Heim Time Once Again: Corey Heim Holds off Kaden Honeycutt to Win Michigan Thriller

RPW EXCLUSIVE COLUMN BY: STEVEN BRIEN – RACE PRO WEEKLY – BROOKLYN, MI  – Corey Heim stormed from 23rd on the starting grid and held off a late charge from Kaden Honeycutt to win the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series DQS Solutions & Staffing 250 Saturday at Michigan International Speedway. 

Heim edged Honeycutt by less than a tenth of a second after a drafting battle over the final laps, earning his third victory in six starts, this his second in the No. 1 Toyota.

“I appreciate the help from the 11 and the 62 to kind of get us away from the pack,” Heim said after climbing from his No. 1 Toyota. “That was a lot of fun, I had a blast.”

After starting deep in the field, Heim steadily worked his way forward, finishing sixth in Stage 1 and second in Stage 2 before passing Carson Hocevar during the closing run.

Honeycutt finished second for the third time this season after narrowly missing out on his second career victory.

“We got stuff to clean up on our end for sure, ” Honeycutt said after climbing from his No. 11 Toyota on pit road. “I’ve just lost too many of them.”

Carson Hocevar finished third after leading a race-high 65 laps.

“I had to let him [Heim] go to get debris off the grill,” Hocevar said on pit road. “I was just overheating the whole time.”

Layne Riggs rallied from a flat tire in Stage 2 to finish fourth, while Chandler Smith completed the top five. 

Christopher Bell finished sixth after sweeping both stages and leading 37 laps. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. was seventh, followed by Connor Mosack, Jake Garcia and Tyler Ankrum.

Driving for Halmar Friesen Racing, Bell held off Hocevar in a spirited battle to win Stage 1, his first stage victory of the season.

Honeycutt was third, then Smith and Riggs would round out the top five. Heim was sixth, Christian Eckes seventh, Gio Ruggiero eighth, Garcia ninth, and Ross Chastain completed the top ten.

Bell completed the stage sweep by holding off Heim to win Stage 2, becoming the first Halmar Friesen Racing driver to sweep both stages in a Truck Series race since 2019. 

Hocevar finished third, Honeycutt fourth and Smith fifth. Eckes was sixth, followed by Chastain, Ruggiero, Grant Enfinger, and Ty Majeski rounded out the top ten after starting on the pole.

Several contenders encountered trouble early. Tanner Gray and Daniel Hemric both suffered flat tires and made contact with the wall within the opening seven laps.

The first caution flew on Lap 7 when Frankie Muniz and Kris Wright spun in Turn 4, collecting Spencer Davis.

On lap 68, Cleetus McFarland, who gave the command to start engines, would spin in turn two from 20th to bring out the caution. McFarland would go on to be the last truck on the lead lap and finish 25th.

The caution flag waved again on Lap 75 when defending race winner Stewart Friesen spun on the backstretch after attempting to block Mini Tyrrell.

On lap 88, after contact with Gray, Majeski crashed from 15th in turn two to bring out the sixth caution of the day, ending his run in 35th.

Six laps later, mechanical issues struck Cole Butcher. Something broke on Butcher’s Ford entering Turn 2, sending him into Spencer Boyd. Both trucks slammed the outside wall hard and failed to finish.

Late-race strategy also reshuffled the field as Eckes, Justin Haley and Corey LaJoie were forced to make unscheduled green-flag pit stops, ending their chances at a strong finish.

The closing laps set up a tense drafting battle between Heim and Honeycutt, with Heim using clean air and aggressive blocks to help to narrowly hold off Honeycutt at the finish line and secure his 26th career victory.

NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series Race – DQS Solutions & Staffing 250

Michigan International Speedway

Brooklyn, MI

Saturday June 6, 2026

1.  (23) Corey Heim, Toyota, 125.
2. (17) Kaden Honeycutt, Toyota, 125.
3. (6) Carson Hocevar (i), Chevrolet, 125.
4. (4) Layne Riggs, Ford, 125.
5. (3) Chandler Smith, Ford, 125.
6. (2) Christopher Bell (i), Toyota, 125.
7. (19) Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (i), Chevrolet, 125.
8. (5) Connor Mosack, Chevrolet, 125.
9. (9) Jake Garcia, Ford, 125.
10.  (13) Tyler Ankrum, Chevrolet, 125.
11.  (11) Grant Enfinger, Chevrolet, 125.
12.  (8) Gio Ruggiero, Toyota, 125.
13.  (24) Daniel Hemric, Chevrolet, 125.
14.  (21) Brenden Queen, RAM, 125.
15.  (26) Daniel Dye, Chevrolet, 125.
16.  (25) Parker Kligerman, RAM, 125.
17.  (15) Ross Chastain (i), Chevrolet, 125.
18.  (36) Tanner Gray, Toyota, 125.
19.  (18) Andres Perez de Lara, Chevrolet, 125.
20.  (30) Mini Tyrrell, RAM, 125.
21.  (35) Ben Rhodes, Ford, 125.
22.  (12) Stewart Friesen, Toyota, 125.
23.  (31) Frankie Muniz, Ford, 125.
24.  (10) Spencer Davis, Toyota, 125.
25.  (29) Cleetus McFarland (i), Chevrolet, 125.
26.  (33) Morgen Baird, Ford, 124.
27.  (34) Caleb Costner, Chevrolet, 123.
28.  (22) Justin Haley, RAM, 123.
29.  (14) Corey LaJoie, RAM, 123.
30.  (32) Josh Reaume, Ford, 122.
31.  (27) Kris Wright, Chevrolet, 121.
32.  (20) Christian Eckes, Chevrolet, 119.
33.  (7) Cole Butcher, Ford, Accident, 93.
34.  (28) Spencer Boyd, Chevrolet, Accident, 92.
35.  (1) Ty Majeski, Ford, Accident, 87.
36.  (16) Dawson Sutton, Chevrolet, Accident, 54.