Inside The Garage: How A Part-Time Driver Is Shaking Up NASCAR

Here’s what’s happening this week Inside The Garage: INDIANAPOLIS MOTOR SPEEDWAY (Indianapolis) — Corey Heim has driven eight races this year and has scored more points than the other heralded young NASCAR Cup Series prospect. Heim has more points than full-time rookie Connor Zilisch has earned in 22 races, thanks to his two victories and Zilisch’s string of races where he hasn’t finished. That’s right, two victories — at Naval Base Coronado last month and then Sunday at the Brickyard 400 — in eight starts. That’s eight starts with a part-time fourth car at 23XI Racing, so that’s part of the equation. He has some of the best equipment in the NASCAR Cup Series garage. “The competition in this series is kind of like no other, but the fact that we’ve had everything line up really well as far as the speed in these Toyotas this year with 23XI specifically, has been just surreal,” Heim said in his postrace news conference. But it takes more than equipment to be the first driver since A.J. Foyt to win two Cup races in his first 15 overall series starts. And he’s the first part-time series driver to win two races in a season since both Davey Allison and Tim Richmond accomplished the feat in 1987. The 24-year-old Heim has won 21 of the last 40 truck races he has entered and won the 2025 series title. He is set to be a full-time Cup driver in 2027 with 23XI. “He’s really talented.” three-time Cup champion Joey Logano told me after the race where Logano finished third. “Turns out, I know his trucks are good, but I think the driver was spectacular. “He’s got it. We’re going to be battling him forever. He’ll be here longer than me. He’s a lot younger than me, but he’ll be here the whole time. Just a solid racecar driver. He does the right things. He doesn’t get risky. He doesn’t get nervous. Just executes really well.” Logano gave Heim the push he needed on a late restart to win the Brickyard 400 and Heim took it from there. “He put together a magnificent last run,” Christopher Bell told me after finishing second to Heim. “He was loose. My guys were saying he was loose. I could kind of see him wiggling a little bit. He did a great job, and he didn’t make a mistake and won the race.” Heim’s accomplishments are no surprise to those who worked with him. Because he is in a part-time car, Heim is also often the first to go out and qualify. That typically means, at best, a mediocre starting position. “If we would have had a better [spot when going out] in qualifying, we would have won more already,” Heim crew chief Bootie Barker said in his postrace news conference. Barker wasn’t trying to be boastful. He says it as fact, just like he did when he first explained how Heim has won two races as a part-time driver. “Everybody thinks I’m always joking, but I mean what I say: He’s more talented than anybody else,” Barker said. Barker then couched that comment: “That’s almost being a disservice to some of the great drivers here. That’s not the case. Like all the people we were racing at the end are the best of the best, tremendous [and I] show much respect to them. “But Corey is there in talent. Corey is also there in work ethic. He’s there as far as a mentality. He has all that.” But the bottom line is that the kid has enough talent that he already has a simmering rivalry with Carson Hocevar that has followed them from their time together competing in trucks. They don’t like each other and at one point, Hocevar flipped off Heim for the way he blocked Heim. Heim didn’t care. He won. And Hocevar, who has one Cup victory in nearly three seasons at the Cup level, certainly recognizes Heim’s talent. “He’s really good with air and manipulating air,” Hocevar told me after the race. “We have a lot of similarities from that standpoint, and I think that’s why you know in trucks and then here, we’re up front and … it’s almost like we know each move because that’s what I would be doing or that’s what he would be doing. “Their stuff’s really fast. [I was the] top Chevy for us. That’s good.” That could sound like a little bit of sour grapes. Probably is, but it’s also a little bit of fact. “Toyota [is the reason for it],” 2012 Cup champion Brad Keselowski told me about Heim’s accomplishments after the race. “He’s doing a good job. “You can’t take anything away from Corey. He’s executing these races well. He’s not beating himself. His pit crew is doing everything right. And he’s in the fastest cars. It’s really impressive.” Heim can’t really describe how he has won two races with a part-time team other than to surmise that he can focus more on each individual race since he runs on a limited basis. He also drives for Toyota when the manufacturers have data-gathering tests, giving him plenty of track time when he isn’t in a Cup car or the occasional truck. The two wins probably change what people would expect of him next year as a full-time driver. He is going to be a serious threat to make The Chase. “I definitely felt like this year started off rockier than I would have liked,” Heim said. “I went to Daytona and crashed. At Kansas, we finished worse than we did the previous year. It’s been a steady incline up to this point. Winning San Diego, top-10 in Chicago, winning here [at the Brickyard], it’s been a heck of a last couple races. “If you asked me four months ago what my expectations were for 2027, I would have answered differently than now for sure.” So what’s next? “Clearly, he’s with a great team,” Bell said. “And he’s a great driver. He’s a Cup guy. He’s going to do really well next year.” In The News — Jimmie Johnson will get to use the No. 48 for his final Cup race, the 2027 Daytona 500. Johnson worked a deal with Hendrick Motorsports for use of the number he had for his seven Cup titles. The number is currently used for the car of Alex Bowman, whose number for the Daytona 500 has not been announced. — Dreyer & Reinbold Racing has purchased a charter from Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing in the INDYCAR Series. The team has not named a driver and noted that whether it is Chevy or Honda next year is still to be determined. The organization has run Chevys recently in its Indianapolis 500 attempts. — St. Petersburg Grand Prix weekend will include both INDYCAR and the Craftsman Truck Series next season as this year’s doubleheader was deemed a success. It is expected to be the INDYCAR opener. The dates are set for March 5-7, 2027. — NASCAR’s preseason Clash is expected to move from Bowman Gray Stadium to its original location, Daytona International Speedway, according to a report in The Athletic. The event is expected to be Saturday night before the Super Bowl and four days before Daytona 500 qualifying. — Brad Keselowski confirmed that RFK Racing picked up the option on Ryan Preece for 2027 a few months ago, and they are set to race the No. 60 car chartered or unchartered next season. The organization is leasing a charter this year that will go to Legacy Motor Club for 2027. — NASCAR will increase the amount of practice for Cup cars from two groups for 25 minutes apiece to one group for 50 minutes starting with the race weekend at New Hampshire Motor Speedway next month. — NASCAR Vice President for Vehicle Performance Eric Jacuzzi announced on LinkedIn his departure from NASCAR: “Bittersweet but after almost 13 years at NASCAR it’s time for something different.” Jacuzzi was NASCAR’s lead aerodynamicist & played pivotal role in aero package development. Chase Clinched These drivers have clinched spots in The Chase following Indianapolis: Cup — Ty Gibbs clinched to join Denny Hamlin, Tyler Reddick and Ryan Blaney. O’Reilly — Carson Kvapil, Sheldon Creed, Corey Day, Brandon Jones and Austin Hill clinched to join Justin Allgaier and Jesse Love. Truck — Christian Eckes and Gio Ruggerio clinched to join Layne Riggs, Kaden Honeycutt and Chandler Smith. Picture This Social Spotlight They Said It “You love talking about a guy that finished ninth.” — Race winner Corey Heim following a couple of questions about Carson Hocevar.