NCTS Race Recap: Rackley Roofing 200

Nashville Superspeedway hosted the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series this past weekend for the Rackley Roofing 200. Qualifying was rained out, lending the pole to last week’s winner, Corey Heim. Kaden Honeycutt also started on the front row. Layne Riggs and Grant Enfinger started in the second row. Rajah Caruth started the race in tenth. The stage lengths were 45 laps for stage one, 50 laps for stage two, and 55 laps for the final stage.

Battle for the Lead

Heim got a great launch at the initial start of the race. He secured the lead before turn one. Riggs got loose and slipped up the track in the first turn. Jake Garcia did the same thing in turn three. Caution was thrown on lap two due to oil on the track in turn one. Frankie Muniz had an oil line come loose, which dumped the oil.

Corey Day joined Heim on the front row for the restart. Caruth pushed Day out in front of Heim, but Heim did not give up. Caruth used the bottom line on the back stretch to take Day and Heim three wide and pass Heim while Day took the lead going into turn three. Riggs used a run off of turn four to get back into the top three. Heim drove deeper into turns one and two to drive past Day to take the lead back. Caruth fell to fourth.

Kyle Busch was issued a restart violation.

Riggs v Heim

Riggs muscled past Day to get to second and looked to challenge Heim. Caruth got past Day to get back on the podium. Riggs caught Heim and made quick work of him to take the lead. He stretched his lead to just at a second and held it there. Riggs caught Busch after he served his penalty. He could not make the pass, which allowed Heim to close the gap. Heim pulled up right behind the leader, but that was about it.

Riggs held Heim off on the final lap of the stage and won his third career stage! Heim, Caruth, Hemric, and Honeycutt finish the stage in the top five. Caruth exited the pits out front, Heim held serve, and Riggs dropped two spots on pit road.

Heim Time

Caruth led the field back to green with Heim beside him. Caruth was shot out of a cannon and took the lead into turn one. Heim was able to catch and pass Caruth for the lead, but as that happened, the caution came out. Jack Wood was three wide, on the inside, with Matt Mills and Ty Majeski. Wood got turned around on the bottom of the track. Akinori Ogata got turned around as he checked up to avoid Wood.

Caruth and Heim brought the field back to green. Heim got the better launch with Riggs pushing him. Heim was able to reclaim his lead out of turn two, and Caruth settled in behind him. He pulled away as he built his lead to just under a second. Caruth would not let Heim pull away by more than that. Riggs was the fastest truck on track as he closed the gap to second.

Riggs pulled up beside Caruth, side drafted, and then drove past him to take second. Caruth punched right back but got tight in turns one and two. This jockeying for position let Heim slip away by over a second. From there, Heim got clean air in front of him and continued to grow that lead.

Heim would go on to get the stage two win by over two seconds. Riggs and Caruth finished on the podium, with Day and Honeycutt rounding out the top five.

Riggs would have another slow stop that dropped him six spots.

Impressive from the Youngster

Caruth and Heim led the field back to green. Caruth got the better launch and took the lead into turn one. Honeycutt showed a lot of speed on the outside after making up several spots. Caruth was able to build a gap of almost half a second, but Heim would not let him get away.

Riggs got past Honeycutt, and they both caught the tailgate of Day, who sat in fourth. Riggs used a big run off of turn two to get beside and past Day for the position. He did not stop there. He immediately jumped Hemric to move into the top three. Riggs was the fastest truck on track early in the final run.

Caruth was able to get the gap to just at a second. He caught a lapped truck and was able to make quick work of Ogata. Riggs maintained the fastest truck on the track. He stalled at just under two and a half seconds back from the leader for about five laps. He then picked it back up, gaining on Caruth.

The Gap was Shrinking

Heim could not get closer than half a second back from Caruth. Even through lapped traffic, Caruth seemed to be able to get by relatively unscathed. He got tight in turn four, allowing Heim to cut a tenth out of the lead. Caruth was able to get back on track and get that tenth back. Riggs caught the rear of Heim and remained the fastest truck. Only a second separated the top three.

Caruth seemed to catch a lapped truck, lose a tenth of a second, then get past the lapper truck and get his time back.

With six to go, Heim made a huge lunge for the lead. It did not pay out, which allowed Riggs to close the gap on Heim.

With five to go, four-tenths of a second was the gap from first to third. Riggs got beside Heim to challenge for second. He could not complete the pass. Only clean air in front of Caruth, he began weaving to cut the draft from his competition. Riggs got beside Heim again but was once again denied the position.

Caruth would hold off the quicker Heim and Riggs to win the Rackley Roofing 200! Heim and Riggs would join him on the podium.

Marvin’s Moment:

Rajah Caruth has had speed off and on, but he did not have the fastest truck and will leave Nashville with a new guitar. He earned that win after fighting off the fastest two drivers all season in Corey Heim and Layne Riggs. They made him earn it, and boy, did he. Rajah is a popular driver, and it was evident when he climbed out of his truck as the crowd erupted. What a great drive by Rajah Caruth!