Trackin’ Trucks: Kyle Larson Wins at Homestead

 

Credit: Chris Graythen

The Craftsman Truck Series stars started with spinning tires and dented fenders on Friday night at Homestead-Miami Speedway, but it ended with Kyle Larson burning rubber after his victory at the 1.5-mile track.

Larson drove from the back of the field after a mid-race spin to earn victory in the Baptist Health 200. He worked his way back to the front, passing front runners Layne Riggs and Corey Heim.

“I wasn‘t exactly sure if I could get back up there,” said Larson, who has four wins in only 16 series starts. “I didn‘t have the restart I wanted, took a little bit too long to start picking them off and then just got ripping the wall and it paid dividends for me in [Turns] 1 and 2.”

“Not sure what happened to the 11 [Heim], but that worked out in our favor for sure,” Larson said. “I don‘t think I would have gotten to him [otherwise]. Obviously, I would have gotten to second, probably, but that would have been tough to get to him. That last run was a lot of fun.”

Heim was dominant and had the truck to beat on Friday night, but his No. 11 Tricon Garage Toyota started randomly shutting off in the closing laps. Heim was able to restore power and compete with the leaders, but the issue ultimately cost him the potential victory.

“I feel like we were lights out, the best truck tonight, think we should‘ve won the race by six, seven seconds at the end there,” Heim said. “I feel like at the beginning of the runs, I knew what we were capable of and let those guys get away, burn their stuff up and then, fly past them.

“I don‘t know exactly what was going on. Never really had an issue like that. I’d be totally fine, and the engine would just hard cut [out] on me. Dash would go black and have no power until I fully cycled it. So, I was coasting for six seconds trying to turn the power switch and turn it back (on). I don‘t know.

Tyler Ankrum and Daniel Hemric rounded out the top-five finishers, while Ross Chastain, Jake Garcia, Chandler Smith, Grant Enfinger, and Kaden Honeycutt completed the Top 10.


A Look Ahead

The Craftsman Truck Series heads to Martinsville Speedway next Friday, March 28th.

Heim took over the championship lead with his third place finish. He holds an eight point advantage over defending series champion Ty Majeski.

Chandler Smith is third in the standings, while Enfinger and Stewart Friesen are fourth and fifth.

The series return on March 28th at 7:30 p.m. ET on Fox Sports 1.