For Corey Heim, there have been several occasions this year where he missed out on a victory in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series due to circumstances out of his control. Therefore, it was probably about time the pendulum swung the other way.

Throughout the closing stages of Friday’s Mission 176 at Watkins Glen International, there were several things happening on the racetrack that looked to keep the No. 11 Mobil 1 Toyota Tundra TRD Pro from making another trip to Victory Lane.

However, with the help of several caution flags throughout the closing portions of the event, Heim was able to slowly and methodically work his way closer and closer to the front of the pack, before pouncing on Christopher Bell, who was low on fuel, to take over the lead on Lap 72 (which was scheduled to be the final lap of regulation), which ended up being 10 laps to go.

Heim then had to survive triple overtime, with restart after restart, each time with a new challenger directly beside and at the rear bumper of the Marietta, Georgia-native, and while things got close in the final two-lap shootout with Daniel Hemric and teammate Gio Ruggiero, the No. 11 was able to get across the line with the victory.

It’s the 17th victory in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series for Corey Heim, 15 of which have come with TRICON Garage and Scott Zipadelli – who ties Joe Shear, Jr. for second all-time on the crew chief wins list with 30 victories in the Truck Series.

“Yeah, just never give up. I got behind on that last Stage. I was scratching and clawing trying to get back through the field. I had my brakes pretty much go out completely on me on that long green flag run. I was beating them up trying to get through the field. Blew the bus stop, I made a lot of mistakes myself. I feel like we’ve had a lot of them get away from us this year by cautions or whatever else — failures, or parts, whatever. But finally had one go our way.”

RACE RESULTS: 2025 NCTS Mission 176 at Watkins Glen

“Big picture is the championship this year, and that’s what we’re going for.”

At the start-finish line, Heim had a 0.202-second advantage over Daniel Hemric. It’s the eighth top five result of the season for the driver of the McAnally-Hilgemann Racing No. 19 Chevrolet. Just behind Hemric was Gio Ruggiero, Heim’s rookie teammate at TRICON Garage. It’s the fourth top-five of the year, and his second straight third place on a road course in the NASCAR Truck Series.

Despite having to come down pit road to fill the fuel tank at Lap 72, Christopher Bell was able to drive through the field during the chaos of NASCAR Overtime to record a fourth-place finish. Bell scores a top five in a one-off for Halmar Friesen Racing, replacing an injured Stewart Friesen.

Tyler Ankrum, who in a similar situation to Christopher Bell had to come down pit road, rounded out the top-five in the No. 18 for McAnally-Hilgemann Racing.

Sammy Smith finished sixth, with defending NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series champion Ty Majeski in seventh. Connor Zilisch rebounded from a late-race spin and a lap down to finish in eighth-place, with Matt Mills in ninth and a wounded Layne Riggs rounding out the top-10.

Attrition was high on Friday at Watkins Glen, with several drivers running into issues in the second-half of the race, whether it be through mechanical issues or late-race incidents. Kyle Busch, who was looking to return to his winning ways in the Truck Series, had a mechanical issue and finished 36th, retiring after 13 laps.

Next for the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series is the regular-season finale at Richmond Raceway. Heim, having a 178-point advantage over Layne Riggs, has easily clinched the regular-season title, but the battle for the final spot in the playoffs is still up for grabs.

As of now, Stewart Friesen has not applied for a waiver to make the Playoffs. Therefore, Jake Garcia holds the final spot in the post-season by 11 points over Ben Rhodes, and 21 points over Gio Ruggiero.

The eero 250 at Richmond Raceway will take place on Friday, August 15 at 7:30pm ET on FS1, NASCAR Radio Network, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.

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