Defending Brickyard 400 winner Corey Heim got a little more than he bargained for when agreeing to run the Valley Star Credit Union 300 at Martinsville Speedway, one of the most prestigious Late Model Stock Car (LMSC) events in the country.
The Marietta, Georgia-native piloted the No. 22 Nelson Motorsports Toyota Camry to a runner-up finish in the 300-lap contest, but that was, honestly, the least exciting part of his trip to the half-mile paperclip in Hampton, Virginia.
Immediately after edging Treyten Lapcevich out for second place at the start-finish line, the two drivers went into Turn 1 and made contact, when sent the No. 22 airborne over the right-front of the Chad Bryant Racing No. 77, damaging both cars.
That left Lapcevich and the entire Chad Bryant Racing crew – who, at the beginning of the week, weren’t going to be able to get their car prepared in time to run Martinsville – furious about the substantial damage to the Bare Knuckle Boxing Chevrolet.
Treyten Lapcevich, upset about the post-race contact, was walking down the Martinsville Speedway pit road to confront Corey Heim, but was intercepted by his team owner, Chad Bryant. While that stopped any kind of confrontation from driver-to-driver, that didn’t stop what happened shortly after.
After drivers spoke to the media on pit road and began walking back to their trailers, a fight broke out in probably the most ridiculous place possible inside of Martinsville Speedway… the iconic Martinsville Hot Dog Stand. Members from the Chad Bryant Racing crew were not in line to get a hot dog, but instead chased down Corey Heim, and thus, a scuffle broke out.
While Heim may have taken a shot or two in the process, the majority of the punches thrown by the disgruntled Chad Bryant Racing crew member missed the 23XI Racing development driver, with one of them landing directly behind Heim’s head and hitting the Hot Dog Stand’s menu sign.
Heim was not hurt, or phased, as he shortly after took to social media with a post saying, “solid effort, but at least make it count next time,” showing a picture of him with a thumbs up.
Heim returns to the NASCAR Cup Series at Charlotte Motor Speedway on October 11.
