By David Morgan, Associate Editor
AVONDALE, Ariz. – The best season ever.
Corey Heim has rewritten the record book in the 2025 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series season, with a record 11 wins heading into Friday night’s season finale with a chance at bringing home the championship for the No. 11 team at TRICON Garage.
And he did just that.
Heim swept the first two stages and looked to be in prime position to bring it home over the course of the final stage, holding serve in the lead until Layne Riggs came in to spoil the party after the first red flag stoppage of the night.
Despite falling back to second in the running order, Heim was still able to keep his championship rivals at bay until the caution flag flew with three to go in regulation, sending the race into overtime.
At that point, it was anyone’s guess who was going to come out on top.
Further complicating matters, the leaders all dove to pit road under the yellow, with split pit strategies among the Championship 4. The call came down from the No. 11 pit box for a four-tire stop, while the others took only two-tires, flipping the running order and putting defending series champion Ty Majeski in command for the first overtime restart.
Not to be denied, Heim restarted six rows back on the inside and in a move that could only be described as ludicrous, found his way through in a seven-wide pass, jumping up into second place with Majeski firmly in his sights.
Just WOW! 🤯 pic.twitter.com/4I9P59MP4O
— NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Trucks (@NASCAR_Trucks) November 1, 2025
But before he could make his move for the lead, the caution flag was out again for another multi-car crash, bringing out the red for the second time of the night.
Less than five minutes later, the track was cleared and the yellow flag was displayed once again, setting the stage for the final restart to decide the championship.
Majeski took the outside lane, with Heim lined up to his inside on the front row, with a third title contender in Kaden Honeycutt waiting in the wings behind them.
This time, Heim left no doubt, powering his way past Majeski on the restart and setting sail into history, leading the final two laps of the race to bring his season win total to an even dozen and securing his first Truck Series championship.
“I don’t care if I was on hundred-lap tires, nobody was going to beat me tonight,” Heim said. “It wasn’t going to happen. We struggled all weekend in practice a little bit. In qualifying we missed it a little bit. You can always trust Scott up on the box to do everything he can to put me in position to win the race. That’s what he did.
“Drove it in deep until I couldn’t anymore. Drove away with it.
“Just insane. I’m so grateful, so thankful for everyone involved. A laundry list of people that have put me in this spot and allowed me to execute. So grateful to be here.”
In the final rundown of the season, Heim’s stats stand alone with 12 wins, 19 top-five finishes, 21 top-10 finishes, seven poles, 1625 laps led, and an average finish of 5.0 in 25 starts.
“To bring the best equipment every single week is a feat that’s maybe overlooked,” said Heim. “I know a lot of people are talking about statistically how good we are. We were so good every single week. That truly takes a team from top to bottom.
“Everyone at TRICON Garage, this crew, Toyota, the support from them, it really takes an organization, team, manufacturer. You don’t see it every day where we can bring cutting-edge speed every week. We haven’t had that in years past. We’ve been good at intermediates, road courses. We were able to put everything together this year and bring our best. That’s a phenomenal feeling for me.”
The Best of the Rest
Majeski would finish the season in second-place, relinquishing his Truck Series crown to a worthy opponent in Heim. Though he gave it a good run, Majeski explained that he needed Heim to be held up a bit longer on the restart and for the final caution to have flown just a few seconds later to allow him to take the white flag.
“When we took two tires, we really needed the restart to play out right,” said Majeski. “I needed him to maybe get caught in third or fourth coming off of two. When my spotter said inside 11 out of two, I knew we were probably a sitting duck there on two tires.
“Yeah, I think it was the right call. Gave ourselves a shot at a championship. If that restart goes a little bit differently, I get a little bit of a gap, we’re probably sitting here as two-time champion.
“Proud of Joe for making that gutsy call. Hard to make that in that moment. You always want to be on offense at the end of these races. I think two tires gave us the best opportunity to win tonight.”
Kaden Honeycutt brought the No. 52 Halmar Friesen Racing Toyota home in third-place, having come close to delivering on his promise to win one for team co-owner and driver Stewart Friesen, whom he was driving in relief for during the Playoffs.
While he may be moving on to another team in 2026, Honeycutt noted his appreciation for the chance to run for HFR and compete for the championship when his path to finish out the season appeared to be up in the air following his dismissal from Niece Motorsports prior to the postseason.
“Stewart Friesen, this whole entire HFR team, Chris, Al, giving me the opportunity to finish the year out for them, I don’t know how can I repay them,” said Honeycutt. “The only thing I could have done is win it for them tonight as a gift.
“I feel like this team has elevated a whole lot throughout this Playoffs. They have a ton of confidence in the team and themselves. Very glad we were able to show off their speed throughout the Playoffs and make it to Phoenix and fight for this title.
“Yeah, I’m very fortunate to call this team my second family, too. Probably walk up in that hauler anytime I want, talk to Stewart, Jimmy, those guys. Just looking forward to having him back in that truck. He deserves to be there. Just very fortunate to fill in for that 52 and represent him and the team well.”
Layne Riggs finished the night in fourth, followed by Rajah Caruth, Jake Garcia, Corey LaJoie, Chandler Smith, Tyler Reif, and Jack Wood to round out the top-10 finishers.
The fourth driver in the Championship 4, Tyler Ankrum, brought his wounded No. 18 Chevrolet across the line in 14th place, falling well short of the title, but still considers his 2025 season an overall success.
“Oh, yeah, 100%. I don’t think you can say it’s not,” Ankrum said of classifying his season as a success. “To have a win, all the top 5s, all the top 10s, to make it here, yeah, 100% it’s a success.
“Everybody’s first win on my crew this year. Including myself, first time in the Final 4 this year. You can’t really ask for more than that out of a redemption year, if you will.
“We’re going to keep on improving. We’re going to work really, really hard in the off-season, make our trucks better, make myself better, and we’ll try to come back.”
