Corey Heim was on his way to a dominant finish at Charlotte Motor Speedway when all hell broke loose. With 12 laps to go, Heim and the other front-runners pitted to counter Christian Eckes on his older tires. This is when the commentators observed both the #11 of Heim and the #45 of Kaden Honeycutt suffer major issues in the pit lane.

Although Heim managed to recover to second, he wasn’t able to make it past eventual race-winner Nick Sanchez. Still, Lady Luck had more heartache in store for Corey Heim post-race.

Corey Heim’s stellar recovery at Charlotte ends in misery

When Corey Heim’s #11 Tricon Garage Toyota Tundra fell off the jacks and stranded itself on pit road, fans of the 21-year-old were met with a harrowing sight. For the driver who had led 72 laps of the North Carolina Education Lottery, the win now seemed far out of reach. The added time in the pits had canceled out the benefits Heim stood to gain in the first place.

Post-race, Heim highlighted how difficult fighting for the lead with Sanchez was. While the Tricon driver gave Sanchez props for his skillful blocking, the #11 driver couldn’t help but feel that the win had gotten away from him. He shared, “I mean, it is a lot easier when the tires are pumped at the end, everyone is kind of going full throttle, but I feel like it got away from us for sure. I feel like if we had clean air we would have been long gone.”

Despite showing great confidence in the Tricon Tundra, the #11 driver could not shake off the feeling of regret with a second-place finish. So when Corey Heim was handed a disqualification post-race for not having three lug nuts on a tire secured properly, one can only imagine what was going through the rookie driver’s mind. Taking to X, Bob Pockrass revealed, “Heim (second) truck has been DQ’d. Had three lug nuts not safe and secure after that last pit stop (found post-race).” The veteran insider also highlighted the specific rule:

With that disqualification, Corey Heim’s P2 finish transitioned to a 36th-place result. Although Heim will lose out on the podium finish, his wins in Stages 1 and 2 could help compensate for that with 20 points. Still, it’s worth mentioning that this isn’t a race suspension. This leaves Corey Heim with an opportunity at Gateway Motorsports Park next week to redeem himself.

That being said, the NASCAR community pulled no punches against the #11 Tricon Garage pit crew, who were largely responsible for Heim’s misery.

NASCAR fans sympathize with Heim’s fate as they highlight Tricon Garage’s shortcomings

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Corey Heim has been unstoppable this season. With 3 wins, 9 top-tens, and 7 top-fives, the Marietta native is eager to bring the Truck Series championship home. But that being said, Heim fell 30 points behind the new series leader, Christian Eckes. Rather, unfortunately, Heim’s dominant form succumbed to the #11 Tricon Garage crew’s errors.

For many fans, this came as an unexpected end to an otherwise stellar run.  One user made the age-old joke, “Can confirm it is not Heim Time” But for others, NASCAR’s decision to disqualify Heim didn’t sit too well. Even with Pockrass highlighting that specific regulation, users felt that officials could have been easier on the #11 driver. 

A concerned Tricon fan inquired, “3 is a DQ? Not just steps in fines for each one?” whilst another shared, “They really have this as a dq still? Seems harsh” After Kyle Busch was recently let go for intentionally wrecking Ricky Stenhouse Jr, did Corey Heim deserve such treatment owing to a genuine pit crew error? For fans, the biggest source of Heim’s misery was his own pit crew.

Reflecting on pit stops filled with blunders, a vexed fan asked; “They found that POST RACE?!” when another chimed in; “They had the chance to put them back in and didn’t and idk why he even has up while still up on the jack”

During the race, Corey Heim had inquired with his spotter and crew chief about the last-minute debacle but was reassured all was dandy. Unfortunately, it wasn’t, prompting fans to spill over their frustrations on X. One fan highlighted, “He asked them on the radio too lol” whereas another threw accusations; “crew chief straight lied on the radio”

After taking a look at how quickly the night changed for Corey Heim and the #11 Tricon Garage crew, do you think the team can expect a comeback next weekend?