When the caution flag flew on the final lap of Friday night’s Fresh from Florida 250 at Daytona International Speedway, Corey Heim thought he had finished second in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series season opener.
Roughly an hour later, Heim was declared the winner of the superspeedway race after the No. 75 Chevrolet of apparent winner Parker Kligerman was disqualified when its ride height was measured as too low.
Surging into the lead in the closing laps of Friday night’s Fresh from Florida 250 at Daytona International Speedway, Kligerman held the top spot on the final circuit when a multicar wreck in Turn 4 forced NASCAR to call the eighth caution of the evening.
But Kligerman’s victory celebration was short-lived when his truck failed inspection. The disqualification gave Heim his first victory at Daytona and the 12th of his career.
“Nothing short of crazy there the last 20 laps,” Heim said. “Honestly, pretty impressed with everyone that we kept it straight for as long as we did. They piled it up a little bit on the last lap. Compared to last year, it was such a big upgrade as far as the quality of racing.
“Definitely was out of control there at the end, being three-wide middle on old tires, being free.”
Heim was thankful for the victory but expressed sympathy for Kligerman’s misfortune.
“Well, it’s my first time having this kind of scenario happening either way, so certainly glad to be on the right side of it,” Heim said. “It sucks for Parker and those guys.
“It seemed like they put themselves in a position at the right time to win the race, but obviously, there is another level to it after the race. Grateful to be in the spot to take advantage of that.”
Kligerman’s disqualification promoted Sunoco Rookie of the Year contender Giovanni Ruggiero to a runner-up finish in his Truck Series debut.
“This is my first time on a superspeedway in anything, so it was a lot of stuff for me to take in tonight, said Ruggiero, who led 11 of the 100 laps. “Drafting in the pack, side-drafting and leading the pack as well, so I definitely learned a lot for Atlanta.”
