both Late Models.
Heim was cornered by Lapcevich’s Chad Bryant Racing crew on his way to the Nelson Motorsport Hauler, after completing his post-race formalities. Interestingly, Heim made his ARCA debut racing for Chad Bryant.
Both Heim and Lapcevich spoke to the media and gave their side of the story, and both accounts were grossly different.
“I can’t see what he’s saying, so racing for the win,” said Heim. “He tried to pin me under the curb, and just kept turning left. Then my right front hopped to the left a lot and destroyed a perfectly good race car. I was in it for that; it was classy. It’s not my car; I don’t own it, so I’m not mad, but he put him out for good.”
“I don’t know, he just tried to destroy my car under cool-down laps and succeeded,” Heim added.
While the two-time Cup race winner refused to take any blame for the incident, Lapcevich’s response was one of disappointment.
“Disappointed in Corey as a racer, a person. I don’t know, obviously angry about what he did on the track there,” said the Chad Bryant driver. “He was running everyone all night. Like, you saw how he’s racing with Caden(Kvapil, race winner) and how he’s racing with Lee, like, Cup guy or not, it doesn’t matter to me; we’re all the same out here when we hit the track.”
“So yeah, after the race. I kind of went up to his right side, and just, I was running him tight, and then all of a sudden he just gases it up and drives over my left front, kills both of our cars. So just unnecessary,” Lapcevich added. “We got to race that car at Newport next week, and It’s obviously disappointing for sure.”
Lapcevich revealed that he was interested in going up and talking to Heim, but his team owner stopped him from going down that road. Instead, it was Lapcevich’s crew members who went after Heim.
Heim, who will be driving for 23XI full time in the Cup Series in 2027 in the No. 35 Toyota, has been known to be snarky on social media, and his X post after Martinsville was along similar lines.
Heim posted a selfie from his car, posing with half a smile and a thumbs-up as if to signal he was okay, and wrote, “Solid effort, but at least make it count next time 😂.”
Heim finished second; Lapcevich third. For the second consecutive year, Lapcevich missed the grandfather clock trophy, awarded to the Martinsville Late Model winner since 1970.