Corey Heim Steals the Brickyard in His First Trip to Indy
Corey Heim had never turned a lap at Indianapolis Motor Speedway before this weekend. He left it a crown jewel winner. The 24-year-old wheeled the No. 67 Field and Stream Toyota for 23XI Racing to victory in the Brickyard 400 on Sunday, diced his way to the lead on a restart with 35 laps to go, and then held off Christopher Bell and Joey Logano over a long green run to the finish. Bell crossed under three tenths of a second back. It was the second Cup win of Heim's young career and his first in a crown jewel, and he did it running only a part-time schedule.
Heim is the reigning Truck Series champion and a full-time Cup driver for 23XI in waiting. On Sunday he became the first part-time driver to win the Brickyard 400 and the second-youngest winner in the race's history, trailing only Jeff Gordon, who was 23 when he won the inaugural running in 1994. It also gave 23XI Racing back-to-back Brickyard trophies. Not bad for a driver who had eight Cup starts on the season and turned his first competitive laps at the Speedway on Friday.
Photo: U.S. Navy, Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Joey Sitter (public domain), via Wikimedia Commons
Key Moments and Turning Points
The day belonged to Toyota early. Ty Gibbs led the field to the Stage 1 win, and Ross Chastain took Stage 2 in the No. 1 Chevrolet with a comfortable gap over Todd Gilliland. Underneath the stage results, the story was tire wear. Indianapolis chewed up right sides all afternoon, and it bit some of the biggest names in the garage.
Kyle Larson looked like a threat until his day ended on Lap 45. A left-rear tire let go entering Turn 3, and the No. 5 Hendrick Chevrolet snapped into the outside wall. Larson finished 39th and scored a single point, a brutal result for a driver who had run inside the top five earlier in the run. Daniel Dye had a nearly identical moment on Lap 96, losing the back of his No. 78 Kaulig Chevrolet off Turn 3 and into the fence. Tire trouble was the theme of the afternoon, and it kept reshuffling the running order.
Chase Elliott also had his Sunday unravel. Contact with Ricky Stenhouse Jr. on Lap 60 turned the No. 9 into the wall and sent Elliott to the garage. He returned 41 laps down and limped home 37th. A nine-car scramble later in the race collected Ryan Blaney and damaged the right side of his Ford, dropping him to a 26th-place finish. Every one of those cautions handed Heim and his crew another chance to gain track position, and they kept taking it.
Pit Strategy and How the Race Was Won
This one came down to pit road and the restart box. Heim was quietly excellent on entry and exit all day, and his crew kept beating the field off pit road when it mattered. When a debris caution slowed the race inside the final 50 laps, Heim was first off pit road, and that flipped the race in his favor. He restarted up front, made an aggressive move to the outside of team owner Denny Hamlin to clear for the top spot, and never gave it back.
The math tells the rest. Heim led a race-high 58 laps, more than Gibbs at 46 and Carson Hocevar at 31, and he posted the fastest lap of the day at 49.554 seconds. Once he cleared Hamlin, he managed a 35-lap green-flag run without a mistake, keeping Bell just out of striking range and never letting Logano get a run on the outside. On a day when tires were falling off and cars were finding the wall, the winning play was clean pit stops and a fearless restart. Heim made both.
Photo: TaurusEmerald, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Stats and Fun Facts
- Heim became the first driver since A.J. Foyt in 1965 to earn his first two Cup wins inside his opening 15 starts.
- Both of Heim's 2026 Cup victories came this summer, at the Naval Base Coronado road course near San Diego and now at Indianapolis.
- Ty Gibbs clinched a playoff spot on the strength of his Stage 1 win and a 12th-place finish.
- Todd Gilliland walked away with the one million dollar In-Season Challenge prize.
- Fifteen lead changes among eleven drivers, and five cautions for 27 laps, made for a busy afternoon at the Brickyard.
The Hocevar Flashpoint
The Brickyard gave us a rivalry moment too. Late in Stage 2, Carson Hocevar came down pit road a lap down and could not get past Heim. Heim had let Hamlin by moments earlier but offered Hocevar no such courtesy, so the Spire Motorsports driver leaned the No. 77 to the apron alongside his rival and stuck a middle finger out the door at roughly 180 miles per hour on Lap 91. Hocevar played it off afterward, saying he was just a fan waving at the number one car. Heim said he did not even see it in the moment, then pointed to the scoreboard. Hocevar finished ninth. Heim finished first, and he was happy to remind everyone which of those two numbers mattered.
Who Is Hot and Who Is Not
Trending up: Corey Heim is the story of the summer. Two wins in a part-time car and a crown jewel on his resume before he has even started full time. Christopher Bell keeps knocking on the door with another runner-up, and Joey Logano quietly banked a strong third. Denny Hamlin extended his points lead with a fifth-place run and watched one of his own cars win the race.
Trending down: Kyle Larson and Chase Elliott both had top runs erased, Larson by a tire and Elliott by contact, and both walked away with almost nothing to show for it. Ryan Blaney got caught in someone else's mess and lost a solid day. For the Hendrick camp especially, Indianapolis stung. You can keep tabs on the whole picture on the NASCAR Cup Series schedule and standings as the regular season winds toward the playoffs.
Fan Pick of the Week: How It Played Out
This week's Fan Favorite versus Underdog matchup on our Rivalries page put Chase Elliott, the No. 9, in the favorite chair against Bubba Wallace, the No. 23, as the underdog. The vote was a dead heat, with fans split 50 percent Elliott to 50 percent Wallace. On the track it was not close. Elliott got swept up in the Stenhouse contact and finished 37th, while Wallace brought his Toyota home 28th. The underdog finished higher, so the half of you who backed Wallace called it right. Fans who entered their email and picked the winner earn a 5 dollar code good all week. Want in on the next one? This week's new matchup is live now at our Rivalries page.
Gear Up for the Toyota Charge
Fresh off the Brickyard shocker, the man of the hour has gear on the shelf. Grab a Corey Heim championship shirt before the rest of the country catches on to what NASCAR fans already know. Rooting for the runner-up? Check out a Christopher Bell No. 20 win shirt. Team Penske fans can pick up a Joey Logano No. 22 win tee, and Chase Briscoe backers have a Briscoe No. 19 win shirt ready to go. Round out the Toyota lineup with a Denny Hamlin No. 11 schedule tee, or fly the Ford flag with a Brad Keselowski No. 6 shirt.
Your Take
Here is the debate for the comments. Was Carson Hocevar out of line for the one-finger salute, or is that just hard racing between two young drivers who clearly do not like each other? And now that Corey Heim has a crown jewel win in a part-time ride, how loud should the rest of the garage be worried when he goes full time? Drop your take below.
