Corey Heim’s Record-Setting Championship Campaign Sets Him Apart

Corey Heim, driver of the #11 Safelite Toyota, celebrates in victory lane after winning the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Championship at Phoenix Raceway on October 31, 2025 in Avondale, Arizona. (Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images)

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Few Nascar drivers have seldom experienced the dominance that Tricon Garage’s Corey Heim had throughout the 2025 Craftsman Truck Series season.

The 22-year-old shattered several records, including most wins (12), most top fives (19), laps led (1,625), and most races with a lap led (did so in every race). That equates to a 48% win percentage while leading over 41% of all laps run in 2025. Quite simply, Heim’s dominance was unprecedented.

“I can’t specifically say why,” Heim said of his record-setting campaign. “It takes a full team, and having everyone on the roster helped me fire off on all cylinders. If I drove any of the other trucks, I feel I wouldn’t have had the success that I did.

“It really means a lot. The way the last couple of years went for me – getting taken out of contention in 2023 and getting my teeth kicked in last year by the [No.] 98 with Ty [Majeski] – I had a different feeling of hunger and determination. I wanted to validate what we were able to do up to this point in the year.”

Heim has competed with Tricon Garage since 2023, the organization’s first year with Toyota. Previously, Tricon raced under the Ford banner as David Gilliland Racing, but when Kyle Busch Motorsports shuttered in the team owner’s move to Richard Childress Racing, Gilliland’s team took over as Toyota’s flagship Truck Series program. Heim competed for KBM in 2022, winning two races in Busch’s signature No. 51 truck.

But joining Tricon Garage led Heim to a new level. He qualified in the Championship 4 in both 2023 and 2024, winning nine races combined in those two seasons.

Heim and veteran crew chief Scott Zipadelli soared in 2025. The No. 11 truck dominated the championship race at Phoenix Raceway, leading 100 of 161 laps en route to the championship, but still needed the restart of his life to drive from ninth to first in overtime with differing strategies among the Championship 4 teams.

Despite torching the truck competition, Heim’s future is unclear. He is under contract as a 23XI Racing development driver and will compete in a chunk of Cup Series races in 2026, but no set number has been determined. He is expected to return to the trucks in some capacity, though a full-time ride is likely off the table in any of the top three national touring divisions.

Nonetheless, competing with the 23XI Cup team in a fourth entry has certainly helped him as a racer, making a quartet of starts in 2025 with a best effort of sixth at Bristol Motor Speedway in September.

“I get to sit in the Cup meetings every week, and I got to prepare like a Cup driver for a truck race,” Heim said. “Their group does a great job at driver development, and that’s the main reason I chose 23XI. They do such a great job at developing drivers and preparation.

“Those cars are very tough to drive, and when you’re going against the best of the best that drive them every single weekend, you have to be on your game. Practice, qualifying and the first stage for me are all about knocking the rust off and making sure I can settle in to get a good pace. I definitely didn’t run enough this year to get in a rhythm to show up to the racetrack and consistently be competitive. But the races are long enough where I can get into my groove late and surge forward to get a good finish.”

Heim is also developing his sponsorship portfolio. Earlier this year, Robinhood signed its first Nascar sponsorship deal with 23XI Racing, with executives being notably excited to partner with the young racer, as well as longtime 23XI driver Bubba Wallace. Robinhood sponsored his car in three of four Cup Series races, with Chief’s also joining his Cup effort. On the Xfinity Series side, Upper Deck and Columbia Sportswear sponsored his No. 24 car with Sam Hunt Racing.

“For me, with a part-time schedule now and hopefully being fulltime one day, partners are extremely important,” Heim said. “It’s key for me that I definitely have a future somewhere. I have people working around me that want me to be there. There’s not many better people to work around than Denny [Hamlin] and MJ. I hope it all works out that I can continue my career there.”

At just 23, Heim has plenty of time to develop into a Cup superstar. In the meantime, he’s leaning on team owners Hamlin and Michael Jordan for words of wisdom.

“I lean on them pretty consistently when I’m in a high-pressure situation,” Heim said. “How to perform when the pressure is on, those guys do a great job at that. I’m understanding what has made them so successful.”

Through 89 career truck starts, Heim has won 23 races, already ranking sixth on the all-time list trailing only Kyle Busch, Ron Hornaday Jr., Mike Skinner, Jack Spraque and Johnny Sauter.