Just as was the case at Talladga Superspeedway this past weekend, there is no No. 67 Toyota entered by 23XI Racing this weekend at Martinsville Speedway for the penultimate race of the 2026 NASCAR Cup Series season.
But the car is set to be driven for the 13th time this season by development driver Corey Heim next weekend at Homestead-Miami Speedway in the regular season finale.
Heim is set to move up to the Cup Series full-time next year, having been announced as the replacement for Riley Herbst behind the wheel of the No. 35 Toyota, alongside teammates Bubba Wallace and Tyler Reddick.
Corey Heim to miss just one more NASCAR Cup race before full-time promotion
As a result, Sunday's 500-lap Xfinity 500 around the four-turn, 0.526-mile (0.847-kilometer) Ridgeway, Virginia oval might well not just be the last race without Heim on the entry list in 2026. It might well be the last race without Heim on the entry list for the foreseeable future.
Heim, whose wins at Naval Base Coronado and Indianapolis Motor Speedway made him the first driver since A.J. Foyt in 1965 to win two races in his first 15 career Cup Series starts, has also run part-time in the Craftsman Truck Series this season, doing so for the Tricon Garage team with which he won the 2025 championship. He has won three times in eight starts this year.
With two victories and another top five finish in his 12 Cup Series starts this season, Heim's points per race average, even though he is not personally points eligible in Cup, would have been good for ninth best in the series.
He figures to be a postseason threat straight from the get-go next year. While his full-time ride isn't officially set to begin until the 2027 Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway in February, his start in next weekend's season finale at Homestead could very well be the race that begins a lengthy streak of consecutive Cup Series starts.
Sunday afternoon's Xfinity 500 is set to be shown live on NBC from Martinsville Speedway beginning at 2:00 p.m. ET. Start a free trial of FuboTV today and catch all of the action from the penultimate race on the 2026 NASCAR Cup Series Chase playoff schedule!
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