{"id":370078,"date":"2026-06-22T12:13:13","date_gmt":"2026-06-22T12:13:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/370078\/"},"modified":"2026-06-22T12:13:13","modified_gmt":"2026-06-22T12:13:13","slug":"nascar-san-diego-takeaways-corey-heim-stuns-the-field-with-a-win-ahead-of-schedule","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/370078\/","title":{"rendered":"NASCAR San Diego takeaways: Corey Heim stuns the field with a win ahead of schedule"},"content":{"rendered":"

NAVAL BASE CORONADO, Calif. \u2014 For Corey Heim, the clock struck early.<\/p>\n

\u201cHeim Time,\u201d as it\u2019s known when the 23-year-old wins in NASCAR\u2019s lower-tier Truck Series, wasn\u2019t supposed to begin in earnest in the premier Cup Series until he joined 23XI Racing on a full-time basis next season.<\/p>\n

But there was Heim on Sunday, tapping his wrist \u2014 a la NBA star Damian Lillard\u2019s \u201cDame Time\u201d celebration \u2014 in one of NASCAR\u2019s most improbable wins in recent times.<\/p>\n

This was only Heim\u2019s 13th career Cup Series start, and it came at one of the most challenging tracks in NASCAR history: a 3.4-mile street course around the rough roads and runways of Naval Base Coronado.<\/p>\n

The young Georgia native outlasted all the Cup Series veterans on NASCAR\u2019s first-ever race on an active military base.<\/p>\n

COREY HEIM IS A NASCAR CUP SERIES WINNER! pic.twitter.com\/Px3nbOSYjx<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 NASCAR (@NASCAR) June 22, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n

Heim won NASCAR\u2019s Truck Series championship last year in dominant fashion, but had no home for this season. He has been waiting for a Cup seat to open up for two years and is running part-time in Trucks and Cup this season before replacing Riley Herbst at 23XI next year.<\/p>\n

His talent has been evident, though, which is why 23XI co-owners Michael Jordan and Denny Hamlin moved to lock him up on their roster. And to win his first career race, Heim had to pass 23XI\u2019s lead driver.<\/p>\n

Tyler Reddick has won five times this year and appeared to be en route to a sixth, but Heim caught the Northern California driver and passed him with four laps to go.<\/p>\n

Their battle involved contact that ended up with Reddick sustaining a flat tire, but Reddick said afterward Heim raced him cleanly and did nothing wrong. Rather, it was Reddick who had initiated the contact, he said.<\/p>\n

Reddick finished 25th and his one-time triple-digit points lead over Denny Hamlin slipped to just eight points.<\/p>\n

Big crash waylays heavy favorite<\/p>\n

Anytime NASCAR visits a road course, all eyes are on Shane van Gisbergen, the overwhelming favorite to run away with the victory. And for much of Sunday, all indications were that this was his race to win and everyone else would have to fight it out for second-best.<\/p>\n

This was until the complexion of the race flipped dramatically when Austin Hill locked up his brakes on a restart in Stage 2, pushing Connor Zilisch into the wall at the exit of Turn 1 and stacking up the field behind him, including van Gisbergen, who had nowhere to go and slammed into the slowing Hill.<\/p>\n

BIG CRASH ON THE RESTART! <\/p>\n

SVG AND ZILISCH ARE INVOLVED! pic.twitter.com\/bOrghcm9y5<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 NASCAR (@NASCAR) June 21, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n

The damage knocked van Gisbergen and Zilisch out of the race, turning it into a wide-open affair with no clear favorite \u2014 an unusual occurrence on a road course ever since van Gisbergen debuted three years ago.<\/p>\n

Afterwards, Hill took full blame for the incident, though this was little consolation for those whose days ended early.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you have a chance to go win a race and you\u2019re in a prime spot to do so, but get put in a position like that, it\u2019s extremely tough,\u201d Zilisch said. \u201cIt\u2019s been a big weekend for all of us at Trackhouse Racing and Red Bull, and I just hate that both cars get taken out like that. We\u2019ll put our heads down, put this weekend behind us and move onto the next race.\u201d<\/p>\n

And how upset was van Gisbergen?<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m filthy,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u2014 Jordan Bianchi<\/p>\n

Bell climbs out at first caution<\/p>\n

Despite a cast on his broken left wrist, Christopher Bell started the race and ran respectable lap times before climbing out of his No. 20 car at the first caution period.<\/p>\n

Bell completed 12 laps before he pulled his car into the pits, taking advantage of the longstanding NASCAR policy that awards points to the driver of record (the one who starts the race).<\/p>\n

Brent Crews then climbed into the car and got buckled in, with the team taking its time with longer-than-usual caution laps on NASCAR\u2019s 3.4-mile base course.<\/p>\n

\u201cGood job with all that, fellas,\u201d spotter Tab Boyd said after the driver change. \u201cThat went pretty smooth.\u201d<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, Crews didn\u2019t make it much longer. On Lap 31, Crews suddenly stopped on track and said the gear box blew out of the car. The No. 20 car finished last (39th), and Bell took another hit in the points.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was kind of going through the gears, and it just broke, I\u2019m not really sure,\u201d Crews said. \u201cI\u2019m going to have to have Adam (Stevens, the team\u2019s crew chief) look over it and myself to figure out if it was something I did or if it was just a freak accident.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2014 Jeff Gluck<\/p>\n

Bubba Wallace rallies <\/p>\n

After Bubba Wallace climbed out of his car, it was hard to tell whether he was pleased with a hard-fought runner-up finish, which included overcoming a two-lap penalty, or frustrated with another potential win that slipped away?<\/p>\n

So what was Wallace thinking about as he sat on the pit wall for several minutes, giving little indication either way what he was thinking\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat if,\u201d Wallace said. \u201cIt\u2019s another one. \u2018What if?\u2019 A good rebound for our team.\u201d<\/p>\n

The conflicting emotions stem from Wallace\u2019s 23XI Racing team having a miscue on pit road where the crew left a right-front wheel loose. Upon leaving pit road, Wallace immediately radioed his team about the issue. A short bit later, that wheel came off, rolling across the track as Wallace limped back to pit road. Compounding the frustration, he had been running solidly near the front at the time.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere it f\u2014ing went. You\u2019ve got to be f\u2014ing kidding me,\u201d Wallace shouted over the radio.<\/p>\n

Per NASCAR\u2019s rules, Wallace was issued a two-lap penalty and two of his crew members will be suspended two races when NASCAR releases its penalty report later this week. And with the two-lap penalty, any chance for a win, or even a top-five finish, seemingly vanished.<\/p>\n

Not quite.<\/p>\n

A rash of cautions allowed Wallace to earn the free pass, eventually returning him back to the lead lap. From here, he picked his way forward to where he was running third in the closing laps. And when teammate Tyler Reddick suffered a flat tire with two laps remaining, Wallace moved into second, where he finished.<\/p>\n

\u201cGo figure, drive your ass off on a track that you have no idea what you\u2019re doing, drive up to lead, and then have it all taken away from you,\u201d Wallace said. \u201cI\u2019m not bashing anybody \u2014 pit crew is one of the best on pit road and they had a mistake. We all have mistakes, unfortunately.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut at the end of our weekends, we fill out \u2018was it a green race, or was it not?\u2019 And here\u2019s another one that\u2019s not. So that\u2019s a lot of not-green races for us. And by green, means nothing went wrong, we executed, whether that\u2019s a top five or top 20. There\u2019s just another asterisk mark beside our finish and that\u2019s what\u2019s frustrating. So, good day, I guess.\u201d<\/p>\n