Corey Heim reacts to runner-up finish in Truck Series championship at Phoenix

Tonight ended in a runner-up finish in the race and the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series championship for Corey Heim. Ty Majeski was too good for Heim and his team to compete with tonight in Phoenix.

There really wasn’t much Corey Heim could do tonight. He did have his first penalty of the season on-track when he dove to the bottom of the track too soon on a restart. However, he went from P19 to P3 in the matter of two restarts.

With how dominant Majeski was, there wasn’t much that Heim could do. He had to hope for a mistake or an incident on track to take out the 98. Perhaps a late overtime restart where Heim could get physical with Majeski would have helped. But not much else.

“Yeah for sure, really disappointed to come up short like that. It’s hard to be upset, I did everything right except for that restart violation, but we were able to get our track position back pretty quick and make the most of it,” Heim said after the race on the NBC Sports broadcast.

“I just had nothing for the 98 all day he was so fast. You know, I’m just proud of myself for not driving through the fastest truck like I drove through last year with Hocevar, and we’re going to move forward with our heads up high. Six win season, career highs for myself, my team, organization, everybody. Just one spot short of the championship.”

Corey Heim came up short this season. He won six races in total, but wasn’t abe to win the final one when it mattered the most. His Tricon Garage team did not have the speed to compete with Majeski at all.

Corey Heim falls short at Phoenix

This season has been great for Corey Heim. He led the Truck Series in wins with six total. At many points in the season he looked to be the most talented and Cup Series ready in the entire field.

Despite that and his runner-up finish on the season, Heim is returning to the Truck Series in 2025. He will have another chance to win a title and then will likely be headed for the Xfinity or Cup Series for 2026.

There really wasn’t anything that Heim did wrong tonight. Even with his penalty, Heim was insanely fast and picked up his track position within a couple of dozen laps, if that. His speed was on another level from the rest of the field, but Majeski was another gear or two better than that even.

Ty Majeski was a dangerous driver to have in the Championship 4. The others should have done all they could do to keep him out. Now, Corey Heim, Christian Eckes, and Grant Enfinger just watched the 98 dominate and take the championship from them in convincing fashion.