Prepare like a Cup Driver’: Heim, No. 11 team motivated for final playoffs push

via Chris Murdock — NASCAR.com

When looking back at the 2025 Craftsman Truck Series season in the future, it’ll be hard not to automatically think of 23-year-old Corey Heim and his No. 11 Tricon Garage Toyota team’s record-tying nine victories … and counting.

Two road-course wins stand among those nine, and as the series readies for its first trip to the Charlotte Motor Speedway Roval on Friday afternoon (3:30 p.m. ET, FS1, NASCAR Racing Network Radio, Sirius XM NASCAR Radio), a third is looking like a strong bet.

Heim wouldn’t necessarily say his road-racing prowess came naturally, but he instead credits studying the aces from other series and experience gained during his time in the ARCA Menards Series.

“I never really came from a road-course background,” Heim told NASCAR.com. “You see a lot of guys that are kind of dominating today in the Xfinity Series with (Connor) Zilisch and Cup with SVG (Shane van Gisbergen). Of course, those guys come from the road-course racing backgrounds, and I think just studying them and understanding what makes them so good on these … is kind of a big deal of where I sort of progressed a lot.

“I really started working hard on it when I first raced in ARCA, because of the few road-course races that we did within that full-time ARCA year for me. But prior to that, I think I had a couple Legends car races growing up on the road courses, and maybe a couple TA2 (Muscle Car) races to just kind of get my feet in the water.”

The aforementioned Zilisch is experiencing similar success to Heim in his first full-time season in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, with nine victories on the year, and he will race in the No. 7 Spire Motorsports Truck this weekend at the Charlotte Roval. Racing against Zilisch is a challenge Heim values.

“I’ve always been a believer in ‘if you want to be the best, you’ve got to beat the best,’ right?” Heim said. “So, Connor coming down is definitely a challenge. He ran well at Watkins Glen, especially for coming in last-second for Kaden (Honeycutt). I’m sure that was pretty tough to kind of prepare for. So, definitely going to probably have my hands full with him this weekend.”

In terms of progression at NASCAR’s national level, new to Heim in 2025 is his driver development deal with 23XI Racing. In addition to a part-time schedule in the No. 67 Toyota, the Marietta, Georgia, native has had access to the training facilities and competition meetings at “Airspeed” as Bubba Wallace and Tyler Reddick prepare for their own playoff push.

“It’s definitely been a difference-maker for me this year,” Heim said. “Just being able to work on the Cup side on a week-to-week basis, even the races that I haven’t been racing in the Cup car, I come to all the pre-race meetings and all the preparation. So to be a part of that and prepare like a Cup driver for the Truck Series, I think, makes a big difference. And I know I’m very lucky to be able to have that opportunity.”

The Craftsman Truck Series has the finish line in sight, with only the three-race Round of 8 remaining before the four drivers who will race for a championship at Phoenix Raceway are determined.

Heim is leaning on the veteran experience of his Tricon Garage group, a team that has mostly been together since Heim’s first full-time campaign back in 2023. The No. 11 Toyota team has competed at Phoenix in the Championship 4 for two consecutive years, carrying the determination to grasp the season-ending trophy that has eluded them.

“Those guys are all just so motivated,” Heim said. “I feel like it’s hard to come by, and especially a truck team, where the core guys have been there pretty much since the beginning of my tenure with Tricon. From spotter to crew chief to truck chief to the people in the fab shop, the people who make it happen back at the shop.

“I don’t feel like I’m still in the building phase with (crew chief) Scott (Zipadelli) and really the whole team, I feel like we all understand each other. We don’t have to stay on each other during the week to make sure the truck’s where it needs to be. Or he doesn’t have to stay on me to make sure I’m where I need to be for my preparation. It’s just everyone trusts each other and knows that we’re all motivated enough to go get it done. So they certainly make my life easy, and I hope it’s the same for them.”