Setting the Stage
With qualifying rained out in North Wilkesboro Speedway, Christian Eckes started on the pole for the Wright Brand 250. Nick Sanchez joined him on the front row with Ross Chastain, Ty Majeski, and Taylor Gray in the top five. Former Champion in the series, Ben Rhodes started the race in sixth.
The track is just over half a mile long and located in North Wilkesboro, North Carolina. The stage lengths were 70 laps for the first two stages and 110 laps for the final stage. Wet weather was in the air as qualifying was rained out and made a slight appearance before the race began.
Possible Rain
Eckes grabbed the lead upon the start of the race while Chastain snatched second after going three wide. Sammy Smith was tagged with a start violation. Matt Crafton was squeezed onto the apron of the track and lost the position to Dean Thompson.
Up front, Eckes opened up a two second lead early. Ty Dillon made moves early getting up to forth quickly. However, it did not take long for the field to be spread across the entire track.
Despite starting 12th, Corey Heim was one of the fastest trucks on the track and he diced his way to fourth. Majeski fell off early in the race as he slipped to eighth. As Eckes caught some lapped traffic, Chastain was able to make up some ground.
Making his truck series debut, Brendan “Butterbean” Queen was fast as he started in 26th and quickly passed his way to 17th. Then, Rhodes made contact with Bret Holmes. As he went three wide with his teammate, Rhodes was squeezed into Holmes and got severe damage on his right front head light. Then, the caution came out for rain on the track with twelve to go in the stage with Queen as the biggest mover.
Heim was the first driver off of pit road but some drivers did not pit. Two of those were Rhodes and Majeski, so they restarted on the front row. With that, Majeski jumped out to the lead in front of Rhodes. Majeski won the first stage with Rhodes in second. Rajah Caruth finished the stage in third.
Then, the red flag came out before the start of the second stage.
Rain, Rain, Go Away
A lightning hold was put on the track. This turned into a rain delay as a storm cell moved into the area. During the rain delay, Heim praised the quality of the repave done on North Wilkesboro Speedway. Ultimately, the race was called for the day because of rain, flooding and hail!
21 hours later…
Battles Everywhere
Caruth had a big jump on the restart of the race. The next three trucks – Heim, Majeski, and Tyler Ankrum – battled behind him. Suddenly, Caruth spun around as Majeski passed him on the outside. The restart came on lap 99. With Majeski in the lead, Heim went underneath him trying to make the pass. Queen made his way from deep in the field into the top ten.
Layne Riggs battled Daniel Dye for ninth but could not make the pass. The caution came out as Lawless Alan spun around. With seventeen to go in the stage, Ankrum and Jack Wood restarted on the front row with Ankrum speeding to the lead.
Jake Garcia caught the leader and Nick Sanchez got the black flag for a restart violation. Battles all over the track brought Thompson and Stefan Parsons together fighting for the same space on the track. Heim and Dye continued to go back and forth for eighth position. The caution came out to end the stage when Bret Holmes spun out. Ankrum got the stage win with Garcia in second and Stewart Friesen in third.
Cautions Breed Cautions
Once again, Ankrum and Garcia restarted on the front row. Garcia snatched the lead on the restart. Riggs got into second. Friesen, who restarted in forth, got out of the groove and lost some spots.
Grant Enfinger was fast to start the third stage as he moved into seventh. Rhodes, with bad damage on his right front, battled Heim for position as Heim completed the pass. Eckes passed Friesen for seventh. Queen, once again, made the most passes since the restart, picking up eight spots. Unfortunately, he had a speeding penalty on the last caution pit stop. He completed the pass after contact with Wood.
Heim caught Ankrum but could not make the pass easily. Queen completed the pass on Friesen into the top ten. After much work, Heim passed Ankrum with a little nudge into the corner and Riggs made up some ground on the leader. Heim passed Riggs for the second spot with his eyes on Garcia.
Connor Jones brought out the sixth caution for the race. He got loose and backed his truck into the wall. There were 65 laps to go when they restarted and Jones was called to the official’s hauler after the race.
Heim Time
Heim passed Garcia on the restart. There was a three-wide battle for the fourth spot which had Rhodes battling Ankrum and Eckes. Eckes moved into the fourth spot. Queen passed Ankrum for the fifth position. Heim built his lead over Garcia to over two seconds. The seventh caution came out for Thompson getting turned around by Sanchez.
Heim restarted the race and pulled out to a huge lead. He watched the battles behind him and that allowed him to speed off. Queen kept swinging and missing at Eckes. He tried to complete the pass which allowed Smith to catch up and get side by side. Wood passed the injured truck of Rhodes.
Finally, Queen completed the pass on Eckes and got side by side with Garcia. He quickly passed Garcia and into fourth. Enfinger caught Riggs with Queen right behind him. They battled for second making it three wide. Enfinger passed Riggs but Queen was hounding him still.
In the end, Heim dominated the final stage and won the race at North Wilkesboro! Enfinger finished second with Riggs in third and Queen in fourth.
Marvin’s Minute
Heim seems to dominate every time he drives in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series. He was able to drive any line of the newly repaved North Wilkesboro. With some experience in the NASCAR Cup Series series and a ton of success in the trucks, he continues to show that he belongs in great equipment.
