23XI Racing development driver Corey Heim, who competes full-time in the NASCAR Truck Series for Tricon Garage and has established himself as the championship favorite by leading the series in regular season points and wins (by far), entered the year planning to make four Cup Series starts for 23XI Racing.
He made his season debut at Kansas Speedway in May and actually beat the team's three full-time drivers – Tyler Reddick, Bubba Wallace, and Riley Herbst – with a 13th place finish. A mistake at Nashville Superspeedway in early June led to a DNF before he hit a new low on the streets of Chicago in early July.
Heim made a mistake in qualifying, and with 41 cars on the entry list, he became the first driver to fail to qualify for a non-Daytona 500 Cup race since November 2018. He returned for the August race at Richmond Raceway and finished in 29th place.
23XI Racing adding a race for Corey Heim
He wasn't initially planning on competing in any further Cup races this year, but the Denny Hamlin and Michael Jordan-owned team have changed those plans ahead of this weekend's round of 16 finale at Bristol Motor Speedway, as Heim is on the entry list.
Heim is set to be back behind the wheel of the No. 67 Toyota for the fifth time this year, and with only two other part-time non-chartered (open) cars on the entry list for Saturday night's 500-lap Bass Pro Shops Night Race around the four-turn, 0.533-mile (0.858-kilometer) high-banked Bristol, Tennessee oval, he is locked into his race.
The other part-time open cars set to compete on Saturday night are the No. 33 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet and the No. 66 Garage 66 Ford. Austin Hill is set to drive the former and Chad Finchum is set to drive the latter.
The Bass Pro Shops Night Race is set to be shown live on USA Network from Bristol Motor Speedway starting at 7:30 p.m. ET this Saturday, September 13. Start a free trial of FuboTV and don't miss the round of 16 finale!