Two restarts in, and Ross Chastain was controlling the field at Darlington. For the average viewer, the race was already over. Then, out of nowhere, the No. 5 of Tricon Garage darted past him and snatched away a sure victory. “I have no idea what just happened,” said a shocked Chastain, who needed some time to process the final lap.

Ross Chastain gets humbled by Corey Heim

He was the 2025 Craftsman Truck Series champion, and he made sure to show it today. Driving a disorganized season without a full-time seat is no big deal for Corey Heim, who is still winning at every chance he gets. Now his race craft is starting to leave the veterans in shock and awe. As Ross Chastain says,

“Well, with a guy like Corey, I mean, he can execute the restart. I feel like—looking back, I don’t know that we didn’t catch it, so it’s on us at No. 45. Even down the backstretch coming to the checkered… I didn’t have any grasp of the lap time. Like he was in another gear.

“So, I would have run the bottom if I had known he had that much of a tire advantage. But even still, I think he drives by me on the top. So, my truck worked best up top, and I put it there, and that was like the best corner I could run. Of course, I tried to get him tight with dirty air if I could, but I had no concept he was coming.”

Chastain’s words quite accurately depict the edge-of-your-seat action displayed by Corey Heim last night. He was flying across the backstretch from P15 on the third restart. By the time the last caution fell, he had already made six spots.

With fresher tires and an immense advantage over Chastain, who was managing tire degradation, Heim launched himself to the front and claimed the victory. It was a masterclass of strategy and race pace by the Tricon Garage team that led Heim to his second straight win at Darlington.

With that, Corey Heim has successfully claimed the prize of $50,000 for the Triple Truck Challenge bonus. He will be looking forward to tripling his winnings on April 3rd by trying his shot at Rockingham Speedway for another victory with Tricon.

It is no wonder that Corey Heim himself is elated with his achievement. After all, he and his team were able to execute the moves perfectly and take away a well-deserved victory from the hands of Chastain and Niece Motorsports.

“I’m out of breath, for sure. Man, we had a set of scuffs lying, and they were five laps fresher than everyone else’s. It was worth a shot. I didn’t think we could win from where we were at.

“I felt like I made all the right moves. And I had it three wide coming to the white (flag) and bombed in there on Ross (into turn 3). I was shocked he gave me the bottom like that with fresher tires.”

Well, as they say, all is well if it ends well. While he may not have a permanent home in the three national series this year, he does have a permanent record of winning without any difficulties with the right strategy.

While Ross Chastain might not like the results from last night, it’s not like he hates the race. In his eyes, he did well, and he was able to put forth great results for his mentor.

Ross Chastain dedicates race to IndyCar legend

Cary Agajanian decided to make an unofficial return to NASCAR racing with investments in Spire Motorsports and his own driver management organization, Motorsports Management International.

MMI has a golden history of working with legendary NASCAR drivers like Tony Stewart, Kyle Busch, Matt Kenseth, Denny Hamlin, Kasey Kahne, Jamie McMurray, and Aric Almirola.

And now, Ross Chastain is one of their clients and a founding member. With MMI’s other drivers Kaden Honeycutt and Carson Hocevar competing for the lead and victory, Chastain is sure that his mentor and partner would be pleased with the race.

“Hats off to the MMI guys tonight. It was really cool; the first time, I think three of us have ever raced for the lead: Kaden and Carson and I. I hope Cary Agajanian’s smiling back home. Proud of what he’s letting all of us do and helping us.”

Hocevar spun off due to his tire blowing out and sending him into the wall. However, Honeycutt was partially able to get a good result for the team by helping his teammate with a last push to victory.