CONCORD, N.C. — Corey Heim got disqualified from Friday’s NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race at Charlotte Motor Speedway for three loose lug nuts. He originally crossed the line second.
After a caution with 14 laps remaining, Heim pitted but his No. 11 TRICON Garage team had a slow stop because of an issue changing the left-rear tire. Crew chief Scott Zipadelli insisted on the radio that the team had just one lugnut loose, which would be a monetary fine.
Heim powered from 11th to 2nd on the final restart but couldn’t get past Nick Sanchez, who won for the second time this season.
It was the second time that Heim had a problem on pit road. After leading 72 laps and winning each of the first two stages, a jack broke during Heim’s lap 83 pit stop.
“I feel like it got away from us on separate occasions there. We had control of the race and as soon as you don’t, we were just victim to the leader,” Heim said, speaking before the disqualification. “I thought we had the best truck by a long shot, just behind the leader you couldn’t do much. I feel like we were able to get through traffic so well.”
Instead of his eighth top-five of the season, Heim placed 36th. It’s just the second time this season he’s finished outside the top 10.
The Nos. 5 and 38 trucks, driven by Dean Thompson and Layne Riggs respectively, each had one lug nut loose.