Following Layne Riggs’ dominant showing at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park to pick up his second win in the last three races, the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series was at Watkins Glen International on Friday for the running of the Mission 176 at The Glen, which saw Corey Heim withstand three overtime attempts and hold off Daniel Hemric to pick up his sixth win of the season.
How the Mission 176 at The Glen unfolded at Watkins Glen
Heim led the field to green for the 72-lap race at the 2.45-mile road course in only the third Truck Series race at Watkins Glen since 2000. Rajah Caruth’s day got off to a rough start with a rear axle issue coming to the green flag. During the first caution of the day for the stalled truck of William Lambros in the bus stop on Lap 12, Kyle Busch, making his final Truck Series start of the season, went behind the wall with a broken steering box.
Heim picked up his 15th stage win of the season, claiming the opening stage over Ross Chastain. A spirited battle between the two began the second stage with both making contact going into the esses prior to Heim taking the lead. Kaden Honeycutt, who was driving the Young’s Motorsports No. 02 truck after he parted ways with Niece Motorsports earlier in the week, dealt with a broken transmission while Chandler Smith was forced to pit road with a broken fender brace after receiving damage.
The second caution for incident flew on Lap 36 when Jack Wood made heavy contact with the Turn 2 wall and came to a rest going through the esses after sustaining additional damage.
The yellow flag is out late in Stage 2 after the No. 91 makes contact with the wall in Turn 2.
— NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Trucks August 8, 2025
A wild one-lap dash to the stage 2 conclusion ensued as Riggs, Grant Enfinger and Timmy Hill went for a spin into Turn 1. Ben Rhodes cleared Sammy Smith going into the bus stop and picked up the stage 2 win as Connor Zilisch spun into the Turn 6 sand trap after contact from Jake Garcia.
Christopher Bell, who was subbing for the injured Stewart Friesen after his fiery dirt modified crash, remained on track to inherit the lead after left front issues on his prior stop lost him multiple positions. Bell was still out front when Toni Breidinger suffered a mechanical failure and briefly caught fire in Turn 7 with 13 laps to go. One lap after the ensuing restart, Tanner Gray made significant contact with the backstretch wall after he and Ty Majeski got together with eight laps remaining.
Another late yellow flag in the final laps as Tanner Gray makes contact with Ty Majeski.
— NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Trucks August 8, 2025
The race went into overtime following a spin from Rhodes off Turn 6 after his left rear wheel came off coming to three laps to go.
A loose wheel sends the No. 99 of Ben Rhodes spinning into the wall.
— NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Trucks August 8, 2025
Two more cautions in the bus top set the stage for a triple-overtime finish at Watkins Glen.
Finishing order, results and points update after Corey Heim wins fourth consecutive road-course race
Despite Hemric getting alongside Heim briefly on the final lap, Heim held on to win by 0.215 seconds for his sixth win of the season and his fourth straight on a road course dating back to Mid Ohio in 2023. He is the youngest driver in series history to win 17 races. Behind Heim and Hemric were Gio Ruggiero, Bell, Tyler Ankrum, Sammy Smith, Majeski, Zilisch, Matt Mills and Riggs.
Bell was able to recover to fourth despite having to pit for fuel following the caution on the first overtime attempt. Other notables outside the top 10 include Matt Crafton (13th), Garcia (15th), Chris Buescher (22nd), Smith (23rd), Enfinger (24th), Rhodes (26th), Frankie Muniz (27th), Gray (28th), Breidinger (29th), Chastain (30th), Caruth (32nd), Honeycutt (34th) and Busch (36th).
| Mission 176 at The Glen finishing position | Driver | Points |
|---|---|---|
| Winner | Corey Heim | 57 |
| 2nd | Daniel Hemric | 38 |
| 3rd | Gio Ruggiero | 39 |
| 4th | Christopher Bell | 0 |
| 5th | Tyler Ankrum | 34 |
| 6th | Sammy Smith | 0 |
| 7th | Ty Majeski | 34 |
| 8th | Connor Zilisch | 0 |
| 9th | Matt Mills | 28 |
| 10th | Layne Riggs | 29 |
| 11th | William Sawalich | 0 |
| 12th | Wesley Slimp | 25 |
| 13th | Matt Crafton | 24 |
| 14th | Dawson Sutton | 23 |
| 15th | Jake Garcia | 22 |
| 16th | Connor Mosack | 23 |
| 17th | Brent Crews | 20 |
| 18th | Spencer Boyd | 19 |
| 19th | Derek White | 18 |
| 20th | Timmy Hill | 17 |
| 21st | Andres Perez | 17 |
| 22nd | Chris Buescher | 0 |
| 23rd | Chandler Smith | 14 |
| 24th | Grant Enfinger | 13 |
| 25th | Gian Buffomante | 12 |
| 26th | Ben Rhodes | 27 |
| 27th | Frankie Muniz | 10 |
| 28th | Tanner Gray | 14 |
| 29th | Toni Breidinger | 8 |
| 30th | Ross Chastain | 0 |
| 31st | Parker Kligerman | 9 |
| 32nd | Rajah Caruth | 5 |
| 33rd | Jack Wood | 4 |
| 34th | Kaden Honeycutt | 3 |
| 35th | William Lambros | 2 |
| 36th | Kyle Busch | 0 |
Updated Truck Series playoff picture after Watkins Glen
Heim, who has already clinched the regular-season title, now has a 178-point lead over Riggs. Heim, Riggs, Smith, Hemric, Ankrum and Caruth are locked into the playoffs with wins. Enfinger (+91), Majeski (+84), Honeycutt (+65) and Garcia (+11) have the last four spots on points with Rhodes (-11) and Ruggiero (-21) the first two drivers out.
That could all change, though, if Friesen were to ask for a medical waiver and be granted one by NASCAR. Although he will not be competing, that would put him back in the playoff field and bump Garcia out, leaving plenty unknowns going into the final race of the regular season.
What race is next in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series?
The Craftsman Truck Series will close out the regular season as it shifts focus to Richmond Raceway for the running of the Eero 250 on Friday, Aug. 15 (7:30 p.m. ET, FS1, NRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). Majeski is the defending race winner.
