(Jonathan Fjeld/Roundtable) Jonathan Fjeld Tue, October 20, 2026 at 8:36 PM UTC · 3 min read About Our Ads Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Jonathan Fjeld/Roundtable
AVONDALE, Ariz. — Driving what his boss described as "not our best cars" from 23XI Racing, Corey Heim claimed yet another top-five finish in the NASCAR Cup Series on Sunday at Phoenix Raceway.
Heim finished fifth in the Freeway Insurance 500. His top-five finish surprised many, including the 24-year-old driver himself.
Heim started 36th with a lap time that was almost a second off of the pole. He was 11th-fastest overall and 20th on the 10-lap average in a practice session that didn't show much.
Heim's 12th start of the season became a learning process, starting that far back on a track he had never raced on. In the first 30 laps, he only moved up to 31st. However, a caution on lap 45 allowed him to move up to 23rd at the end of the first stage, on lap 60.
"I've done Richmond and Bristol but this is a unique racetrack that I've never done with the Cup car so Stage One was a learning curve for me. I admittedly struggled on that but as the race went on, I got better and better, I thought and my car got better," Heim said.
After Heim fell a lap down and received the wave around to get back on the lead lap, he finished 23rd in the second stage.
Meanwhile, teammates Tyler Reddick finished ninth and seventh in stages and Bubba Wallace finished 15th and fifth in the stages. In the final stage, they started rising to the front – Wallace taking the lead on lap 227 – and Heim followed.
After a cycle of green flag pit stops, which began at around lap 269, he found himself inside the top-15. Then, after a caution on lap 284, his pit crew lifted him from 12th entering pit road to seventh exiting – and ninth for the restart on lap 294.
With three drivers staying out and drivers on various tire strategies, Heim rode the high lane to fifth by lap 297. He hung on to fifth for the duration of the race, finishing as the second-highest 23XI driver.
"Bootie [Barker, crew chief] threw two tires on it at the end in Stage Three and I gained a couple more on the restart. That was fun. I thought our peak was gonna be eighth to 12th but we finished fifth," Heim said.
Heim finished behind race winner Reddick and ahead of Wallace and Herbst. They finished 17th after a speeding penalty and 32nd with crash damage, respectively.
Heim now has fourth top-10 finishes – to complement his wins at Naval Base Coronado and in the Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway and a ninth-place finish at Chicagoland Speedway this season.
"That's a part-time team," Hamlin said . "He definitely doesn't have our best cars on the racetrack and he's making something of it so looking forward to what he does next year."
Heim credited crew chief Bootie Barker with focusing on his "mindset" to be successful.
"He's a really determined individual and he's focused on the right things. Any time I get off track and my mind wanders, he's really good at reminding me about what matters," Heim said. "We're tight. He's a great guy, does a great job, works really hard, is smart... He lightens up the mood in the shop."
Heim will race full-time next season but his number and crew chief are unknown, with 23XI Racing confirming to Roundtable the number is "TBD". While the team announced the No. 35 for 2027, that happened before Heim broke out with the No. 67.
Heim's 13th and final Cup start of 2026 is set for the season finale, Nov. 8 at Homestead-Miami Speedway. His next NASCAR race is in the Craftsman Truck Series at Talladega Superspeedway in TRICON Garage's No. 1 Toyota as a teammate to Kaden Honeycutt.
Source: Sports
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