Friday night at Phoenix Raceway delivered exactly what a championship race should. Drama, tension, and a finish that demanded perfection when it mattered most.

By the numbers, Corey Heim’s NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series Championship win looked dominant. He swept both stages, paced the field for 100 of 161 laps, and ultimately crossed the line less than a second ahead of Ty Majeski after a second overtime restart. But those statistics barely tell the story of how close the title came to slipping away.

When the caution flew on Lap 150, Heim suddenly found himself buried deep in the pack for the first overtime attempt. Restarting 10th on the inside lane, the championship favorite faced a moment that could have unraveled two seasons of near misses. Instead, fresh tires proved decisive.

Heim pointed the nose of his No. 11 TRICON Garage Toyota low, ran flat-out through Phoenix’s dogleg, and charged into Turn 1 as the field fanned out seven-wide. By the exit of Turn 2, he had carved his way to second, setting his sights on Majeski’s Ford.

Majeski’s team, led by crew chief Joe Shear Jr., had gambled on two tires in hopes of track position. Majeski later admitted it was the only realistic play to defend his championship. The move nearly worked.

But when the race went to a second overtime following a multi-truck crash in Turn 4, Heim had momentum on his side. On the final restart, he cleared Majeski quickly and drove away, finally capturing the championship that had eluded him the previous two years.

As Heim climbed from his truck, the emotion was unmistakable.

“I’m just so grateful to be where I’m at,” Heim said. “TRICON Garage, Toyota, Safelite, Mobil 1, Yahoo, Celsius, everyone who believed in me. This whole playoff stretch has been incredibly stressful. This is a huge relief.”

That pressure had followed Heim into Phoenix. Entering the finale, the 23-year-old from Marietta, Georgia, had already won 11 times in 24 starts. His victory Friday night made it 12 wins on the season, a new series record.

Heim also etched his name into the record book in other ways. When he took the lead on Lap 22, he completed the rare feat of leading at least one lap in every Truck Series race that season. He finished the year with 1,625 laps led, surpassing Mike Skinner’s long-standing mark from 1996.

“No matter what, nobody was going to beat me tonight,” Heim said. “We weren’t perfect in practice or qualifying, but I trust Scott Zipadelli completely. He put me in position, and I just drove it as hard as I could.”

Ironically, Heim’s path to the title reopened late. Connor Mosack’s crash into the Turn 4 wall with just over two laps remaining erased a narrow lead held by Layne Riggs, who was still in contention for the owners’ championship despite missing the Championship 4. Had the race stayed green, Riggs and Heim might have split the titles.

Instead, overtime reset everything.

Majeski came up just short in his attempt to repeat as champion.

“We were really close,” Majeski said. “At times, I felt like we were actually better than the 11. I just couldn’t get the restart I needed.”

Kaden Honeycutt rebounded from a first-lap restart penalty to finish third, while Riggs settled for fourth. Rajah Caruth rounded out the top five, followed by Jake Garcia, Corey LaJoie, Chandler Smith, Tyler Reif, and Jack Wood.

The night also marked the end of an era. Veteran Matt Crafton finished 13th in his final full-time NASCAR start, closing the book on a storied Truck Series career.

For Heim, however, it was the beginning of something bigger. After two seasons of heartbreak, the weight was finally gone, replaced by a championship earned the hardest way possible.