By: Mitchell Breuer

Elko New Market, MN – It was a bump that sent shockwaves through the ARCA Menards Series, as in the closing stages of Saturday’s Menards 250 at Elko Speedway, Corey Heim pushed Ty Gibbs out of the way to grab his second consecutive win.

The move was not the first time they made contact during the race, as earlier on, it was Gibbs who used up Heim, leaving him with cosmetic damage.

As the race carried on, Heim seemed to lose the momentum he had earlier, struggling to keep up with Gibbs on the longer run.  

“We could keep up with them on the shorter runs, and then we cleared in there at one point and was able to hold them off for a little bit on the high side and then they drove through us a little bit there,” Heim told News From The Pits. “So yeah, I mean we struggled on the long run a little bit, but we had that three lap run at the end which mattered, and we were there for it. “ 

With the win, Heim has four wins on the season, with this being his first at a short track. It was on his mind heading into the weekend after missing out earlier in the season at Toledo Speedway.

“We were really good at Toledo, so I was looking forward to this race and I was a little disappointed with our speed throughout practice in the beginning of the race,” Heim said. “We did not have the greatest car today, but we pulled it off and we are four-time winners.” 

As far as the slight damage he received from his late-race run in, Heim did not seem frazzled, saying it was “absolutely” worth it.

Moving forward, Heim holds a slim seven-point lead in the championship standings, and will look to continue his momentum moving forward next weekend into Berlin Raceway, as the series rolls on with one its busiest stretches of the year, with five consecutive weeks of racing.