Despite the denial that he did not retaliate on Carson Hocevar late in the Truck Series championship race on Friday at Phoenix Raceway, NASCAR has deemed the contact with four laps to go as intentional and penalized him accordingly.
Heim was fined $12,500 and docked 25 points in the final standings. The penalty falls under the NASCAR Rule Book Sections 4.4.B & D, which refers to the NASCAR Member Code of Conduct.
Having just taken the championship lead the lap before, Heim was then spun out due to a bold move by Hocevar on Lap 120. Just 27 laps later, Heim drifted up into Hocevar out of Turn 2, and effectively ended their race.
The damage ended the night for Hocevar, while Heim received even more damage than what he sustained in the initial incident. The resulting caution also denied Grant Enfinger what looked to be a likely championship victory with Ben Rhodes ultimately coming back on a series of overtimes.
Heim said multiple times during his post-race media availabilities that he did not retaliate on Hocevar and he just got loose from a lack of sideforce from the damage after their initial incident.
By Wednesday, following a review of radio transmission recordings, NASCAR determined that Heim was in violation of the rule book in three areas:
- 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.
Heim falls to fourth in the final championship standings as a result.
Matt Weaver is a Motorsports Insider for Sportsnaut. Follow him on Twitter.