Non-playoff drivers Stefan Parsons and Cole Butcher stayed out, and Rajah Caruth took two tires, shaking up the field. Riggs had a slower stop, and Heim took four tires as they were in the back half of the top ten.

“I feel we do a lot better when we’re on offense and not defense,” Scott Zipadelli, Heim’s crew chief, said. “When you put two tires on like that, it’s going to mess up your balance as it is; you’re going to be on defense to anybody who put tires on.”

Heim then surged to the bottom of the track and completed a seven-wide pass that put him in second behind Championship 4 driver Ty Majeski. As the field approached turn three, Butcher, Championship 4 contender Tyler Ankrum and Grant Enfinger made contact, collecting Tanner Gray. 

After a short red flag, Heim powered past Majeski on the inside for the lead and the championship lead. One and a half laps later, Heim collected the checkered flag, collecting the race win, drivers’ championship and the owner’s championship.

“I didn’t think we’d be that much better than everybody else, being able to drive around the inside wall,” Heim said. 

Defending champion Ty Majeski did not have the speed at the restart as he felt he did not have the speed to catch Heim. He was the only driver to contend with Heim, and at times, he was able to pass Heim. Majeski wound up second in the race.

“I felt like we were just a little bit off in dirty air tonight,” Majeski said.

Championship 4 driver Kaden Honeycutt took home third as he ran in the back half of the top ten for most of the night. He had a painful start to the night as he had a start violation and a problem with his belts.

Ankrum was off the pace of his championship contenders as he ran outside of the top ten for most of the night before being involved in a wreck. He brought home his truck in the 14th position.

Riggs finished fourth as he had a crazy weekend. It started with him losing his starting position and receiving a pass-through penalty for an unapproved adjustment before qualifying. Crew chief Dylan Cappelo was also ejected. 

Riggs then laid a fast lap in qualifying, granting him the pole award, even though he gave it up due to the penalty. He moved through the field and held the lead at Mosack caution that sent everything into chaos.

The race had two red flags, one for the crash involving Butcher, Ankrum, Enfinger and Gray. The other was for a crash where Andres Perez de Lara briefly went airborne after contact with Bayley Currey, Ben Rhodes and Giovanni Ruggiero. The two red flags totalled 13 minutes and 29 seconds.

Part-time rookie Brent Crews had a great run for TRICON, which saw him up in second at points. Unfortunately for him, he broke an axle, causing him to retire from the race early.

Ruggiero collected Rookie of the Year honors for TRICON, capping off a successful night. The rookie had one win, two poles and made the playoffs.

Tyler Reif had a solid run in his first career start, finishing ninth for Niece Motorsports.

“Coming into Phoenix, we all knew we were the best team, but anything could happen today, so I was very stressed,” Heim said. 

Heim won an outstanding 12 of the 25 races this season. That is the most by a NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series driver in a single season, beating Greg Biffle’s 1999 season, where he won nine races. Heim also broke Mike Skinner’s 1996 record for most laps led in a season. He led laps and finished in every race this season.

The expression “Third time’s the charm” rang true for the TRICON Garage driver as he failed to win the championship in two prior attempts. In 2023, Heim and Carson Hocevar were involved in multiple wrecks, and a pit road penalty took him out of the race in 2024. 

“To bring the best equipment every single week is a feat that’s maybe overlooked,” Heim said. “We were able to put everything together this season.”