Corey Heim sure knows how to impress his new bosses.
Heim was recently confirmed as a full-time Cup Series driver at 23XI Racing for next season, but he already has his first win for the team.
The 2025 NASCAR Truck Series Champion won the inaugural Anduril 250 at Naval Base Coronado in one of the 12 starts he’s making for the team this year in the No. 67 car, and he had to get by his new teammate and current Cup Series points leader Tyler Reddick to do it.
With pre-race favorites Shane van Gisbergen out of the race due to an accident that also ended the day for his teammate and fellow road course ace Connor Zillisch, Heim and Reddick found themselves out in front by themselves in the closing laps.
Heim sat back in second biding his time until he started dialing up the pressure and made his move into Turn 3 with three laps to go. He slipped by Reddick who tried to counter in Turn 5, but went wide and put Heim into the wall, then conceded the spot to him.
“I tried to battle back and overdid it, I ran him straight in the wall and that wasn’t right,” Reddick said. “I wasn’t gonna pass him for the win that way, that’s for sure, especially a teammate.”
Reddick had plenty of time left to set up another pass on the 3.4-mile track, but got a flat tire with two laps to go that allowed Heim to drive away for the win 10 seconds ahead of their teammate Bubba Wallace, who finished second.
Reddick salvaged a 25th place finish to keep an eight point lead in the season standings over of 23XI Racing co-owner Denny Hamlin, who finished 14th in the No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing car.
“I had really high expectations coming into this race,” Heim said. “It’s an even playing field for me, you don’t see that every day for a young driver like myself,” he added, referencing the new track.
Heim will be back in the No. 67 on July 5 at Chicagoland Speedway, a track the Cup Series hasn’t visited since 2019.
