BREAKING: Corey Heim charged $12,500 and loss of 25 driver points

The 2023 NASCAR Truck Series regular series champion Corey Heim has been issued behavioral penalties by the officials for his actions on track during the championship race at Phoenix Raceway on Friday, November 3.

Heim violated the NASCAR Member Code of Conduct which falls in the Rule Book Sections 4.4.B & D for his collision with fellow championship contender Carson Hocevar late in the race. He was fined $12,500 and docked 25 points in the Truck Series drivers' standings.

Pole-sitter for the season finale Corey Heim was a title favorite but ended his season on a bad note. The farcical championship decider witnessed a litany of cautions, with Heim involved in two of those.

On lap 120, Carson Hocevar bumped into Heim's #11 Truck which sent him spinning and down the order. With just three laps left to the checkered flag, when Heim found Hocevar ahead of him, he retaliated as he made contact with his rival's #42 Truck. The contact ended Hocevar's evening, while Heim continued and took an 18th-place finish.

Post-race, Heim refrained from speaking about the second incident while explaining that he lost control of his truck. However, NASCAR officials reviewed the radio communications of the #11 TRICON Garage team and determined that Heim had violated the code of conduct.

NASCAR announced on Wednesday, November 8, that Heim had violated three areas of the rule book:

• Attempting to manipulate the outcome of the race or championship.
• Wrecking or spinning another vehicle, whether or not that vehicle is removed from Competition as a result.
• Any actions deemed to compromise the safety of an Event or otherwise pose a dangerous risk to the safety of Competitors, Officials, spectators, or others.

Corey Heim was classified third in the driver's standings post-race but has dropped down to fourth after the penalties were implied.

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What did Corey Heim say about his incident with Carson Hocevar?

While Carson Hocevar was extremely dejected for taking out the title favorite, Corey Heim had nothing good to say about his competitor for the initial contact which damaged his #11 Truck.

When asked about the second bout of battle in which he wrecked Hocevar, Heim had stated that his damaged Truck was pretty much out of control and the contact was unfortunate.

"I had a lot of right rear damage and was pretty much out-of-control free, so as soon as (Hocevar), really he was the third one on the outside and I about wrecked every time," Heim said to NBC Sports post-race. "Then, by the time he finally got there, I just spun out. With him on my door, I lost all my sideforce and lost control. So super unfortunate."

After ending their 2023 Truck Series campaign on a disappointing note, Carson Hocevar will be graduating to the Cup Series next season, while Corey Heim will return to the Truck Series.