NCTS Race Recap: Mission 176 at the Glen

The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series continued its season with the Mission 176 at The Glen. With that, Corey Heim continued his speed this season to start the race from the pole. With Stewart Friesen injured from a dirt racing incident, Christopher Bell raced in his place and was able to join Heim on the front row for the start. Sammy Smith and Andres Perez De Lara started the race on the second row. Giovanni Ruggiero rounded out the top five at the start. The stage lengths were 20 laps for the first two stages, with the final stage being 32 laps.

Heim in Front

Heim got a great launch at the start of the race. Bell slid in right behind him as they dove into turn one. They drove through turn one three wide in some spots. Heim pulled away by over a second.

Rajah Caruth did not even take the green flag. He went into the pits immediately and was told to take his truck to the garage with a possible broken rear axle.

Heim continued his drive away from the field. With 10 to go in the stage, he had built his lead to over two seconds. Bell was the second fastest truck on the field. He was over five seconds ahead of Perez in third.

The first caution came out when William Lambros stopped his truck in the bus stop. After complaining that his truck would not start, NASCAR had to push-start his truck to get him going again.

Most of the field used this opportunity to pit for tires and fuel. Heim was the first truck out of the pits. Layne Riggs and Ross Chastain followed him out.

During the caution, Kyle Busch retired his truck with a broken steering box.

Five to Go

Gio Ruggiero and Ben Rhodes, who did not pit, restarted on the front row. Rhodes got the better launch and took the lead into turn one. Heim quickly passed Ruggiero to take second. Ruggiero fell to fifth after struggling to get it going.

Heim was able to get by Rhodes for the lead out of the carousel. Ross Chastain got by Rhodes to take second. Rhodes then fell to fourth after getting passed by Bell.

Connor Zilisch got by Ruggiero and Rhodes to claim fourth.

Heim jumped out to a lead of over two seconds. He was easily the quickest truck on the track. He took the field to the green-white-checkered to win stage one! Chastain finished the stage in second with Bell, Zilisch, and Rhodes rounding out the top five.

Stage 2

Heim and Chastain brought the field back to green. Heim got the better launch and had the lead going into turn one. Chastain used a huge run on the outside to take the lead outright out of the turn. Heim used the crossover to get beside Chastain on the front stretch. Heim drove by him to take the lead through the esses.

Bell took several swings at the top two but did not have enough to do it. He watched the battle between the top two.

Kaden Honeycutt had to retire his truck after having engine issues. It was later reported that he had a broken power steering pump.

On lap 32, William Lambros spun out in turn two. He was able to get it turned back around and keep going. Also, Chandler Smith had to retire his truck after having a broken fender brace.

Jack Wood brought out the third caution of the day when he cut a left front tire in the esses and drove straight into the wall.

Zilisch was the first truck off of pit road. Heim, Riggs, Sawalich, and Enfinger all followed him off. Chastain had issues with his fuel pump, which his team replaced under yellow.

Shootout to End the Stage

Daniel Hemric and Sammy Smith brought the green flag back out. Hemric got a great restart. Smith took the lead through turn one. Ben Rhodes got an even better restart and took second from Hemric out of the turn.

In turn one, Riggs got turned around by Frankie Muniz. Muniz was able to save it because of Riggs. Timmy Hill and Grant Enfinger joined Riggs in spinning out.

Sammy Smith had the lead through the esses, but Rhodes powered by him for the lead out of the bus stop.

Jake Garcia dove underneath Zilisch in turn 6, and they both spun out into the runoff. Zilisch got pushed into and stuck in the sand trap. Garcia was able to keep going.

Rhodes would take the green white checkered flag to win the stage with Smith and Sawalich behind him.

William Sawalich was the first truck out of the pits. Tanner Gray and Connor Mosack followed him out.

Stage 3

Tyler Ankrum joined Bell on the front row for the restart. Bell got a huge jump at the restart. He took the lead out of turn one. Perez drove right by Ankrum to take second. Heim, after having a slow pit stop, passed his way back into the top ten.

Parker Kligerman limped his truck back to the pits after getting a flat left rear tire on the back stretch.

Bell, after building his lead to almost a second, was told to save gas. Perez showed his speed as he was the fastest truck on the track. Heim, who was in seventh, was the second fastest truck.

Twenty to Go

Chastain had issues in the bus stop and slowed his truck down. However, he was able to keep it going, and the race stayed green.

Matt Crafton spun in turn seven from the 11th position. He had some help turning around from Daniel Hemric.

Heim missed the bus stop and had to bring his truck to a complete stop to avoid a penalty.

Meanwhile, Bell took his lead to over three and a half seconds.

On lap 60, the fifth caution came out when Toni Breidinger had an engine failure. Her truck caught fire, and as she brought her truck to the pits, the flames and her day were extinguished.

Bell and Perez brought the field back to green with nine laps to go in the race. Bell got a huge restart and took his lead back. Heim restarted the race in seventh, and immediately rejoined the top five. He got by Ankrum on the front stretch to take the fourth position.

Tanner Gray and Ty Majeski made contact. Gray got turned around and made a huge impact with the outside wall. The sixth caution came out after the incident. Gray, with heavy damage, was able to take his truck back to the garage.

Five to Go

Bell and Perez brought the field back to the green flag. Heim restarted in fourth. Bell, again, quickly took the lead. Sawalich stuck his nose inside Perez, driving into the bus stop chicane. The drivers made contact, and both were sent into the bus stop runoff. This allowed Heim to take second, as they both fell outside the top five.

Driving into turn seven, the left rear tire on Ben Rhodes’ truck came off. That sent him into the outside wall, bringing out the seventh caution of the day. He immediately dropped his window net.

Overtime and Beyond

Heim and Bell restarted on the front row. They got equal jumps. Heim took the lead out of turn one. Bell had some damage from Heim, and his left front began to smoke.

When Perez got turned around as he exited the bus stop chicane, the eighth caution came out. At the same time, Dawson Sutton made a hard impact with the outside wall.

Bell had to pit for fuel and to fix the tire rub.

Hemric and Heim brought the field back to green. Heim got a great restart and took the lead into turn one. Ruggiero passed his way to third after going three wide in turn one. Ty Majeski turned Mosack around in the bus stop. Jake Garcia and Grant Enfinger were also involved in the incident.

Again, Hemric and Heim brought the field back to green. While Heim launched out to the lead, Hemric attempted to pass into turn one. They drove into the esses side by side. Hemric ended up giving up the spot. Heim was able to take the white flag.

Hemric did not give up, though. He got a great run on the back stretch, closed the gap, and came out of the carousel to drive to the tailgate of Heim. Ultimately, Heim was able to hang on and take the checkered flag in the Mission 176 at The Glen! Hemric finished the race in second. Ruggiero, Bell, and Ankrum rounded out the top five.

Marvin’s Minute:

It was Heim time on the road course. Corey Heim can do it all. He held off Hemric and dealt with the many overtimes as he continued to show his talent. I do not believe he will be in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series much longer. He deserves to move to the next series; however, we must wait and see if he will advance to the Xfinity Series or Cup. Just one race remains in the regular season before the Playoffs. We’ll see the Trucks next week in Richmond.