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Corey Heim Pulls Off Last-Lap Pass On Fresher Tires To Win At Darlington Raceway

by racerx55 March 20, 2026 0 comments

Story by Matthew Thomerson

DARLINGTON, SC – Corey Heim pulled off a thrilling last-lap pass to win the Buckle Up South Carolina 200 at Darlington Raceway on Friday night. 

After several late-race incidents that forced two overtimes, Heim restarted in ninth on the final overtime on new tires and blew by the competition. Entering the final corners, Heim made a textbook pass, cutting under leader Ross Chastain and clearing him off Turn Four to sail to victory.

“I’m out of breath,” Heim said. “We had that set of scuffs laying – they were five laps fresher than everyone else, and I was like it is worth a shot. I don’t think we can win from where we are at, and sure enough, I just felt like I made all of the right moves. I made it three wide coming to the white and bombed it in there on Ross (Chastain). I was shocked he gave me the bottom with fresher tires like that. So thankful for TRICON Garage. So happy to be able to get this No. 5 Frontline Enterprises Tundra in victory lane. I didn’t even know I was racing this race until three weeks ago.”

Heim, who is making select starts for the TRICON Garage team in 2026, is no stranger to Victory Lane at Darlington as he has now won the last two NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series races at the track, Too Tough to Tame. On Friday, he led three times for 28 laps after starting third. The victory was the 24th of his career.

In second was Chastain, who returned to the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series to run at one of his favorite and best tracks. After leading at the beginning of both overtimes, Chastain wasn’t able to hold off the fresher tires of Heim. He finished just one spot short of getting his second truck win at Darlington. 

Christian Eckes made the most of a chaotic day to finish third. Eckes ran in the top-10 for most of the race but wasn’t always at the front. After avoiding calamity in the two overtimes, Eckes still earned a much needed stout finish as his return to the series has not gotten off on the best foot. It’s his second top-five of the season.

Kaden Honeycutt led the most laps on the day but finished fourth, and Connor Mosack finished fifth. Rounding out the top-10 was Christopher Bell, Grant Enfinger, Giovanni Ruggerio, Daniel Hemric and William Sawalich.

Eckes won Stage 1, and Honeycutt won Stage 2. 

There were 14 lead changes among eight leaders. 

The caution flag flew nine times for 47 laps.

One of the most notable cautions of the night came just two laps shy of the finish, when leader, Carson Hocevar crashed while leading the race. The accident sent the field to NASCAR Overtime. 

Next up for the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series is the Black’s Tire 200 at Rockingham Speedway on April 3. Live coverage will broadcast on FS1 at 4:30 p.m. ET.

Photo Credit: Hunter Thomas/TheFourthTurn.com