Corey Heim Has Already Proven He Belongs in NASCAR Cup Series. Now He Wants More
· Yahoo Sports
Corey Heim has yet to run a full NASCAR Cup Series season. He already knows what it feels like to win at the sport’s highest level.
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Twice.
That has changed the equation for the 24-year-old as he looks toward what comes next.
Heim has turned limited Cup opportunities into two victories in 2026, proving that his success elsewhere in NASCAR can translate against the sport’s best. More importantly, those wins have given Heim something he could not get from any amount of preparation or promise: proof that he can finish the job at this level.
“It’s one thing to go out and win Truck races or [O’Reilly] races, but to be able to show you’re able to win Cup races, it’s just a whole different level, you know?” Heim told MotorBiscuit in an exclusive interview.
Heim is still early in his Cup career, but he’s no longer talking simply about gaining experience or preparing for the future. He’s talking about winning more races. He’s talking about making the Chase. He’s talking about eventually competing for a championship.
And if NASCAR decides he can’t compete for Rookie of the Year when he moves into his first full-time Cup season in 2027?
Heim has thoughts on that, too.
Corey Heim’s Cup wins proved something even he didn’t expect this soon
Heim entered 2026 knowing he would have opportunities in competitive equipment. Knowing a car is capable of winning, however, and actually taking it to Victory Lane are entirely different things.
Heim has now done the latter twice.
“I think for the most part, it’s just so important to be able to show you’re able to win a race in the Cup Series,” Heim said. And that gives me a lot of confidence, of course in myself, but also my team, organization, manufacturer—kind of all the above there.”
There is an important distinction in Heim’s assessment. He isn’t treating those wins as confirmation that future success is inevitable.
Quite the opposite.
He understands how quickly circumstances can change in NASCAR and how rare it is to consistently have cars capable of winning. When those opportunities arrive, a driver has to capitalize.
“Just to be able to take advantage of the speed that we have this year is super important,” Heim said. “There’s highs and lows in racing, and you can’t count on having winning cars every single year.”
Even Heim didn’t necessarily envision winning twice during what he described as a “quote-unquote rookie season.”
“So, for myself to be able to take advantage of that in a quote-unquote rookie season at this point, and be able to win twice, it’s something I would have not really expected coming into the season by any means,” Heim said. “But I knew [it] was something that we were capable of as a team and an organization. So, to be able to go out and prove that just means a lot, and definitely want to keep riding this high and win a couple more this year, hopefully.”
Two wins, in other words, haven’t satisfied him.
They’ve raised the ceiling.
Michael Jordan has become a valuable resource for Heim
Heim also has access to a perspective few young NASCAR drivers could ever replicate.
One of the people helping him navigate the mental side of elite competition is Michael Jordan.
Jordan’s involvement with 23XI Racing gives Heim a direct line to someone who spent his career operating under extraordinary expectations. And according to Heim, Jordan’s impact goes well beyond his presence as a team owner.
“Michael’s been a great person to lean on for mental advice, and also just being able to hear his—I don’t want to call it a pep talk by any means, because even he said he doesn’t want it to be taken as a pep talk—but he was just there the other week and gave us a really good talk in general,” Heim said. “Really got us pumped up for the Chase, for our full-time guys, and me included in that as well.”
What resonates with Heim isn’t simply Jordan’s championship résumé. It’s his ability to take experiences from his basketball career and life beyond it and make them relevant to another competitor.
“The motivation that comes from him speaking is unlike anybody else,” Heim said. “I feel like he just is so good at being able to put those experiences into words, and also be able to just show you how to overcome tough things in your life.”
Jordan has everyone’s attention when he talks.
“So, he’s always just been a great asset,” Heim said. “I mean, for the last two years, I’ve been a part of the organization now, every time he speaks, everyone listens and takes notes, you know?”
Denny Hamlin gives Heim something different.
Where Jordan can speak from the perspective of an all-time great whose playing career is long over, Hamlin understands precisely what Heim is facing inside a Cup car. Heim finds value in having both viewpoints available as his own career begins to accelerate.
“And Denny as well, he’s, of course, more of a personal approach because he’s involved directly in racing as a driver, and of course MJ’s more on the owner side,” Heim said. “So, kind of two different outlooks on those two things, but really puts it all in perspective for myself as a young driver that’s kind of just starting my career versus MJ and Denny, who one’s finished with their career and the other’s kind of coming to a close.”
For a young driver already winning Cup races before his first full-time season, that perspective could become increasingly valuable.
Heim didn’t expect the Rookie of the Year Situation
There is one unusual consequence of Heim getting so much Cup experience before 2027.
His Rookie of the Year eligibility has become a question.
Heim acknowledged he expected to be able to compete for the honor during his first full-time Cup season, although he also cautioned that he doesn’t know whether NASCAR has made a final decision.
“Yeah, it was a little unexpected. I kind of expected to be able to compete next year, but I don’t know if it’s fully decided on—on what their plan is on—on the NASCAR side,” Heim said.
He also made his own position clear.
“Of course, I would love to be able to compete for it and feel like I certainly should qualify as a rookie if I haven’t, you know, run a full-time season yet.”
It would be understandable if Heim were frustrated by the possibility of losing eligibility before his first full Cup campaign ever begins.
Instead, his response offered perhaps the clearest indication of how much his expectations have changed.
“But, at the same time, it’s not the end of the world, and my goal is to make the Chase next year and be able to compete for a championship and win some more races, which I think are bigger fish to fry than Rookie of the Year,” Heim said.
He’d like the opportunity to compete for the award. He also isn’t going to measure his 2027 season by whether NASCAR gives him that chance.
“At the end of the day, I’d love to compete for it, but if I can’t, then, no big deal. We’ll go for some wins and try to compete for a championship.”
That’s quite a set of expectations for a driver who hasn’t started his first full Cup season.
Then again, Heim isn’t entering that season wondering whether he can win a Cup race.
He’s already answered that question twice. Now he wants to find out just how much more he can win.