“It takes a full team, and having everyone on the roster helped me fire off on all cylinders,” Corey Heim said after his Roval triumph. That triumph also marked his 10th win of the season, which shattered Greg Biffle’s 26-year-old record of nine in a season. Heim started the race from the pole, but his No. 11 Toyota faced early chaos. But despite the early chaos and pit stops, he showed his fightback spirit and eventually won that race. This grit hinted at Heim’s resilience, which he showed throughout this season.

From there, Heim’s charge continued, clinching the championship at Phoenix with a record-making twelve wins and zero DNFs. His season blended raw speed with a never-give-up attitude, turning potential disasters into triumphs. But how this Roval race lingered as a true test of his character. Let’s listen to the 2025 truck champion himself.

ROVAL win defines Corey Heim’s grit

On the NASCAR Live podcast, host Chris Wilner kicked off by praising Heim’s string of comebacks and asked about the proudest race of the 2025 season, to which Heim paused, then zeroed in on the Roval. “Yeah, I mean, I don’t know if there was one that stands out the most, but I will say that the Roval for us was pretty spectacular in the sense that we got wrecked in the first lap, first corner, even, and, you know, had all this damage, and somehow it wasn’t enough to put us in the garage.” He went on to say, “I think it shows a lot about the resilience of our race team and just, it was just simply no quitting those guys.”

That Ecosave 250 on October 3 started with promise, as Corey Heim started P1, but turned into a nightmare in Turn 1 after Grant Enfinger spun Layne Riggs into the No. 11 Toyota, slamming his right front into the wall. That contact by Riggs resulted in Heim’s left tire smoking, the steering twisted 45 degrees left, and the truck looked done for the day.

The race also saw Heim pitting eight times in the first two stages, correcting damage and tire issues. Heim lost a lap early but clawed back, rejoining the lead pack by Stage 2’s end. A late stall by Toni Breidinger because her fuel ran out triggered overtime, and Heim stayed out on old tires while Brent Crews pitted, which resulted in Heim leading.

In the Roval race, Tricon Garage drivers swept the top three positions, with Heim holding off Brent Crews by 1.338 seconds, and Gio Ruggiero ending up third. This wasn’t just another win for the Tricon Garage driver; it locked his Championship 4 spot and broke the single-season record, proving the team’s fire that turned a possible nightmare result into a win.

Heim doubled down on that fire in the podcast, calling out the no-quit spirit. “We had no DNFs this year, no mechanical issues that were terminal, so just said so much about the race team and how prepared they were,” he noted. His 2025 run featured 19 top-fives and 1627 laps led, but the Roval stood as the ultimate gut check. But his No. 11 team passed every check with flying colors, as Heim did not record any DNFs in 25 starts.

Post-race, Heim echoed his and the whole team’s performance: “It was not easy today—I think it was probably the toughest one of the year so far. Just shows the resilience of this Tricon team. They fixed it up so good for me after that incident on the first lap… I thought we were done, honestly. The right front completely folded when it hit the wall over there.”

That raw admission captured the chaos and the resilience of his crew members: four initial pit stops just to straighten the bent frame, then more tweaks to make the truck drivable. Heim drove carefully as the laps ticked on, saving fuel and tires and surging late when strategy flipped the script. It mirrored his path from 2023’s playoff heartbreak, where a late tangle with Carson Hocevar cost him the title.

Heim’s title fight nerves

Even champions feel the pressure. Heading into Phoenix’s finale with 11 wins, Heim carried nightmares of 2023’s crash and 2024’s narrow loss to Ty Majeski. And again, the stakes were too high in the final. A third straight title shot gone wrong would sting deepest after such dominance.

“I had so much pressure and stress in that race knowing that we had such a great year so far… To not leave with one would be pretty heartbreaking and crushing for us,” Heim admitted later. He led 100 of 161 laps but dropped to 10th on a late restart, and the heart of Heim started pounding as rivals like Majeski gained on him.

All teams showed different strategies in the race, as some pitted and others gambled, but Heim’s crew chief, Scott Zipadelli, took a bold call to stay on the track, and that call paid off in double overtime.

And after winning the title, that pressure felt like a cool air, as Heim stated, “Being able to get it done and enjoying it in a fashion like that built up all that stress on that last restart. Take a deep breath and say we did it. It was definitely a pretty big relief, no doubt,” Heim reflected.

Only after he crossed the checkered flag first did he finally let off a sigh of relief. Those prior-year heartbreaks only sharpened his edge, turning a young, hardheaded drive into calculated calm. For a 23-year-old sealing his first triumph, it was proof of resilience first built in mind.