Corey Heim had absolutely nothing to prove at Naval Base Coronado on Sunday, but the Marietta, Georgia-native, who has already signed and been announced as a full-time NASCAR Cup Series driver for 23XI Racing in 2027, went ahead and did it anyways.
The defending NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series champion stayed alive throughout the entirety of a difficult afternoon of competition in San Diego, and when the laps wound down, found himself in contention and a position to pounce on a spot just behind NASCAR Cup Series points leader and 23XI Racing teammate Tyler Reddick.
Heim spent the final 10 laps of the race trying to pressure his veteran teammate into a mistake, and against all odds, the driver of the No. 45, a multi-time road course winner himself, slid wide in Turn 2, allowing the No. 67 Mobil 1 Toyota Camry XSE to get alongside for the lead. When they reached Turn 5 side-by-side, though, Reddick pushed wide and nearly cost both him and his teammate a shot at the win.
But, in a sign of respect for his teammate, Reddick slowed in the middle of the corner, allowing Heim to take the race-lead, a position that the NASCAR Cup Series points leader felt was rightfully and cleanly earned.
“I feel like for a while I thought he was kind of playing with me, but he was able to set the pace being the lead car,” Heim said post-race. “I was able to stick with him, not really burning my stuff up, [then] five to go came, time to put some pressure on him, see if I could get him to make a mistake. Sure enough, he did.”
“He doored me down there in [Turn 5] and gave it back to me. That’s something you don’t see every day. That’s a great teammate. Just crazy. It feels like a dream. I hope I don’t wake up from this dream.”
Sunday’s triumph at Naval Base Coronado marks the first NASCAR Cup Series win for Heim in just his 13th career start. The 23-year-old is one of 11 drivers since 1982 to have won a race in their first 15 starts at NASCAR’s top-level. It’s also the first win for the No. 67 in the NASCAR Cup Series.
It was an all-around fantastic afternoon for 23XI Racing, who, at times during the final run of the race, had all four of its drivers running inside the top-five. However, at the checkered flag, the organization managed to collect a 1-2 finish with Heim in first, and Bubba Wallace earning his best road course finish in second.
Wallace made one hell of a recovery to get to that position, too, after a wheel came loose on the No. 23 XFINITY Mobile Toyota Camry earlier in the race, costing him two laps, which he quickly made back, and began his progress towards the front of the pack. The Mobile, Alabama-native snagged the second position coming to the white flag, getting around Kyle Larson, who finished third.
Zane Smith drove through some last-lap chaos to record a fourth-place result in the No. 38 Ford Mustang Dark Horse for Front Row Motorsports, while AJ Allmendinger, who punted Riley Herbst from the fourth position on the final lap, rounded out the top-five.
Chris Buescher came home in sixth with Trackhouse’s best finisher in seventh, that, of course, being Ross Chastain. Riley Herbst was pushed back to eighth on the final lap, with Ryan Blaney ninth, and Michael McDowell recording a top 10 for Spire Motorsports.
Carson Hocevar had to settle for a 19th-place finish after being turned around in the final chicane by eventual race-winner Corey Heim. Hocevar had a top-five run going at the time.
Kevin Magnussen, making his NASCAR Cup Series debut in the No. 91 for Trackhouse Racing and PROJECT91, had an interesting day all-around, between contact with Noah Gragson, which led to a post-race disagreement, and actually posting the fastest lap of the race at Lap 72, but came home 27th.
Connor Zilisch and Shane Van Gisbergen were the pre-race favorites and the class of the field for the first half of the race just about but were collected in a big wreck exciting Turn 1 when Austin Hill locked up the rear brakes and drove both Red Bull-sponsored machines into the wall.
Christopher Bell, still nursing a broken right wrist after a heavy crash at Michigan, elected to climb out of the No. 20 CRAFTSMAN Toyota Camry XSE at the first caution at Lap 13 to make way for Brent Crews, in hopes of collecting points. Crews ran some solid laps, but ultimately, retired the car after 28 laps due to a gearbox issue that caused the car to stop on-track.
After a flat tire for Reddick dropped the No. 45 to 25th at the finish, the 23XI Racing driver only holds an eight-point advantage over Denny Hamlin, who finished the race 14th. Next for the NASCAR Cup Series is another road course, at Sonoma, with the event taking place Sunday, June 28.
Coverage for the NASCAR Cup Series will now move to TNT Sports.
