Corey Heim Bio
Corey David Heim (born July 5, 2002) is an American professional stock car racing driver from Marietta, Georgia. He last competed full-time in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, driving the No. 11 Toyota Tundra TRD Pro for Tricon Garage, while also running part-time schedules in the NASCAR Xfinity Series with Sam Hunt Racing and the NASCAR Cup Series with 23XI Racing. A development driver for 23XI, Heim is the 2025 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series champion and is widely regarded as one of the top prospects in Toyota’s driver development pipeline.
Early Life and Background
Corey David Heim was born on July 5, 2002, in Marietta, Georgia, and grew up in a household with deep ties to motorsports. He is the son of Lisa and Ray Heim, and his father, Ray, was a former late model racer who later worked as the Chief Technology Officer at Pen-Tech Associates, Inc. in Kennesaw, Georgia. That blend of regional racing heritage and technical know-how shaped Heim’s path toward a career on the track from a very young age.
Heim attended Kennesaw Mountain High School, where he balanced his studies with a growing commitment to racing. His early exposure came through grassroots short tracks in the Southeast, where he developed the fundamentals that would later carry him into national touring series. The family environment, combined with Georgia’s deep late model tradition, gave Heim a steady foundation for the jump into more competitive machinery.
Path to NASCAR
Heim began his racing journey in Legends cars at Atlanta Motor Speedway, where his talent quickly stood out. He won the 2016 Young Lions division championship and followed it up with the 2017 Thursday Thunder Pro division title, both at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Those early Legends results gave him the confidence and resume to graduate into super late model competition, where he began turning heads on the regional touring circuit.
He moved into the CARS Tour, Southern Super Series, Pro All-Stars Series (PASS), and the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series, collecting a string of strong finishes against veteran competition. In 2018, Heim crossed the finish line first in the prestigious ValleyStar Credit Union 300 at Martinsville, only to be scored second following a rules procedure. Soon after, he earned his first official super late model victory at South Boston Speedway, a result that announced his arrival as one of the Southeast’s brightest young talents.
Corey Heim Career
Early Career (2018–2020)
Heim’s stock car career formally launched in 2018, when he collected Rookie of the Year honors in both the CARS Super Late Model Tour and the Southern Super Series. He added a third Rookie of the Year title in 2020 with the CARS Late Model Stock Car Tour, underscoring how quickly he adapted to each new level of competition. Along the way, he captured the 2020 SpeedFest 200 late model race in Georgia, one of the marquee short-track events of the winter season.
Heim broke into the ARCA Menards Series in 2019 with Chad Bryant Racing, running thirteen of twenty events in the team’s No. 22 car. He posted a top-five finish in his series debut at Five Flags Speedway and ended the year tenth in the standings, a remarkable result for a part-time rookie. In 2020, he split his time between Lee Pulliam Performance in the CARS Late Model Stock Tour and Venturini Motorsports across the ARCA Menards Series, ARCA Menards Series East, and ARCA Menards Series West, winning at Kansas Speedway in October after leading the most laps.
ARCA Menards Series Breakthrough (2021–2022)
In 2021, Heim was promoted to a full-time ride with Venturini Motorsports, taking over the No. 20 in the main ARCA Menards Series. He opened the year with a victory at Daytona International Speedway and added wins at Talladega, Pocono, Elko, Watkins Glen, and Illinois. He waged a season-long battle with Ty Gibbs and finished second in the final standings, just 37 points behind the champion, establishing himself as a serious talent on the national stage.
Heim returned to Venturini in 2022 for a seven-race ARCA schedule and won both of the high-profile events he entered, Daytona and Kansas. His ability to deliver in marquee races, combined with a deep Truck Series program, made him one of the most promising prospects in the Toyota development ladder.
NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Breakthrough (2021–2023)
Heim made his NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series debut on May 7, 2021, at Darlington Raceway in the No. 51 for Kyle Busch Motorsports, finishing 23rd after being collected in a late-race restart. In 2022, he rejoined KBM for a 15-race schedule and announced himself as a winner with a last-lap pass of teammate Chandler Smith at Atlanta Motor Speedway, his home track. He added a victory at Gateway, claimed the 2022 Camping World Truck Series Rookie of the Year, and finished fourteenth in points despite running a part-time slate.
On October 27, 2022, David Gilliland Racing announced it would switch to Toyota Racing Development and rebrand as Tricon Garage, and Heim was named one of the team’s full-time drivers for 2023. He opened the year with a win at Martinsville, added a victory at Mid-Ohio, and captured the regular-season championship at Richmond. After a playoff win at Bristol and a third-place run at Homestead that locked him into the Championship 4, he finished eighteenth at Phoenix after contact from Carson Hocevar. Heim was later assessed a 25-point penalty and a $12,500 fine by NASCAR for intentionally wrecking Hocevar, dropping him to fourth in the final standings.
Tricon Garage Era (2024–Present)
Heim started 2024 with a runner-up finish at Daytona and piled up regular-season wins at Circuit of the Americas, Kansas, North Wilkesboro, Gateway, and Pocono. He added another Kansas win during the playoffs and finished the year second in the final Truck Series standings, his strongest championship push to date. In February 2025, Heim signed a multi-year deal to remain a development driver for 23XI Racing while continuing to drive the No. 11 Toyota Tundra TRD Pro for Tricon Garage.
The 2025 campaign delivered his long-awaited crown. Heim was awarded the Daytona opener after Parker Kligerman’s disqualification and piled up regular-season wins at Las Vegas, Texas, Charlotte, Lime Rock, Watkins Glen, and Richmond. Playoff victories followed at Darlington, New Hampshire, and the Charlotte Roval, the last of which set a single-season Truck Series record with ten wins, breaking Greg Biffle’s 1999 mark of nine. An eleventh victory at Martinsville clinched his spot in the Championship 4, and he sealed the 2025 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series championship with a win at Phoenix.
Driving Style and Strengths
Heim is widely praised for his smoothness and his late-race race craft, with a particular gift for saving tire life and timing restarts. He excels on a mix of intermediate ovals and road courses, including venues like Watkins Glen, the Charlotte Roval, and Mid-Ohio. His calm, analytical approach has also made him a natural fit for modern Toyota engineering resources, where data and feedback loops reward a measured driver.
Notable Races and Milestones
Signature moments include his last-lap Atlanta victory in 2022, the record-setting 2025 Roval win that broke Biffle’s win record, and the Phoenix Raceway finale that delivered the 2025 Truck Series title. He has also earned hard-fought results at short tracks like Martinsville and North Wilkesboro, two of the toughest tests on the schedule.
Corey Heim Career Wins
Across the ARCA Menards Series, the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, and the CARS Tour, Heim has built a victory list that includes the 2020 SpeedFest 200, the 2022 Thunder Road 200, the 2025 Truck Series championship, and a record-setting 2025 Truck Series campaign with 11 wins.
Craftsman Truck Series Highlights
Heim scored his first Truck Series win at Atlanta Motor Speedway in 2022 and has since become one of the most consistent winners in the series. His 2025 season included eleven victories and a championship, a year capped by the record-breaking Charlotte Roval win that pushed him past Greg Biffle’s long-standing mark. He has also won at Martinsville, Mid-Ohio, Bristol, COTA, Kansas, North Wilkesboro, Gateway, Pocono, Las Vegas, Texas, Charlotte, Lime Rock, Watkins Glen, Richmond, Darlington, New Hampshire, and Phoenix.
Other Wins and Performances
In the ARCA Menards Series, Heim won at Daytona, Talladega, Pocono, Elko, Watkins Glen, Illinois, and Kansas, finishing as the 2021 championship runner-up. In late model competition, he captured the 2020 SpeedFest 200 and the 2022 Thunder Road 200, along with multiple Rookie of the Year awards on the CARS Tour and Southern Super Series.
Corey Heim Family
Family Background and Racing Lineage
Heim is the son of Lisa and Ray Heim. His father, Ray, was a former late model racer who also worked as the Chief Technology Officer at Pen-Tech Associates, Inc. in Kennesaw, Georgia, giving the family both a racing pedigree and a technical background. That dual influence has helped shape Corey Heim’s reputation as a detail-oriented driver who communicates effectively with engineers.
Personal Life
Heim graduated from Kennesaw Mountain High School in Kennesaw, Georgia, where he balanced his education with a heavy racing schedule. He continues to be based in the Southeast, near the same short-track community that helped launch his career.
2025 Season Performance
The 2025 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series season will be remembered as the year Corey Heim put it all together. He was awarded the Daytona season opener after post-race inspection, then rolled through the regular season with wins at Las Vegas, Texas, Charlotte, Lime Rock, Watkins Glen, and Richmond to lock himself into the postseason with strong playoff points. His combination of speed and consistency kept Tricon Garage near the top of the standings virtually every weekend.
Heim then delivered when it mattered most, taking playoff victories at Darlington, New Hampshire, and the Charlotte Roval. The Roval win pushed him to ten victories on the season, breaking Greg Biffle’s 1999 single-season record of nine Truck Series wins. An eleventh win at Martinsville punched his ticket into the Championship 4, where a decisive Phoenix victory clinched the 2025 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series championship.
With the title secured, attention now turns to his continued development role with 23XI Racing and his part-time plans in the NASCAR Xfinity Series with Sam Hunt Racing and the NASCAR Cup Series with 23XI. The 2025 championship has established Heim as a serious contender for future opportunities in the NASCAR Cup Series, while also reinforcing his standing as a cornerstone of Toyota’s driver development efforts.