Corey Heim passed Christian Eckes with six laps to go at Bristol Motor Speedway. He led the way to the checkered flag, won his third race of the season and punched his ticket to the championship race at Phoenix.
Eckes had the dominant truck. He started from the pole, swept the first two stages and led a career-high 150 laps. He was in complete control of the race until he ran into lapped traffic with under 10 laps remaining. He crossed the finish line second in what was his ninth top-five finish of the season.
MORE: Truck race results
MORE: Re-seeded Truck driver points
Heim, who is in his first full-time season, now has five career wins. He won at Atlanta and Gateway during a part-time campaign last season. He won at Martinsville, Mid-Ohio and Bristol this season. Now he will race for a championship at Phoenix, where he has one start and one top-10 finish.
There were three cautions totaling 24 laps in the 200-lap race. This meant 12% of the race was run under caution.
Stage 1 winner: Christian Eckes
Stage 2 winner: Christian Eckes
Who had a good race: Eckes started from the pole, swept the first two stages and finished second. He lost to Heim but left Bristol 29 points above the cutline. … Taylor Gray finished fifth and scored his second consecutive top-five finish. … Grant Enfinger finished third after scoring seven stage points. He is 14 points above the cutline. … Carson Hocevar finished fourth after scoring 13 stage points. He is 18 points above the cutline.
Who had a bad race: Zane Smith started stage 2 in the lead after staying out on the track while others pitted. He led 42 laps but received a penalty during the stage break for pitting outside his box. He finished 24th and 14 points below the cutline. … Ty Majeski blew a tire after contact with Heim on Lap 105. He made multiple pit stops during the final stage to repair his truck, received a penalty for stopping when pit road was close and finished 19th. He is 22 points below the cutline.
Next: The Round of 8 continues with a trip to Talladega Superspeedway on Saturday, Sept. 30 (1 p.m. ET on FS1).
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