Just when we thought Tricon Garage had been on a roll lately, they were hit with a massive loss. Whether it’s the 2025 NASCAR champion and his teammates battling it up front or the others dominating certain races, TRICON has been in the mix. But the evening at Bristol Motor Speedway has taken a very ugly turn, and now this wreck has cost them everything.
Corey Heim walked into Bristol looking unstoppable, but left with a wrecked truck, a red flag, and a storyline. No one saw it coming. Heim wasn’t just racing for a trophy. Having already won the first two legs of the Triple Truck Challenge, a Bristol victory would have triggered a massive $350,000 bonus, securing a $500,000 payout.
What began as another dominant night for the 2025 series champ quickly spiraled into chaos, turning a dream run for his organisation into a costly disaster, one that wiped out both Heim and his pole-sitter teammate Kaden Honeycutt in one brutal sequence.
The night had all the writing ingredients early on. Honeycutt was already making noise after grabbing his first-ever Bristol pole, while the 23-year-old NASCAR champion continued his hot streak, fresh off sweeping “The Trip” and banking a massive bonus haul.
However, everything changed by lap 181. Heim was right where he wanted to be, making a bold move for the lead on Christian Eckes; however, Eckes fired back with a bumper shot, sending the 23-year-old hard into the wall. This wasn’t just a standard racing incident, but a boiling point of a growing on-track rivalry between the two drivers, ending Heim’s night in an instant.
Heim into the wall after a tap from Eckes. Heim’s race is over. And Honeycutt also is wrecked. … Red flag because of the fluid. Riggs is also involved
— Bob Pockrass (@bobpockrass) April 11, 2026
And it didn’t stop there. In a barrel roll effect, Honeycutt, who had been quietly building a breakthrough night from the front, got swept up along with Layne Riggs.
Fluid spilled onto the track, triggering a red flag and bringing the field to a halt. In a matter of seconds, TRICON’s double threat turned into double heartbreak with both trucks sidelined after what looked like a promising run towards victory lane. It was definitely a disappointing sight, given their scuffle at Rockingham last weekend.
But what’s more frustrating is what could have been. Heim walked into the night with a massive payday within reach.
“I don’t think he did it on purpose or anything,” Heim said post-race. “You know, obviously, I had kind of said the lead was going to be super important to win the race. Just having track position and control. Then, I kinda, they had a big mix-up on who was starting the race, as far as the control truck. Then I had an issue with my transmission sticking in the gears. I had to pack a little bit of air.”
However, all those dreams have now been dashed. Eckes drove away with the lead while Heim and Honeycutt were left watching their night and a potential $500,000 swing go up in smoke. But as the duo suffered, Christopher Bell took perfect advantage of the situation to claim the Tennessee National Guard 250.
Christopher Bell wins the first-ever Bristol Truck race
The race flipped in his favour on lap 188 when he powered past Christian Eckes for the lead, and from that moment on, it was game over.
The 2017 truck series champion kept things smooth and controlled upfront, eventually sealing his eighth career win in the series by a margin of 0.33 seconds while also snapping Front Row Motorsports’ three-race winning streak at the track.
Behind him, Chandler Smith chased hard but settled for second, followed by Gio Ruggiero in third and Ross Chastain in fourth. Eckes, after dominating much of the night, had to settle for fifth while Jake Garcia, Dawson Sutton, Kyle Busch, and Carson Hocevar completed the top 10.
