NASCAR: 5 possible Joe Gibbs Racing replacements for 2023
By Asher Fair
Possible Joe Gibbs Racing 2023 replacements: No. 4 – Corey Heim
Corey Heim is in a position similar to that of John Hunter Nemechek in that he is a Toyota driver who competed for a soon-to-be-Chevrolet-aligned Kyle Busch Motorsports in the NASCAR Truck Series this past year.
Heim didn’t compete full-time in the series, but he was the primary driver of the #51 Toyota throughout the 2022 season, and despite having entered the year with just three career starts, he managed to find victory lane twice, doing so at Atlanta Motor Speedway and World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway.
His most recent full season came in last year’s ARCA Menards Series. He finished in second place in the championship standings with six wins in 20 races.
And with whom did he battle down to the wire for the championship? Ty Gibbs, the driver who is set to move to the Cup Series after just one full season in a lower NASCAR national series.
Toyota is already set to lose Kyle Busch Motorsports driver Chandler Smith, the 20-year-old who announced that he is set to move to the Xfinity Series as the replacement for the Cup Series-bound A.J. Allmendinger at Kaulig Racing. They won’t want to lose the 20-year-old Heim as well.
Heim is set to compete for TRICON Garage in the Truck Series next year, but don’t rule out select Xfinity Series starts with Joe Gibbs Racing.