After running four NASCAR Cup Series races in 2025 for 23XI Racing, the team with which he signed as a development driver before the season began, Corey Heim saw his part-time Cup schedule expand to 12 races in 2026.
In his sixth start of the year and just the 13th start of his career, Heim found victory lane in the series' inaugural street race on Naval Base Coronado in June. Just over one month later at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, he earned his first career oval win in the Brickyard 400.
Heim also competed at Chicagoland Speedway in between his two victories, placing ninth, so his Indy win came in his 15th career Cup start. Not since A.J. Foyt earned his second career victory in 1965 had a driver won twice within the first 15 starts of his career.
While he's not eligible for points in the Cup Series, Heim would be higher than multiple full-time drivers in the standings with his results so far this season, even with just eight starts compared to their 22. His effective points per race average is good for seventh highest in the series.
Corey Heim not competing at Iowa
Despite winning twice in his three most recent starts, however, Heim will not run this Sunday afternoon's race at Iowa Speedway, the venue where he earned his career-best O'Reilly Auto Parts Series finish of third back in 2024 when he drove part-time for Sam Hunt Racing.
It marks the second time this year that the winner of a race will not be back for the next race, with the first instance occurring when 23XI Racing did not run the No. 67 Toyota at Sonoma Raceway in late June.
Prior to that, it hadn't happened since Denny Hamlin missed the June 2025 race at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez, just one week after winning at Michigan International Speedway, due the birth of his third child.
Before Heim's Coronado win, the winning car hadn't missed the following weekend's race since July 2023, when Shane van Gisbergen became the first driver to win on Cup debut since 1963 on the streets of Chicago. His car was not entered in the following weekend's race at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
Heim does plan to compete in four more Cup Series races this year, with the next being the regular season finale at Daytona International Speedway in late August. He is also set to run the playoff opener at Darlington Raceway in early September, as well as the other playoff races at Charlotte Motor Speedway in October and Homestead-Miami Speedway in November.
Live coverage of the Iowa Corn 350 is set to be provided by USA Network starting at 3:30 p.m. ET this Sunday, August 9. Begin a free trial of FuboTV now and don't miss it!
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