Corey Heim possesses a knack for pulling off major upsets.
First, it was the inaugural street course race at the Naval Base Coronado in San Diego in June. Then Sunday it was the Brickyard 400 at the historic Indianapolis Motor Speedway as he led 58 of the 160 laps en route to becoming just the second Georgia driver to win the prestigious race. Bill Elliott was the other, winning it in 2002.
Heim’s stunning accomplishment makes him the first driver to record his first two NASCAR Cup victories in his first 15 events since A.J. Foyt accomplished the feat in 1965. At age 24, he’s also the youngest driver to win NASCAR’s Crown Jewel event since Jeff Gordon won the inaugural Brickyard 400 in 1994 at age 23. Even more amazing, the Georgia driver is running a part-time schedule, having competed in only eight races this season.
“It’s unbelievable,” Heim said. “I just studied my butt off, tried to make sure I’m prepared going into races.”
Heim, who celebrated his 24th birthday just three weeks ago, grabbed the lead for good on the lap 127 restart following the fifth and final caution flag. He opted to start on the outside of the front row beside his 23XI Racing co-owner Denny Hamlin. Joey Logano lined up behind Heim, while Hamlin’s Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Christopher Bell lined up behind him. Hamlin didn’t receive the shove he needed while Heim did, and Heim was able to cut down in front of Hamlin, snatching the lead for good.
Crew chief Bootie Barker told Heim before the final restart that he had to get a good push and then pinch Hamlin.
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It’s Heim time.
“You don’t want to do anything dirty, but you have to get on that door and pinch him and be there going in that corner,” Barker recounted. “Now, the grip’s not as good…but when he pinches Denny down like that, your left-front fender is on his right rear of the car. It gets him in a compromised position. Denny showed him respect after we got there. He threw a block when we got to the next corner and Denny conceded to him.”
Heim said his Toyota was a “damn handful” during those final laps.
“That was the hardest I’ve ever fought in my life to just make sure I focused on exits and kept them in dirty air.”
“I was hanging on for dear life once the shade went down and the pace picked up,” Heim said. “My car got really loose. I had never really been in a lot of clean air throughout the day, so that was the hardest I’ve ever fought in my life to just make sure I focused on exits and kept them in dirty air.”
Hamlin, who finished fifth, said the problem on the restart was Bell and JGR teammate Chase Briscoe, who was behind Bell, not orchestrating good pushes.
“We came detached at the wrong time,” Hamlin said. “I thought the 20 (Bell), obviously, was on board with getting us the push. It was way too early before the restart zone. I can’t go ‘til we get to the restart zone.
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“These restarts, when everyone kind of knows when you’re going to go, it’s about the pushes. That’s essentially where I got the lead from the 67 (Heim) the restart before. Just came back the other way around. I maybe was in there just a hair into turn two, and he shut the door.”
For Bell, it was his sixth runner-up finish this season and his third in the last four races.
“Honestly, I didn’t think I was going to be able to get there at all,” said Bell, who finished 0.287-second behind Heim. “I knew, really, that was going to be my only opportunity was a mistake from him. I just needed one bobble. If he had one bobble, I was going to be able to get there.”
Logano had to settle for third. With five laps remaining, the Team Penske driver had cut his deficit to Heim to 0.754 second, but when the checkered flag waved, the 23XI Racing driver had stretched the margin back to 0.972-second.
“We broke up the Toyotas, so that’s good, but we just couldn’t get there,” Logano said. “I was faster than them, but I got three-car lengths back and that was it. I lost the air. I couldn’t go fast anymore. I needed track position. Track position won the race. You had to be on the front row, and we were one row back.”
Heim’s victory gives 23XI Racing its second consecutive Brickyard 400 win. Bubba Wallace won it in 2025, something no one would have expected for a team that’s just in its sixth season.
“I think it shows the processes that we put in place are working,” 23XI Racing President Steve Lauletta said. “It shows that the people that are part of 23XI are really special and continue to surprise me and amaze me on what we have been able to accomplish in a short period of time. A Daytona 500 and two Brickyard 400 wins in less than six seasons, in all honesty, shouldn’t be happening.”
A North Carolina native, Deb Williams is an award-winning motorsports journalist who is in her fourth decade covering auto racing. In addition to covering the sport for United Press International, she has written motorsports articles for several newspapers, magazines and websites including espnW.com, USA Today, and The Charlotte Observer. Her awards include the American Motorsports Media Award of Excellence, two-time National Motorsports Press Association writer of the year, and two-time recipient of the Russ Catlin award. She also has won an award in the North Carolina Press Association’s sports feature category. During her career, Deb has been managing editor of GT Motorsports magazine and was with Winston Cup Scene and NASCAR Winston Cup Scene for 18 years, serving as the publication’s editor for 10 years. In 2024 she was inducted into the NMPA Hall of Fame.