Corey Heim

Corey Heim Bio

Corey David Heim, born July 5, 2002, is an American professional stock car racing driver. He is best known as the 2025 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series champion, a title he claimed in only his third full season in the series. Heim has also competed part-time in the NASCAR Cup Series and the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series (formerly the Xfinity Series), building a reputation as one of the most talented young drivers in the Toyota development pipeline. His aggressive late-race racing style and consistent speed have made him a frequent threat to win at every level of stock car racing.

Early Life and Background

Corey David Heim was born on July 5, 2002, in Marietta, Georgia, and grew up in the surrounding Cobb County area. He is the son of Ray Heim and Lisa Heim, and his father played a major role in his introduction to motorsports. Ray Heim was a former late model racer who later worked as the Chief Technology Officer at Pen-Tech Associates, Inc., a company based in Kennesaw, Georgia. Watching his father race provided young Corey with an early understanding of the sport and the dedication required to succeed at high levels.

Heim attended Kennesaw Mountain High School, balancing his education with an increasingly demanding racing schedule that frequently took him across the Southeast. The Atlanta-area short track scene gave him an ideal training ground, and he spent many weekends competing at Atlanta Motor Speedway. By the time he reached his teenage years, Heim had already mapped out a path toward professional stock car racing, a path that would take him from local Legends cars to national NASCAR events in just a few short years.

Path to NASCAR

Heim began his career in Legends cars, where he earned championship recognition at Atlanta Motor Speedway by winning the 2016 Young Lions division and the 2017 Thursday Thunder Pro division title. Those early successes helped him transition to super late model racing, where he competed in events sanctioned by the CARS Tour, Southern Super Series, Pro All-Stars Series, and NASCAR Whelen All-American Series. In 2018, he earned Rookie of the Year honors in both the CARS Super Late Model Tour and the Southern Super Series, a sign that his stock was rising quickly within the short track community.

In 2020, Heim stepped up his commitment by announcing a full-season CARS Late Model Stock Tour schedule with Lee Pulliam Performance. He captured the SpeedFest 200 victory in Georgia, won the CARS Late Model Stock Car Tour Rookie of the Year, and added another Late Model crown jewel with a win in the 2022 Thunder Road 200. By 2021, he was ready for national touring series competition, making his ARCA Menards Series debut with Chad Bryant Racing and posting strong results immediately. That rapid climb through the ladder system set the stage for his move into the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series with Kyle Busch Motorsports.

Corey Heim Career

Early Career (2019-2021)

Heim’s national-level career began in 2019 with the ARCA Menards Series, where he joined Chad Bryant Racing for a thirteen-race schedule in the team’s No. 22 car. He posted a top-five finish in his series debut at Five Flags Speedway and finished every race he started, ending the year tenth in points despite not running a full schedule. In 2020, he moved to Venturini Motorsports for a seven-race slate, highlighted by a victory at Kansas Speedway in the Speediatrics 150, his first ARCA national series win.

The 2021 ARCA season marked Heim’s first full national tour, and he made the most of it driving the No. 20 for Venturini Motorsports. He won the season opener at Daytona International Speedway and added victories at Talladega, Pocono, Elko, Watkins Glen, and Illinois. He developed a season-long rivalry with Ty Gibbs, ultimately finishing second in the standings by 37 points. That same year, on April 19, Kyle Busch revealed in an interview that Heim would make his Truck Series debut at Darlington Raceway with Kyle Busch Motorsports, kicking off his NASCAR national series career.

NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Breakthrough (2021-2022)

Heim made his NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series debut on May 7, 2021, at Darlington Raceway, finishing 23rd after being wrecked on a late restart. He returned to Kyle Busch Motorsports in 2022 for a 15-race Truck schedule, and on March 19, 2022, he captured his first Truck Series victory at his home track of Atlanta Motor Speedway with a last-lap pass of teammate Chandler Smith. He added a second win at Gateway Motorsports Park later in the season. Because he did not run a full-time schedule, Heim was ineligible for the playoffs, but he still finished 14th in points and won the 2022 Camping World Truck Series Rookie of the Year award.

On October 27, 2022, David Gilliland Racing announced it would move to Toyota Racing Development in 2023 and rebrand as Tricon Garage, with Heim named as one of the team’s full-time drivers. He scored his first win of 2023 at Martinsville Speedway, won again at Mid-Ohio, claimed the regular season championship at Richmond, and added a playoff win at Bristol. After finishing 18th at Phoenix following contact with Carson Hocevar, Heim was initially listed third in points, but a postseason penalty from NASCAR dropped him to fourth.

NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Championship Era (2024-2025)

The 2024 season saw Heim open with a second-place finish at Daytona, then rack up regular season wins at Circuit of the Americas, Kansas, North Wilkesboro, Gateway, and Pocono. He added a playoff win at Kansas and closed the year second in the final standings. In 2025, Heim started with a second-place finish at Daytona that was upgraded to a victory after the initial winner, Parker Kligerman, failed post-race inspection. Regular season wins at Las Vegas, Texas, Charlotte, Lime Rock, Watkins Glen, and Richmond pushed him into the playoffs, where he won at Darlington, New Hampshire, and the Charlotte Roval, the last of which gave him a record 10 wins in a single Truck Series season, surpassing Greg Biffle’s mark of nine set in 1999. An 11th win at Martinsville locked him into the Championship 4, and he sealed the 2025 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series championship with a victory at Phoenix Raceway.

NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series (2023-2025)

Heim made his NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series debut on April 29, 2023, at Dover Motor Speedway, driving the No. 24 Toyota for Sam Hunt Racing. After a 35th-place debut result, he finished tenth at Darlington and ran two more races that season. He returned to Sam Hunt Racing for a 13-race part-time slate in 2024, posting three top-five finishes and four top-ten results. In 2025, he ran a three-race schedule with the team, earning a best finish of eighth at Bristol in the spring race.

NASCAR Cup Series (2024-Present)

On January 25, 2024, Heim was announced as a reserve driver for both Legacy Motor Club and 23XI Racing, while also serving as Legacy’s simulator driver. His Cup debut came at Dover Motor Speedway after an injury sidelined Erik Jones. He finished 25th in that race and added a 22nd-place run at Kansas. On February 23, 2025, he signed a multi-year deal with 23XI Racing as a development driver, running a partial Cup schedule in the No. 67 Toyota Camry XSE, and his top Cup result of 2025 was a sixth-place finish at Bristol Motor Speedway. In 2026, he won the inaugural Anduril 250 at San Diego, holding off teammate Tyler Reddick for his first career Cup Series victory, and was later announced to run full-time in the No. 35 for 23XI Racing.

Driving Style and Strengths

Heim is widely regarded as a calm, calculating racer who excels in long runs and on intermediate and road course tracks. His 2025 Truck Series record-setting 1,627 laps led and 23 stage wins demonstrate his ability to manage tires, fuel, and track position better than most of his peers. He pairs well with his crew chiefs at Tricon Garage, and his disciplined approach in the pits has helped him convert strong cars into consistent finishes.

Notable Races and Milestones

Heim’s 2025 Truck Series championship at Phoenix Raceway was the high point of a season that also included the record-breaking 10-win campaign and a streak of nine consecutive top-five finishes. His first Cup Series win came at the inaugural Anduril 250 in San Diego in 2026, and his youngest-to-reach-10-wins record in the Truck Series stands as another major career milestone.

Corey Heim Career Wins

Heim has accumulated wins across multiple national and regional stock car series, anchored by his record-setting 2025 Truck Series championship. Below is a verified summary of his headline victories.

NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Highlights

Heim has earned 26 career NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series wins, including his championship-clinching victory at Phoenix Raceway in 2025. His first Truck win came at Atlanta in 2022, and he has since added memorable victories at Martinsville, Bristol, Mid-Ohio, and the Charlotte Roval. The 2025 season alone produced 12 wins, a single-season record, and his 10-win playoff push broke Greg Biffle’s longstanding mark.

ARCA Menards Series and Other Wins

In the ARCA Menards Series, Heim has scored 9 career wins, including multiple victories at Kansas Speedway. He is also a past winner of the SpeedFest 200 and the Thunder Road 200 late model crown jewels, wins that helped establish his reputation as a top late model talent before reaching NASCAR’s national series.

Corey Heim Family

Family Background and Racing Lineage

Heim is the son of Ray Heim and Lisa Heim, and he grew up in a household where racing was a regular topic of conversation. His father, Ray Heim, is a former late model racer who later built a career in technology as the Chief Technology Officer at Pen-Tech Associates, Inc., based in Kennesaw, Georgia. That blend of grassroots racing experience and engineering-minded thinking has clearly shaped Corey’s analytical approach behind the wheel.

Personal Life

Heim is a graduate of Kennesaw Mountain High School in Kennesaw, Georgia, and he has kept his home base in the greater Atlanta area throughout his professional career. The Toyota driver development program and 23XI Racing have supported his growth as a young professional, and he continues to live a relatively private personal life away from the track.

2025 Season Performance

The 2025 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series season was the defining year of Heim’s young career, as he turned Tricon Garage’s No. 11 Toyota Tundra TRD Pro into the dominant truck in the field. He opened the year with a victory at Daytona, was awarded the win after post-race inspection, and then rolled off six more regular season wins at Las Vegas, Texas, Charlotte, Lime Rock, Watkins Glen, and Richmond. The consistency of his speed across ovals, road courses, and short tracks made him a heavy favorite once the playoffs began, and he locked up the regular season championship well before the postseason cutoff.

During the playoffs, Heim won at Darlington, New Hampshire, and the Charlotte Roval, with the Roval victory giving him a record 10 wins in a single Truck Series season. A win at Martinsville punched his ticket to the Championship 4 at Phoenix Raceway, where he closed out the year with his 11th victory and the 2025 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series championship. He also ran a partial Cup schedule for 23XI Racing and three Xfinity Series races for Sam Hunt Racing, gaining valuable seat time at the national level while cementing his place as one of Toyota’s top young prospects.