Before arriving this weekend to compete in the 30th annual Brickyard 400, 24-year old Georgia native Corey Heim had never seen the World’s Most Famous Race track, much less turn a competitive lap around the historic 2.5-mile Indianapolis Motor Speedway oval.
Being a “rookie” at the Speedway, the challenging IMS oval proved not to be a problem for the talented young Georgia native. The inexperienced Heim proved to be one of the fastest learners in IMS history as he held off Christopher Bell and Joey Logano to capture the 2026 Brickyard 400 on his first attempt.
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Heim miraculously did what many experienced NASCAR Cup Series champions, stars, and future NASCAR Hall of Famers like 45-year-old veteran Denny Hamlin, three-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Joey Logano, veteran former NASCAR Cup champion Brad Keselowski and other outstanding drivers have failed to do — win a prestigious Brickyard 400.
Heim qualified a very impressive seventh place. The competitive young driver kept his car in contention during most of the first half of the 160-lap race that was dominated by pole sitter Carson Hocevar, who led the first 31 laps.
After the first round of green flag pit stops, Kyle Larson took the lead. But his early pit stop to take the lead from Hocevar resulted in Larson’s No. 5 Hendrick Chevy blowing a rear tire and slamming hard into the third turn wall bringing out the first caution flag. The green flag waved with a one-lap shootout to decide the winner of the first 50 -lap stage which was won by Ty Gibbs.
When the green flag waved starting the second (50 laps) stage, Gibbs, Denny Hamlin and Heim led most of the second stage until Daniel Dye’s No.78 Chevy pounded the turn three wall. That brought out the second caution flag ending the second stage with Ross Chastain inheriting the second stage win and NASCAR In-Season Challenge contender Todd Gilliland in second place followed by Gibbs, Hamlin and Heim.
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The green flag resumed action in the final stage on Lap 104. Gibbs was quickly back in front closely hounded by Hamlin and Heim. A caution for debris on Lap 115 slowed the field and many lead cars made their final pit stops hoping to get enough fuel to take them to lap 160 (400 miles) and victory.
Heim and Hamlin battled for the lead until lap 121 when a multi-car melee involving nine cars in turn three brought out the fifth and final caution flag. Unfortunately, In-Season ($1 Million dollar) Challenge favorite Ryan Blaney was pushed into the wall by John Hunter Nemechek’s No. 42 Toyota.
This unfortunate incident amounted to a $1 million dollar hit for the innocent Blaney as his damaged No.12 Team Penske Ford limped to the attention of his crew. Although repairs were made, Blaney found himself in 31st place and his In-Season Challenge rival Gilliland was in 21st place.
Blaney gallantly pushed his battered race car through the field in pursuit of Gilliland and the $1 million dollar payoff. But the damage from Nemechek’s hit was too severe and Blaney wound up finishing two positions behind “underdog” Gilliland whose No. 34 Front Row Motorsports Ford team collected the $1 million challenge bonus at the end.
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When the green flag waved on Lap 126, leader Hamlin chose the advantageous inside row with Toyota driver Christopher Bell behind him poised to push his fellow Toyota driver into a lead that would possibly take the 45-year-old Virginia veteran to his coveted first Brickyard 400 win. However, another NASCAR veteran Joey Logano was also hungry for his first Brickyard 400 win and wanted to break up the Japanese manufacturer’s domination of the race with his Team Penske No. 22 Shell-Pennzoil Ford Mustang.
On the critical final restart with 34 laps remaining, Logano pushed Heim’s No. 67 Toyota from the undesirable outside lane completely past Hamlin and Bell who didn’t lock on to Hamlin’s car nearly as well. Hamlin struggled and fell back as Logano tried to make a desperate move to get by Heim.
But Heim’s big push from rival Logano put him into a three-car length lead going through turn two. Logano struggled from all the momentum it took to push Heim by Hamlin and into a lead the young Heim would never relinquish in the final 34 laps.
Bell did challenge Heim from second place several times with a strong run by Logano on Bell from his third-place position. But, the tenacious 24-year-old Heim held the two veterans at bay in a hard-fought battle that saw Heim claim what some claim was an upset rookie victory in his first ever Brickyard 400.
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Heim beat Bell by .287 seconds or about eight car-lengths at the checkered flag with third-place Logano about another eight car-lengths back of second-place Bell. Mitchell’s Chase Briscoe finished a distant fourth with Hamlin close behind in fifth place. Veteran Brad Keselowski, Josh Berry, Ryan Preece, Carson Hocevar and Tyler Reddick rounded out the top 10 finishers.
After an emphatic smoky victory burnout that ended at the famous yard of bricks, first-time Brickyard 400 winner Heim commented on his huge win, “That was a damn handful! I was hanging on for dear life…my car got really loose…that was the hardest I ever fought in my life to make sure I focused on exits and kept them in dirty air. That was a workout! It was a dream come true! Winning at the Brickyard that is unbelievable!”
On the tense restart battle with 23Xl team owner Denny Hamlin, Heim explained, “I just had to be aggressive – man it was for the win. He probably would have done the same thing. I got a good push from the 22 (Logano) to be in position, so thanks to him. It’s unbelievable…being here at the Brickyard means so much. To come here to win is surreal.”
The NASCAR teams travel next weekend to Iowa Speedway.
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