1st caution on Lap 1 at Turn 1! That is the kind of chaos everyone was hoping for. But with all 4 playoff drivers set for Phoenix, none of the title contenders would want to suffer this fate. The Championship weekend rolled out with the NASCAR Truck Craftsman Series, with Corey Heim, joined by Ty Majeski, Tyler Ankrum, and Kaden Honeycutt, fighting each other for the title.

But things took a different turn. Just as the race started, all drivers had one goal in mind: to win, and just then disaster struck. This race ended early for one ex-NASCAR champion, as the final race win wasn’t on his cards.

Daniel Hemric DNFs at the critical championship finale race

The 2021 Xfinity NASCAR champion faced a sad race as soon as the green flag dropped. Chaos erupted in Turn 1 on the very first lap. Daniel Hemric, who had started from 19th place, found himself in one of the worst possible spots for a clean opening. He got loose in the corner, lost control, and in the shuffle, the field bunched up early.

Unfortunately, Dawson Sutton’s No. 26 got caught up in the melee. This resulted in heavy damage sustained on all sides of Sutton’s machine, and Hemric was deemed unable to continue. The official announcement later confirmed Sutton would be scored 34th and the former NASCAR Xfinity champion 33rd after the wreck.

The timing could not have been worse. With the championship on the line, and while none of them are playoff contenders, neither driver wanted to be eliminated so early, but the incident underscores how unforgiving the opening lap can be, especially in a compact field where caution-to-green transitions demand razor-sharp focus.

A driver can survive mistakes later in a race, but when the damage is terminal on lap one, the opportunity to recover all but vanishes. For certain as well, it meant an abrupt end to his night—long before any strategy or tire management could come into play.

But with the Championship 4 drivers still on track, things have just gotten interesting as Phoenix is living up to its chaotic personality. Things went back to normal by lap seven; the race was back under green with Chandler Smith commanding the field out front. Quickly settled into a rhythm, maintaining control in the early laps as the pack behind them began to shuffle for position.

In the next three laps, Layne Riggs, who just served a penalty, was fighting to remain on the lead lap, running 30 seconds and badly ahead of the leaders as the field stretched out. Meanwhile, Smith continued to dictate the pace, but it was Championship 4 contender Corey Heim who changed the day.

Corey Heim wins Stage 1 at the championship finale

Corey Heim has done it once again. The 22-year-old driver overtook Chandler Smith on lap 22 by diving inside for the lead, a move that extended the history of races in which he has led laps. Heim maintained his grip at the front with a strong pace and precision. By lap 40, he crossed the Stage 1 line ahead of Rajah Caruth, Ty Majeski, Jake Gray, and Corey LaJoie in the top 10.

Meanwhile, Smith, who had led the first 22 laps, had fallen back to 24th, one lap down after the vibration forced him to pit on lap 27. Championship contender Tyler Ankrum sat 14th at the stage break, the lowest among title-eligible drivers. In the bigger picture this season, Heim has piled up an astonishing number of stage victories, bolstering his dominance in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series.

By mid-season, he had already won 14 of the first 30 stages, a figure that underscored not just his consistency but also his front-runner status. Corey Heim, who has maintained a grounded approach to the championship, definitely looks like the man to beat today.  With a historical 11 wins and multiple stage sweeps, his campaign this year has quickly become one for the record books. And now it’s only a matter of time before Corey Heim dominates the rest of the days to claim his most looked-forward-to Truck Series title