Corey Heim
Corey Heim, driver of the No. 20 JBL Toyota, celebrates being named the Bounty Rookie of the Race after winning the General Tire 200 for the ARCA Menards Series at Talladega Superspeedway in Talladega, Alabama, on April 24, 2021. (Dustin Chambers/ARCA Racing)

Multiple Drivers Leave Wild Talladega Race With Special Awards

www.arcaracing.com April 27, 2021

The results of the 2021 ARCA Menards Series opener at Daytona International Speedway and Saturday’s General Tire 200 at Talladega Superspeedway may have been the same for Corey Heim and his No. 20 Venturini Motorsports team. But the paths to Victory Lane were quite different.

Heim led the most laps at Daytona in February, commanding the last half of the race to score the win. But it took a last-lap pass for the No. 20 JBL Toyota to emerge victorious on a hectic afternoon at Talladega.

Much like the General Tire 200 itself, the special awards chase saw a wide variety of drivers share the spotlight alongside Heim.

RELATED: What We Learned Saturday at Talladega

The starting lineup for Saturday’s race was set by 2020 car owner points, giving Ty Gibbs his second General Tire Pole Award of the 2021 season. Drew Dollar, the pole-sitter from the group qualifying session at Daytona in February, would roll off sixth.

Like Dollar, another driver who had ground to make up from his starting spot was Tonawanda, New York’s Andy Jankowiak, who ran eighth at Daytona in his series debut. Jankowiak took the green flag at Talladega in the 27th, which proved to be no obstacle. He made up 20 positions and finished a career-best seventh, making him the K&N Filters Hard Charger awardee.

Gibbs paced the field for the opening five laps before Heim took the spot for the first of 13 lead changes. Six drivers led at least one lap, matching the lap leader count from Daytona, with Dollar and Bret Holmes sharing the Valvoline Lap Leader honors for leading 28 laps each. Dollar was also the Richmond Water Heaters Halfway Leader.

The other lap leaders included Gibbs, who led 13 laps prior to crashing out in the closing laps of the race, and Heim, who led only five laps en route to victory. Rookie driver Michael Harper led one lap in his ARCA Menards Series debut. Derrick Lancaster led a single lap, as well, in a strong effort before exiting the race in a scary incident with just a handful of laps remaining.

Despite wrecking late, Gibbs was able to add to his leading total in the yearlong Valvoline Lap Leader standings. Gibbs is the only driver to crack triple digits through three events, leading 137 laps. Dollar moved to second with 51 laps led, while Heim dropped one position to third with 44 laps led.

Heim’s victory made him the Bounty Rookie of the Race in his Talladega debut, and he remains in control of the Bounty Rookie of the Year standings with 128 points. Gibbs’ DNF opened the door for Kyle Sieg, driving for his family-owned RSS Racing team, to leapfrog the rising star and take second place in the rookie standings behind Heim. Sieg trails Heim with 115 points, 13 out of the lead, while Gibbs is a suddenly distant third with 100 points.

ARCA Menards Series fans on Twitter voted Heim’s last-lap pass as the Reese’s Sweet Move of the Race. And his win earned his entire team some well-deserved recognition.

Shannon Rursch was named the Cometic Crew Chief of the Race and leads the Cometic Crew Chief of the Year standings by a single point. Car owner Billy Venturini leads the way in the General Tire Superspeedway Challenge by starting 2021 a perfect two-for-two in superspeedway races with Heim at the wheel.

Round 3 of the Superspeedway Challenge is just around the corner with the first of two races at Kansas Speedway next on the schedule. The Dutch Boy 150 is scheduled to start at 1:30 p.m. ET on Saturday, May 1. FS1 will carry live television coverage of the Kansas race with MRN providing radio coverage.