Yeah, this kid’s pretty good.
Corey Heim just scored his second career NASCAR Cup Series victory in one of the sport’s crown jewel events, the Brickyard 400 at the legendary Indianapolis Motor Speedway – and he doesn’t even have a full time ride yet.
The 24-year old is only running part time in NASCAR this season, but it was announced a few weeks ago that the phenom will be replacing Riley Herbst and joining 23XI Racing full time next season. And it was made clear that was the right decision a few weeks ago, when the part-time driver won his first career NASCAR Cup Series race during the street course race at Naval Base Coronado in only his 13th career start.
Well, apparently that wasn’t enough.
Heim just scored an incredible victory in the Brickyard 400 in the #67 car, with sponsor Field & Stream on the car for their first race as primary sponsor for the team.
The incredible thing is that neither of his wins have been a fluke: Heim ran up front for most of the day, and took the lead from his team owner Denny Hamlin on the final restart with about 30 laps to go before driving away and holding off a hard-charging Christopher Bell for the win.
And to make it all the more incredible: Heim had never even seen Indianapolis Motor Speedway in person until he rolled into town on Friday for qualifying.
Of course it helps that Heim is joining one of the hottest teams in the Cup Series right now. 23XI Racing, which is owned by NBA legend Michael Jordan along with Joe Gibbs Racing driver Denny Hamlin, currently fields the #23 car for Bubba Wallace, the #45 for Reddick, and the #35 for Herbst, and has now won 7 races this season – with all of the previous 5 coming from Reddick.
Earlier this year, Field & Stream announced that they would be joining 23XI Racing as an official partner while also serving as sponsor for Corey Heim. The legendary outdoors brand is owned by Eric Church, along with fellow country star Morgan Wallen.
Today was their first race as primary sponsor of the #67 car, and they’ll also be along for the ride for the fall race at Charlotte Motor Speedway, as well as teaming up with Heim and 23XI Racing for digital content throughout the year promoting the great outdoors.
Speaking on the partnership, Field & Stream president Gregory Gatto emphasized the shared values between their brand and NASCAR fans:
“Field & Stream is proud to partner with 23XI, Corey Heim, and Chief’s for race weekend in Nashville. NASCAR fans share a deep connection to tradition, family, and the outdoors, and this collaboration gives us a natural way to bring our storytelling and values to that audience.”
And 23XI president Steve Lauletta expressed his excitement for the opportunities the new partnership will allow them to bring to fans:
“We’re honored to welcome a heritage brand like Field & Stream to 23XI. Through this partnership, fans will have the opportunity to step into the outdoors with Corey, thanks to Field & Stream’s best-in-class outdoor lifestyle media platform, which will showcase unique stories and locations beyond the racetrack. We look forward to kicking things off in Nashville and collaborating with even more partners there for another great race weekend.”
Seems like the partnership is already paying off. Going to be scary to see what Corey Heim can do next year when he’s full time in the Cup Series.
