Heim and Lapcevich’s tangle leads to fight at Martinsville

Corey Heim and Treyten Lapcevich had a knock-out, drag out fight for second place in the ValleyStar Credit Union 300 on-track that ended in a bench clearing brawl after the race.

Both Heim and Lapcevich were tantalizingly close to their first grandfather clock, but neither were able to beat Caden Kvapil. Heim seemed to have the best car, but Kvapil came to life late, passing him in the last quarter of the race. Heim faded back while Lapcevich was charging to the front. The two had a spirited battle that ended with Lapcevich taking over the runner-up spot and setting his sights on the leader.

A caution with four laps to go sent the race into overtime. Lapcevich lined up on the outside of Kvapil, and Heim on the inside the next row back. Kvapil got a great jump, and both Heim and Lapcevich spent the next 1.052 miles in a dogfight for the runner-up spot. Heim got the better of Lapcevich by 0.072 seconds, but the checkered flag is where everything started.

Going into turn one after the finish, Heim hit Lapcevich, launching him over top of the No. 77. Heim was able to limp the car back to the pits to park it, but Lapcevich was left destroyed in turn two.

🤯 BIG COLLISION after the checkered flag between Treyten Lapcevich & Corey Heim at Martinsville!#VSCU300 | September 25-26 | Live on FloRacing 📺 pic.twitter.com/jHy8CX9QBL

— FloRacing (@FloRacing) September 27, 2026

While Heim rolled to a stop in pit road, Lapcevich climbed out of his car and made a beeline towards Heim on pit road. However, before he could make it to Heim, car owner Chad Bryant stopped him. After talking for a minute, Lapcevich and the Chad Bryant crew went back to their pit, no confrotation happening.

Treyten Lapcevich was going to confront Corey Heim after the race but team owner Chad Bryant stopped him. pic.twitter.com/ej2lEPt8Ss

— Short Track Scene (@ST_Scene) September 27, 2026

Heim felt like Lapcevich crowded him after the checkered flag and was trying to damage Heim’s car.

“He tried to pin me under the curb and just kept turning left,” Heim said about the cool down lap. “And then my right front hopped his left front and destroyed a perfectly good race car. So I’m upset for that. He looks classy, and I guess we’ll keep moving forward. It’s not my car, I don’t own it, so I’m not mad.

“I don’t intend to [have a conversation about it], no. I mean, I really don’t understand him. We’re racing for the win, and I can’t see what he sees. And, yeah, I don’t know. I mean, he just tried to destroy my car under cool down laps and succeeded. So, Late Model Racing I guess.”

Lacpevich felt like he got used up but Heim, then crashed after the flag.

“I mean, just disappointed, obviously,” Lapcevich said. “Disappointed in Corey as a racer, a person. Yeah, I don’t know. Obviously, angry about what he did on the track there. He was running into everyone all night. Like, you saw him, how he was racing with Caden, how he was racing with Lee. Like, Cup guy or not, it doesn’t matter to me, and we’re all the same out here when we get to the track. So, yeah, after the race, I kind of, you know, I went up to his right side and just, you know, I was running him tight, and then all of a sudden he just gases up and drives over my left front, kills both of our cars. Just unnecessary. You know, we’ve got to race that car in Newport next week, and it’s obviously disappointing for sure.”

Lapcevich said he wasn’t going to fight Heim, but just wanted to talk to about what went down after the finish.

“I wasn’t interested in fighting or anything like that,” Lapcevich said. “I was basically going to talk to him about exactly what I just said. So, you know, like I said, I just, obviously at that time, you’re in the heat of the moment and whatnot. I was pretty calm even by the time I got to our pit stall there. So, like I said, it is what it is. I’m pretty lucky to be here. Obviously, it sucks to come up so short, you know, finish third in this race here twice now, and it felt like I did everything that I needed to bring it home. So, yeah, disappointed. Lucky to be here. Big thanks to Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship, Leland Industries. We weren’t even coming until Thursday at 11 a.m., and the Chad Bryant Racing guys busted their butts to make this possible. So, big thanks to them.”

Lapcevich went to his hauler, and Heim was chatting with his crew on pit road. Eventually, Heim started the short walk back to his hauler. However, once Heim got just a couple feet away, in front of the famed Martinsville Hot Dog stand, many team members of Chad Bryant Racing team started fighting Heim. More people piled in, but eventually Heim got away from the people, seemingly unphased for the most part.

Things got a little heated at the @MartinsvilleSwy hot dog stand after the race for Corey Heim…🫣 pic.twitter.com/NiFUMVCwfB

— NASCAR Regional (@NASCARRegional) September 27, 2026

The tempers continued to flare verbally. Heim walked back to his hauler and declined to comment after the fight, and the mob eventually dispersed, except for Barry Nelson and Chad Bryant, who talked after the whole event unfolded.

Team owners Chad Bryant and Barry Nelson have a discussion after Corey Heim was jumped walking back to his hauler by members of the Bryant team.

Heim declined comment. pic.twitter.com/fdOE7UXSQP

— Short Track Scene (@ST_Scene) September 27, 2026

This ended a long night of drama fights at Martinsville, and once again, Heim and Lapcevich will be leave Virginia just barely missing out on a granfather clock.