The Indianapolis Raceway Park was filled with sparks in a dramatic incident in the recent race. It is none other than the fierce NASCAR truck series table toppers. Another chapter added to the rivalry between Corey Heim and Christian Eckes as they had a contact on track.
NASCAR does not take kindly to deliberate contacts on the track, as we saw in the case of Bubba Wallace and Alex Bowman. Bubba was fined $50,000 for deliberately hitting Bowman’s car. Heim must be careful and learn from his ‘probably’ soon to be teammate in the Cup series.
Heim and Eckes lock horns
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Ty Majeski won the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race at Indianapolis Raceway Park. It was his second consecutive year that he won on this track. Points leader Christian Eckes finished behind Majeski after dominating both stage1 and stage 2. This is the third time this year that he’s done that. Grant Enfinger who had a great start to the race ended up in 3rd.
While Erches took P2 and his archrival had to settle for p17, not the finish he expected. The race wasn’t without displays of their rivalry. At the initial part of stage 2, Eckes pushed Heim from the outside. This caused contact between the two, damaging the left front of the #11 car. As evidenced, an angry Heim did not appreciate it; when Eckes came beside him on the track, he nudged the #19 driver. Let him know to be careful. To this, a confused Eckes asked on his radio: What did he do to invite such a reaction?
Post the race, Heim rushed to Eckes’s car to talk to him about the incident on the track. They had a little argument where Eckes defended his side of the story; he said, “I didn’t mean to do it, Corey. It’s not like I went straight to the wall Corey.” To this, Heim was quick to reply, “You pretty much did! I was nose into the wall, jammed the wheel after I hit you.”
Corey Heim has more wins than Eckes, but the latter is leading in points. Today’s race was crucial for Heim to bridge the points gap between them. The gap only widened after Eckes stellar performance in this race. Probably a cooled down Eckes was more sympathetic towards the Corey incident and apologized to him. In a post match interview he said, “I just misjudged it on my end. But it’s on me i apologize to the 11 guys. But yeah, I’d be mad too.”
“I’d probably be mad too.”- Christian Eckes@MambaSmith34 | #NASCAR https://t.co/8os8pkXOeh pic.twitter.com/dNhECL04FB
— FOX: NASCAR (@NASCARONFOX) July 20, 2024
Despite today’s upset, the youngster has a bright racing as he is in talks with the 23Ix team to drive in the cup series. With Stewart-Haas Racing ceasing operations at the end of the 2024 season, there have been plenty of talks about teams that could purchase their charters in the Cup Series. One team purchasing the charter is Denny Hamlin’s 23IX where Correy Heim could get a seat. After Corey Heim’s race win at Pocono, the 21-year-old was asked by our NASCAR journalist, Bharat Aggarwal, if his performance at CRC Brakleen 175 was a good audition for 23XI Racing. To which, with a wide smile, Corey Heim replied, “I would like to think so, I hope I get the ride.”
The distant future of Corey Heim’s Cup series career is still uncertain. However, in the present, the Eckes fans are pretty mad with Heim’s deliberate nudge.
Fans furious at Corey Heim
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Deliberate contact invites a penalty. Recently popularized by Bubba Wallace and Alex Homan in the NASCAR Cup series. On the same lines, a Heim fan wants NASCAR to penalize Heim for a deliberate contact; he said, “Let’s fine Heim $50k now.”
One fan compared his spark filled lap with that of Kyle Budsch at the 2017 Texas race. When asked how Busch could drive a damaged car to a top-five finish. He said, “KFB!.” NASACAR tried to uncover the mystery by saying it probably means, “Keselowski! F****** Brad”, the driver responsible for the damage. Remembering that incident, one fan said, “Corey channeling his inner young KFB.”
The contact invited fans to comment on the aggressive behavior and lack of respect for each other. One fan commented, “These guys in the Truck Series have no respect for anyone.”
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It is in talks that Corey Hiem can be 23IX number 3 driver teaming up with Bubba. A fan took a jibe at the recent penalty incident and said both would be a good fit together. He wrote, “Corey Heim will fit in perfectly at 23XI with Bubba.” On the similar lines one fan said that Corey’s deal will probably not go through because of this incident, he wrote, “If you want to know why Corey Heim will be with TRICON next year instead of moving up I present you that clip.”
A driver like Corey Heim will be thrilling to watch in the Cup series. What do you guys think? Let us know in the comments down below.