Corey Heim wasted no time winning his first NASCAR Cup Series Crown Jewel race.
The part-time 23XI Racing driver won the Brickyard 400, holding off Christopher Bell in the closing laps.
Heim started in seventh and ran up front all day, finishing Stage 1 in second and Stage 2 in fifth and leading 58 of 160 laps.
It was his second win in just 15 Cup Series starts, with his first coming at the inaugural Anduril 250 at San Diego’s Naval Base Coronado.
“That was a damn handful. I was hanging on for dear life once the shade went down and the pace picked up, my car got really loose and I’d never really been in a lot of clean air throughout the day, so that was the hardest I ever fought in my life to just make sure I focused on exits and kept them [the cars behind him] in dirty air,” Heim said. “I’m pretty out of breath, that was a workout.”
Bell looked set to make a move on him several times in the closing laps, but Heim never slipped up to give him the opportunity. “I just needed one bobble,” Bell said.
Heim will be driving full-time for the 23XI Racing next year. Bubba Wallace won the Brickyard 400 for the team in 2025.
The race also saw Todd Gilliland become the upset winner of the In-Season Challenge after trailing Ryan Blaney, his final rival, most of the race, until Blaney got spun on lap 120 and sent to the back of the pack. Blaney drove through the field to get to 26th, but Gilliland held on to 24th to take the $1 million prize.
The NASCAR Cup Series has a rare weekend off next week before heading to Iowa Speedway on Aug. 9.
