We got off to a bit of an inauspicious start on Friday with a massive rainstorm blowing across North Texas. Qualifying and practice for both the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series and the NASCAR Xfinity Series. However, the weather did clear up just in time for the SpeedyCash.com 250.
It didn’t take long for things to get wild in Texas. Let’s break down what happened in NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series action.
SpeedyCash.com 250 Stage One
Stage one saw Tyler Ankrum control the opening laps. The #18 benefited in a major way from the clean air out front, though Layne Riggs in the #34 pressed Ankrum for the lead before the competition caution on lap 20. Once the green flag flew after the competition caution, it didn’t take too long for Riggs to work his way by Ankrum.
The racing action didn’t last long as we got our first caution for incident of the night when Gio Ruggiero dipped into the grass in the quad oval heading into turn one. The heavy rains early in the day meant the extremely soggy grass ripped the front end off the #17 and sent him airborne. Once the #17 landed, there was nothing he could do, and the incident collected Brandon Jones and Kaden Honeycutt.
It was at this point that Gio Ruggiero likely understood that this wasn't going to end well. #NASCAR pic.twitter.com/kiV2qaUKyc
— Toby Christie (@Toby_Christie) May 3, 2025
After some differing strategies coming out of the caution, Grant Enfinger and Matt Crafton restarted on the front row. It was Enfinger who pulled ahead to claim the first stage, marking his first stage win of the season.
SpeedyCash.com 250 Stage Two
Stage two saw Grant Enfinger retain the lead after electing not to pit between stages. Corey Heim wasted no time in taking the lead, however. Heim gained the lead just as we got our first caution of stage two with Layne Riggs spinning off of turn two. The ensuing restart saw an immediate follow-up caution in turn one, with Andres Perez spinning after the waving of the green flag.
A look at how the No. 34's night in Texas ended. pic.twitter.com/k3dXrIVrvF
— NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Trucks (@NASCAR_Trucks) May 3, 2025
The theory of cautions leading to more cautions proved true as Layne Riggs had his second incident of Stage Two. Unfortunately for the #34, he ended up in the grass, ripping off the front end of his truck.
Grant Enfinger briefly regained the lead on the restart, but Corey Heim’s truck showed its strength as Heim was able to get back by Enfinger a few laps later and claim the stage win.
Final Stage
Strategy came into play once more with Ty Majeski inheriting the lead to kick off the final stage. However, that strategy didn’t mean much in the face of Corey Heim having an incredibly fast #11 truck. Heim made quick work of Majeski and reclaimed the lead with 72 laps remaining in the race.
We ran green for the majority of the final stage, and Heim’s dominance was incredible. We made it through green flag pit stops without major issue as Heim’s lead only grew, exaggerated by the second-place truck of Carson Hocevar having battery issues. Heim’s lead was out to 15 seconds before Frankie Muniz hit the wall in turn one to bring out the caution with 20 laps to go.
Heim retained the lead after coming down pit road, but we weren’t done with the cautions just yet. Behind Heim, Stewart Friesen and Grant Enfinger were racing for second. Friesen got loose on the bottom and overcorrected, collecting both Enfinger and Chandler Smith. The incident led to a red flag with 11 laps to go.
Trouble at the front of the field! pic.twitter.com/HHMT0vbnuM
— NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Trucks (@NASCAR_Trucks) May 3, 2025
We eventually returned to green with six laps to go. It didn’t take long for another incident to occur as Jake Garcia and Connor Mosack brought out a caution to force a green-white-checkered.
Overtime
The first attempt at a green-white-checkered ended in a hurry after Matt Mills found the infield grass heading into turn one. There was a bit of controversy with scoring loops but Corey Heim retained the lead for GWC attempt number two.
He had to fight for it at the end. Corey Heim WINS at Texas! #NASCARonFS1 pic.twitter.com/qN1DZzKACB
— FOX: NASCAR (@NASCARONFOX) May 3, 2025
In spite of a great restart by Ben Rhodes on the outside and a hard-charging Daniel Hemric, Corey Heim held off the pack to win the SpeedyCash.Com 250. The win came at a time when the #11 team desperately needed to find some magic after struggling to close out races.
Stay tuned as Apollo will be back out at Texas Motor Speedway tomorrow for Cup Series qualifying and the Xfinity Series race!
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