23XI Racing entered four cars this past weekend at Bristol Motor Speedway, something they had only done on four previous occasions up to this point in the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series season.
On only three of those four occasions had all four cars actually competed. At the Chicago Street Course in early July, Corey Heim made a mistake in qualifying, and because there were 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, when Timmy Hill and MBM Motorsports missed the main event at Texas Motor Speedway.
The Denny Hamlin and Michael Jordan-owned team were not initially planning on entering the No. 67 Toyota for Heim at Bristol, but they made the decision to do so, and it paid off.
Corey Heim the top 23XI driver at Bristol (again)
In a race which featured high levels of tire wear and degradation, Heim drove from 38th to sixth place, and he was able to repeat a feat that some fans may have considered a fluke when he pulled it off at Kansas Speedway back in mid-May.
Heim beat each of the team's three full-time drivers (Bubba Wallace, Riley Herbst, and Tyler Reddick) again at Bristol, just like he did at Kansas.
At Kansas, he finished in what was then a career-high 13th, ahead of Reddick in 17th, Herbst in 27th, and Wallace in 33rd. Both Reddick and Wallace are former Kansas winners. Then on Saturday, Reddick finished in 15th with Herbst in 18th and Wallace in 34th.
Considering the fact that Heim has now been the top 23XI Racing driver in half of his 2025 Cup Series starts, despite his Tricon Garage ride in the Truck Series being his full-time role, it's no surprise that so many fans want to see him promoted to Cup.
There have long been calls for the 23XI Racing development driver to replace Herbst, who is clearly where he is due to funding. Herbst is 35th out of 36 full-time drivers in the point standings while Reddick and Wallace have both advanced to the round of 12 of the playoffs, and while Heim has recorded finishes of 13th and sixth in only four starts, Herbst has not finished higher than 14th in 29 starts.
That said, it doesn't look like 23XI Racing will be changing their driver lineup for 2026, with Heim expected to once again run full-time (either in the Truck Series or Xfinity Series) while making select Cup Series starts. Not signing him for 2027, however, would clearly be a mistake.
And as of now, it looks as though Heim's focus has shifted entirely to the Truck Series for the rest of the season, where he owns comfortable leads in the wins category and in the point standings as he looks to back up his status as clear championship favorite with his first title. He is not lined up to compete in any more Cup Series playoff races this year.
In fact, there are no part-time cars on the entry list for this Sunday afternoon's Mobil 1 301 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, which is set to be shown live on USA Network starting at 2:00 p.m. ET. Start a free trial of FuboTV and don't miss any of the action!