Corey Heim pulls upset with first career Cup Series win at Naval Base Coronado

CORONADO, Calif. – Corey Heim arrived at the finish line, and at a career milestone, way ahead of schedule.

Winning a pitched battle against 23XI Racing teammate Tyler Reddick in the closing laps of Sunday’s Anduril 250 at Naval Base Coronado, Heim won his first NASCAR Cup Series race in his 13th start and his first in the top division on a road or street circuit.

It took Heim three corners to make the winning pass after Reddick slipped in Turn 2 on Lap 73 to give the 23-year-old reigning NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series champion an opening. The teammates ran side-by-side through Turns 3 and 4, with Reddick trying a crossover move into Turn 5 on the 3.4-mile, 16-turn course, the first major NASCAR event on an active military installation.

Reddick made contact with Heim’s No. 67 Toyota — pushing him toward the wall — but ceded the position and later suffered a flat left-front tire before finishing 25th. Reddick saw his series lead drop to eight points over 14th-place finisher Denny Hamlin, the 23XI co-owner with NBA legend Michael Jordan.

Heim reached the finish line 10.365 seconds ahead of Bubba Wallace, giving 23XI the first 1-2 finish in organization history. Wallace rallied from a two-lap penalty after losing a right-front wheel that rolled between Turns 9 and 10.

Kyle Larson ran third, followed by Zane Smith and AJ Allmendinger.

To Heim, recently announced as a full-time driver for 23XI starting next year, the victory in one of NASCAR’s most important races of the season bordered on the surreal.

“I’m speechless,” Heim said after completing an extended celebratory burnout. “I mean, we started the race, I think we started 13th. We fell straight back to 20th. Then put on our scuffs from qualifying, struggled just as bad.

“I don’t know if we made any adjustments. (Crew chief) Bootie (Barker) kept telling me these were our worst two sets of tires, we were going to be fine. He was right. I couldn’t believe it. We strapped another set of tires on, and we were just fine. Hit the wall a couple of times and maybe knocked some good into the car. I have no idea.

“After Stage 2, I just took a deep breath. I had high expectations coming into this race. Even playing field for me (as a debut race). You don’t see that every day for a young driver like myself. Just kind of took a deep breath, reset and went after it.”

Heim led only the final three laps, and though he is running a limited schedule with 23XI this season, Reddick afforded his young teammate significant respect. The series leader declined to take advantage when contact between their two cars got Heim’s Camry briefly out of shape during the battle for the lead.

NOTE: Post-race inspection was completed without issue in the Cup Series garage, confirming Corey Heim as the winner.