Truck Series: Heim triumphs in Daytona as Kligerman gets disqualified post-race

Written by Gabriel Tsui

Credit - TRICON Garage via X

The race kicked off with Ben Rhodes and Ty Majeski leading the field to green, and Rhodes was soon challenged for the lead by Chandler Smith and Kaden Honeycutt. However, disaster struck for Honeycutt, as he was spun around after getting loose coming off turn four.

The field restarted on lap 10 with Rhodes in the lead, but Grant Enfinger got in front before Toni Breidinger spun and brought out the caution. The race restarted with Enfinger and Rhodes side by side for the final lap of the stage, and Rhodes got a huge push from Johnny Sauter down the back straight, and eventually took the stage win.

Stage 1 Results:

1. No.99 - Ben Rhodes

2. No.66 - Johnny Sauter

3. No.9 - Grant Enfinger

4. No.38 - Chandler Smith

5. No.11 - Corey Heim

6. No.15 - Tanner Gray

7. No.98 - Ty Majeski

8. No.19 - Daniel Hemric

9. No.77 - Andres Perez De Lara

10. No.17 - Gio Ruggiero

On the restart, Daniel Hemric and Justin Haley led the field to green, but a third line formed up high, as Parker Kligerman and Enfinger led the top line to the lead. In a relatively calm stage two, Matt Crafton was able to overtake the leaders for the lead late into the stage, and Crafton fended off a challenge from the bottom line led by Smith and Stewart Friesen to take the stage two win.

Stage 2 Results:

1. No.88 - Matt Crafton

2. No.99 - Ben Rhodes

3. No.98 - Ty Majeski

4. No.38 - Chandler Smith

5. No.91 - Jack Wood

6. No.52 - Stewart Friesen

7. No.19 - Daniel Hemric

8. No.11 - Corey Heim

9. No.71 - Rajah Caruth

10. No.1 - William Sawalich

At the start of stage three, Corey Heim and Hemric led the way but a charging Chandler Smith took over the lead, after getting a huge push by fellow Front Row Motorsports driver Layne Riggs. However, Tyler Ankrum blew his engine running in the bottom, and subsequently retired from the race.

Fast forward to the other side of the caution, Smith and Hemric engaged in a battle for the lead, but Smith was able to stand his ground with the help of Kligerman and Haley behind. Smith led all the way up to the pit cycle, when Clay Greenfield spun out of turn four, bringing out yet another caution.

As most lead lap trucks pit for fuel during the caution, Gio Ruggiero, the rookie for TRICON Garage, took the lead in his Trucks debut. Ruggiero was able to get ahead of Rajah Caruth on the restart, but was soon overtaken by the FRM duo on the outside down the back straight.

Credit - James Gilbert / Getty Images

Entering the final twenty laps, Jack Wood got loose down the back straight and took out multiple trucks on the outside line. The race restarted with ten laps to go, and the Toyota trio of Tanner Gray, Riggiero and William Sawalich got a huge run right off the bat, as Ruggiero came out in front in the final laps.

However, Ruggiero mistimed a block with three laps to go and fell back significantly, as Rhodes was back in the lead. Following the white flag to indicate the final lap, Kligerman makes a move to the outside and cleared the bottom line rounding turn two. As the leaders came around turns three and four, multiple drivers spun out and the caution flag was waved, as Kligerman was declared the winner.

But there’s a twist in everything, as post-race inspection found the height of Kligerman’s truck too low, and he was disqualified and Heim inherited the win, as he finally secures his first Trucks win in Daytona, with Ruggiero in second and Majeski rounding out the top-three.

Official Results:

1. No.11 - Corey Heim (TRICON Garage)

2. No.17 - Gio Ruggiero (TRICON Garage)

3. No.98 - Ty Majeski (ThorSport Racing)

4. No.9 - Grant Enfinger (CR7 Motorsports)

5. No.7 - Justin Haley (Spire Motorsports)

6. No.38 - Chandler Smith (Front Row Motorsports)

7. No.19 - Daniel Hemric (McAnally-Hilgemann Racing)

8. No.22 - Jason White (Reaume Brothers Racing)

9. No.1 - William Sawalich (TRICON Garage)

10. No.33 - Frankie Muniz (Reaume Brothers Racing)

11. No.56 - Timmy Hill (Hill Motorsports)

12. No.13 - Jake Garcia (ThorSport Racing)

13. No.34 - Layne Riggs (Front Row Motorsports)

14. No.77 - Andres Perez De Lara (Spire Motorsports)

15. No.4 - Mason Maggio (Hettinger Racing)

16. No.6 - Norm Benning (Norm Benning Racing)

17. No.66 - Johnny Sauter (ThorSport Racing)

18. No.2 - Josh Reaume (Reaume Brothers Racing)

19. No.76 - Spencer Boyd (Freedom Racing Enterprises)

20. No.99 - Ben Rhodes (ThorSport Racing)

21. No.44 - Bayley Currey (Niece Motorsports)

22. No.15 - Tanner Gray (TRICON Garage)

23. No.52 - Stewart Friesen (Halmar Friesen Racing) +1 lap

24. No.91 - Jack Wood (McAnally-Hilgemann Racing) +1 lap

25. No.26 - Dawson Sutton (Rackley WAR) +2 laps

26. No.07 - Michael McDowell (Spire Motorsports) +2 laps

27. No.88 - Matt Crafton (ThorSport Racing) +2 laps

28. No.5 - Toni Breidinger (TRICON Garage) +4 laps

29. No.42 - Matt Mills (Niece Motorsports) +5 laps

30. No.71 - Rajah Caruth (Spire Motorsports) [DNF]

31. No.02 - Nathan Byrd (Young's Motorsports) [DNF]

32. No.81 - Connor Mosack (McAnally-Hilgemann Racing) [DNF]

33. No.95 - Clay Greenfield (GK Racing) [DNF]

34. No.18 - Tyler Ankrum (McAnally-Hilgemann Racing) [DNF]

35. No.45 - Kaden Honeycutt (Niece Motorsports) [DNF]

36. No.75 - Parker Kligerman (Henderson Motorsports) [DSQ]