NASCAR sensation could get screwed out of a full-time ride

Corey Heim has "overstayed his welcome", if you will, in the NASCAR Truck Series, and the statistics show it. He has yet to complete his third full season with Tricon Garage and is already seventh on the all-time wins list with 20, including nine this year (with five in the seven most recent events and no lower than a P3 finish during that stretch).

Yet the 23-year-old Marietta, Georgia native, who signed with 23XI Racing as a development driver ahead of the 2025 season and impressively beat the team's three full-time drivers in two of his four Cup Series starts, does not yet have any kind of a ride lined up for the 2026 season.

23XI Racing co-owner Denny Hamlin has mentioned that Heim's 2026 schedule will likely look similar to his 2025 schedule, which has featured select starts across the Xfinity Series and the Cup Series.

But with nothing confirmed, and no confirmation that a continued stay with Tricon Garage is a fallback, could Heim really end up screwed out of a full-time ride?

Corey Heim surprisingly facing uncertain future

The goal is for him to continue to run part-time in the Cup Series in a fourth car, but that could depend on the ongoing legal battle 23XI Racing (along with Front Row Motorsports) have against NASCAR after they refused to sign the new charter agreement in 2024.

Additionally, Heim has run select races for Sam Hunt Racing in the Xfinity Series each year since 2023, but doing so in 2026 is not a sure thing.

Regardless of whether or not 23XI Racing run a fourth car part-time in 2026, the fact that Heim isn't a shoo-in to replace the struggling Riley Herbst, who is 35th out of 36 full-time drivers in points with nothing higher than a 14th place finish (while teammates Tyler Reddick and Bubba Wallace are in the playoffs), is questionable, but Herbst obviously brings funding.

Monster Energy must be injecting more money into the Hamlin and Michael Jordan-owned organization than they do sugar into their drinks, because Heim, in four starts, has beaten Herbst's top finish of the year (in 30 starts) twice. If funding weren't a factor, this is a no-brainer.

Heim is largely viewed as the "driver of the future" at 23XI Racing, but could waiting around to bring him up cost them, especially amid separate rumors that Reddick could also seek a new ride if the lawsuit doesn't reach a favorable conclusion?

Heim has been mentioned as a possibility for Toyota's Legacy Motor Club Cup team, where he ran a couple races as the replacement for the injured Erik Jones last year, but it doesn't look like the Jimmie Johnson-owned team will be expanding to three full-time entries until 2027 at the earliest after their own legal battle with Rick Ware Racing, also centered around a charter, was recently settled.

Then there is the possibility that a rival manufacturer manages to poach him. With Carson Kvapil not returning to JR Motorsports full-time in the Xfinity (O'Reilly) Series next year after it was confirmed that he is set to share a seat at the team with Connor Zilisch, who is set to make the full-time move to the Cup Series with Trackhouse Racing, Zilisch's current seat is open.

If possible, would JR Motorsports take a swing and try to sign him away from an uncertain and borderline unstable situation at his current manufacturer? He is already long overdue for an Xfinity Series promotion that goes beyond a few races per year, and this would be the best short-term solution.

The question is whether, amid all of this year's chaos, 23XI Racing is still viewed as his top long-term solution, because NASCAR fans have all come to the conclusion that he is not welcome at Joe Gibbs Racing simply because Ty Gibbs doesn't like him.

Either way, the fact that Heim currently has zero confirmed planned starts for 2026, and October 2025 is right around the corner, is crazy when you consider what he has done over the past few seasons, and that goes beyond his success at the Truck level.