Corey Heim stuns NASCAR with Brickyard 400 win as part-time Cup driver

Corey Heim has shocked the NASCAR world again, winning the Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in his 15th career start. Heim had never completed a lap at IMS before this weekend, but leaves as the winner of one of NASCAR’s crown-jewel races.

Earlier this year, Heim out-dueled 23XI Racing teammate Tyler Reddick for his first Cup win at San Diego. At Indianapolis, Heim passed 23XI co-owner Denny Hamlin before holding off Christopher Bell for victory.

Heim became the first driver since A.J. Foyt in 1965 to claim his first two Cup victories within his opening 15 starts. He’s also the youngest driver to win the Brickyard 400 since Jeff Gordon in 1994, and is also the first part-time driver to have a multi-win Cup season since Davey Allison and Tim Richmond in 1987.

Watch: Heim hangs on to win Indy: ‘That was a damn handful!’

“Yeah, that was a damn handful,” said Heim. “I was hanging on for dear life once the shade went down and the pace picked up. My car got really loose. And I had never really been in a lot of clean air throughout the day, so that was the hardest I’ve ever fought in my life to just make sure I focused on exits and kept them in dirty air.

“I’m pretty out of breath. That was a workout. It was a dream come true. Winning at the Brickyard. That’s unbelievable. Thank you so much, fans, for coming out here.

“Caught a break early with the pit cycle. And just executed all day. Made no mistakes. My team, 23XI did a fantastic job with my Field & Stream Camry. First race with Field & Stream too, that’s awesome. First race, first win, so we hope we can keep it going.”

Bell finished second, just three tenths behind Heim at the checkered flag. Joey Logano, Chase Briscoe, and Denny Hamlin rounded out the top five.

Brad Keselowski, Josh Berry, Ryan Preece, Carson Hocevar, and Tyler Reddick filled out the remainder of the top ten.

Stage 1

Hocevar led from pole and quickly opened a 2.5-second advantage. Austin Dillon was the first to pit after rapidly dropping through the field, worried about a tire issue. His brother Ty Dillon got a blend line violation soon after that, prompting teams to remind their drivers about the unique pit exit procedure at IMS.

Hocevar pitted from the lead at the end of Lap 32, giving Suarez the top spot, but he immediately came under attack from Reddick. Suarez resisted the challenge, and came down pit road the following lap with a big lockup.

Larson and Gibbs both pitted earlier than Hocevar, and successfully pulled off the undercut.

Hamlin and over half the field ran the first stint long, with most waiting until ten laps to go to come down pit road.

Larson was in position to win Stage 1, but disaster struck five laps from the end as he blew a left-rear tire. Larson slammed the wall and his race was over.