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Photo credit: Nigel Kinrade Photography
Racing

Corey Heim wins Kansas playoff race, Ben Rhodes eliminated

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The first round of the Craftsman Truck Series playoffs is complete, and two-time champion Ben Rhodes has failed to move on.

Rhodes was one of two drivers eliminated after Friday night's Truck Series race at Kansas Speedway as Corey Heim locked up his sixth win of the season. Daniel Dye was the other driver eliminated.

MORE: Kansas playoff race results

The Round of 8 will now consist of Heim, Christian Eckes, Nick Sanchez, Rajah Caruth, Grant Enfinger, Ty Majeski, Taylor Gray, and Tyler Ankrum.

The final stage featured Majeski in control of the race. The ThorSport Racing driver was en route to his third win of the season, but he suddenly ran out of gas on the final lap. Heim passed him and took the win after starting the race from the rear of the field.

Layne Riggs finished second. Eckes, Kaden Honeycutt, and Dawson Sutton rounded out the top five.

Playoff issues: Dye had early issues at the intermediate track. He hit the wall twice in the opening laps and had to make multiple trips down pit road under green flag conditions. He fell multiple laps down and spent the rest of the race well outside of the top 20. He finished 27th.

Rhodes, for comparison, just didn't have the handling that he needed in the No. 99 Ford. The ThorSport Racing team kept making adjustments but could not get the truck to a place where it could do what Rhodes needed.

The team made one final gamble to get Rhodes some track position. They had him make an extra pit stop under caution in the final stage. The team packed the No. 99 full of fuel and put on fresh tires. This took the two-time champion from outside the top 15 to inside the top five with under 30 laps to go.

This gamble initially paid off. Rhodes went above the cutline and passed Enfinger in points as the laps clicked down. However, he began to lose spots while Enfinger began making moves forward. This flipped the points position once again and dropped Rhodes below the cutline for the final time.

The two-time champion then ran out of gas at the same time as Majeski, which sealed his fate.

Stage 1: Majeski won stage 1 and locked into the Round of 8. Eckes, Heim, Honeycutt, Riggs, Sanchez, Gray, Tanner Gray, Stewart Friesen, and Connor Mosack were top 10.

Caruth in 16th, Rhodes in 17th, Ankrum in 18th, Enfinger in 21st, and Dye in 34th missed out on points in the opening stage.

Stage 2: Heim won stage 2. Riggs, Eckes, Majeski, Gray, Sanchez, Gray, Honeycutt, Bayley Curry, and Caruth were top 10.

Enfinger in 15th, Ankrum in 16th, Rhodes in 21st, and Dye in 31st were the playoff drivers who missed out on points.

Next: The Round of 8 will begin on Friday, Oct. 4. The Truck Series drivers will take on Talladega Superspeedway, a true wild card.