Two-time NASCAR Cup Series race-winner and 23XI Racing development driver, Corey Heim, is going to be upgrading his schedule to run full-time in 2027, but according to NASCAR, the Marietta, Georgia-native won’t be eligible to run for Rookie of The Year (ROTY) honors.
In Tuesday’s episode of the ‘Hauler Talk’ podcast, Mike Forde, Senior Director of Communications for NASCAR, clarified, when answering a fan-submitted question, the eligibility standards for the Sunoco Rookie of the Year award, which over the years have changed and created a number of spirited debates.
“The rookie designation has changed over the years,” Forde said on the Hauler Talk podcast. “Not all rookies are created equal in that to be a rookie, you actually have to apply to be a Rookie of the Year candidate. So, you can go through the entire season and be a rookie; you’d be a first-year driver and not technically be a Rookie of The Year candidate if you didn’t apply to do so.”
Forde explains that there have been recent changes to NASCAR’s ROTY programs, in which a driver must have less than a predetermined number of starts to even have their application for the program considered. To be eligible for ROTY in the NASCAR Cup Series, that number is 12 races. In the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series its 10 races, and in the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series, that threshold is only eight races.
Corey Heim started the year with seven NASCAR Cup Series starts – and according to Forde, if he was running for Cup Series points, he could have applied for ROTY in 2026 – and is currently at 15 starts, and will take the green flag in the 2027 DAYTONA 500, making his 20th start at NASCAR’s top level.
Thus, Heim, as well as Austin Hill (should he continue in the NASCAR Cup Series in 2027) would not be eligible to run for Rookie of the Year honors. Jesse Love, having made only seven starts at NASCAR’s top-level, would be eligible to apply for the award.
In terms of record-keeping, Heim’s two NASCAR Cup Series victories at Naval Base Coronado and Indianapolis Motor Speedway will technically count as “rookie wins,” seeing as this is the season, had he declared for Rookie of the Year, that the defending NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series champion would have been eligible.
Although 2027 will mark the first full-time campaign for Heim in the NASCAR Cup Series, he will not, in the eyes of NASCAR, be able to apply for or run for Rookie of the Year.
Photo: David Rosenblum, Lumen Digital Agency for Toyota Racing
