SRIGLEY: Sixth-Place Run at Bristol Proves Corey Heim's Cup Worthiness

Corey Heim proved his worthiness of a NASCAR Cup Series ride with a sixth-place finish in Saturday's Bass Pro Shops Night Race at Bristol | Lesley Ann Miller, Lumen Digital Agency for Toyota GAZOO Racing

In just his seventh career start in the NASCAR Cup Series, Corey Heim was able to navigate the unexpected chaos of Saturday's Bass Pro Shops Night Race at Bristol Motor Speedway, recording his first career top-10 finish -- and likely, the first of many.

The Marietta, Georgia-native piloted his No. 67 Robinhood Toyota Camry XSE to a sixth-place finish in one of the most bizarre and drastically different events that the NASCAR Cup Series (barring a similar situation with a different tire in the Spring of 2024) has seen in quite some time.

Final results of the last four race of the season 🏁@CoreyHeim_ - P6@TylerReddick - P15@rileyherbst - P18@BubbaWallace - P34#teamtoyota@RobinhoodApp | @PNFP | @MonsterEnergy pic.twitter.com/VEpgYGP7zs

— 23XI Racing (@23XIRacing) September 14, 2025

Now, by no stretch of the imagination was this a fluke, either. The 23-year-old driver spent much of Saturday's 500-lap contest off the lead-lap, having fallen victim to the unexpected onset of severe tire degradation in the opening run of the race, which forced several drivers to make green-flag stops much earlier than expected.

As the laps clicked off, Heim was able to get more comfortable in a NASCAR Cup Series vehicle at Bristol Motor Speedway, and his part-time 23XI Racing crew – led by veteran crew chief Bootie Barker – called the perfect strategy to get the No. 67 Toyota into the top-10 when a late-race caution was thrown for an incident on-track.

RACE RESULTS: 2025 Bass Pro Shops Night Race at Bristol Motor Speedway

"Yeah, a good result there. Once everyone kind of realized the situation with the tires, we adjusted accordingly and did all of the right things and kept ourselves in it all day," said Corey Heim, driver of the No. 67 Toyota XSE. "It was a claw to get back on the lead lap after we had a right front go down in stage one, but can't thank these 23XI Racing guys enough -- they stuck with it."

The sixth-place result for Heim in Saturday's NASCAR Cup Series event marks the second career top-15 result for the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series regular, after driving the No. 67 Toyota Camry XSE to a 13th-place finish earlier this season at Kansas Speedway. Heim's other two starts at Nashville and Richmond resulted in 37th and 29th place finishes, respectively.

"Thank you to Toyota and Robinhood for all of the support that went into my five Cup races this year," Heim added. "All the ups and downs that we had -- to end on a high note is pretty special. Hopefully, we can take that and move forward."

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OPINION: Top-10 at Bristol The Latest Sign of Heim Being Cup-Ready

Photo: Nigel Kinrade, Lumen Digital Agency for Toyota GAZOO Racing

Corey Heim is an extremely talented race car driver.

While that probably seems like the most obvious statement ever made, considering his total dominance of the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series over the last three seasons, it’s worth noting that the Marietta, Georgia-native has become one of NASCAR’s prospects.

Heim is a product of Toyota GAZOO Racing’s Driver Development Program (T2D), which has been responsible for bringing him through the ranks of the ARCA Menards Series, and eventually into the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, where he’s collected 19 wins in four seasons.

The complete domination in the NASCAR Truck Series has earned Heim opportunities to compete in the NASCAR Xfinity Series (for Sam Hunt Racing) and the NASCAR Cup Series (first with LEGACY MOTOR CLUB and then with 23XI Racing.

In February, Heim was named the first development driver for a prestigious NASCAR Cup Series operation, 23XI Racing, which is owned and operated by Denny Hamlin and NBA superstar Michael Jordan. That alone, was the catalyst for the young driver to have the opportunity to run Saturday’s event at Bristol, in which he succeeded mightily.

So, logically speaking, the next step for Corey Heim – considering he’s aligned with 23XI Racing and having solid showings in the Cup Series – would be going full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, right? Well, it’s not that easy.

The newest iteration of NASCAR’s Charter Agreement, which went into effect as of January 1, 2025, prohibits teams from owning more than three charters. In its current form, 23XI Racing has three and fields entries in the Cup Series for Bubba Wallace, Riley Herbst, and Tyler Reddick.

Sure, there are concerns regarding the team’s future – considering the antitrust lawsuit that is set to be litigated on December 1 – but as things stand, right now, nothing seems poised to change for next season, leaving Heim as the odd driver out.

In fact, the leading idea within the NASCAR garage, as things stand, is that Heim won’t be competing full-time in any of NASCAR’s National Series and will instead run a partial schedule in the NASCAR Cup Series, NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series (what is currently the NASCAR Xfinity Series), and the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series.

That isn’t a measure or indictment of Heim’s overall talent level, though, and shouldn’t be received that way. Instead, that’s just a funding and logistics issue, which can’t even be blamed on Heim, or Toyota GAZOO Racing, or even 23XI Racing.

Heim doesn’t have a single personal sponsor attached to him, and without sponsorship from existing partners, either of 23XI Racing or Toyota GAZOO Racing, that’s an entire slate of sponsorship that would need to be found for a Heim-driven entry.

Should nothing materialize to get Heim running full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series in 2026, it would be a damn shame, considering a Rookie of The Year (ROTY) fight between Corey Heim in a 23XI Racing entry and Connor Zilisch in a Trackhouse Racing entry, would absolutely feed families.

… and let’s face it, a sixth-place finish in your first NASCAR Cup Series start at Bristol Motor Speedway is pretty darn impressive and proves that Heim is definitely ready for a full-time seat at NASCAR’s highest level.