An absolute wild scene erupted at Martinsville Speedway on Saturday night, man. Corey Heim, piloting the No. 22 car, finished third in the ValleyStar Credit Union 300, a Late Model stock car race, but what happened after the checkered flag has everyone buzzing. A post-race altercation involving Heim and Chad Bryant Racing driver Treyten Lapcevich boiled over, sending shockwaves through the NASCAR world.
The On-Track Drama Ignites the Infield
Dude, the whole mess started right after the race. Heim and Lapcevich made contact after the checkered flag flew, sending both cars crashing in Turn 1. You just know that sparked some serious bad blood. Heim, talking to FloRacing post-race, sounded pretty frustrated. He said, “I really don’t know. He tried to smush me into the curb and then my tire hopped his tire. As you can see, I’ve got nowhere to go. He just completely turns left and then I hop his tire, so I don’t know what he was doing. It is what it is. It’s Late Model racing.” That’s the kind of on-track beef that always makes races intense, but it usually stays on the track. Not this time. Members of the Chad Bryant Racing team, clearly showing their displeasure, went straight after Heim in the infield.
Punches Thrown, Pros React
The incident happened right in front of the Martinsville hot dog stand, of all places, and a 29-second video captured the chaos. Heim, who’s the defending Craftsman Truck Series champion, was seen getting punched multiple times from his right side by a crew member. And get this: he didn’t even throw any punches back, even after getting another shot thrown his way before he eventually left the scene. NASCAR reporter Mamba Smith weighed in on X, saying, “If this is why they are fighting… The 77 group is out of line. Also Corey Heim ate those punches…” Even Dale Earnhardt Jr. chimed in on X, making a classic, humorous remark about the location: “The thing of it is, those are some damn good hotdogs.” But NASCAR on FOX’s Jamie Little was not laughing, calling out the crew members on X: “Let drivers fight. Leave the crew members out of it. This is embarrassing.” She’s right, man. Drivers, fine. Crew members? That’s a whole different level of mess.
This whole dust-up puts a crazy spotlight on Heim as he gets ready for a massive move. He is set to move up to the NASCAR Cup Series full-time in 2027, piloting the No. 35 23XI Racing Toyota. Plus, he is already making waves, winning two races in his first 15 career Cup starts in a part-time deal with 23XI. He is the first driver to do that since A.J. Foyt back in 1965, which is just insane! Will this composure under fire, or the surrounding controversy, stick with him as he prepares to hit the big leagues? We’ll be watching for sure.
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by Yahoo Sports.
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