Featured Latest News NASCAR NASCAR Cup Series

California Dreaming: Corey Heim Earns First NASCAR Cup Series Win At Naval Base Coronado

by racerx55 June 22, 2026 0 comments

SAN DIEGO – In just his 13th start in the NASCAR Cup Series, Corey Heim outdueled his 23XI Racing teammate, Tyler Reddick in the Anduril 250 at the San Diego Street Course at Naval Base Coronado to earn his first-career win.

Heim pulled off the winning pass on Reddick with three laps to go in the race. Reddick then tried to cross back over and slid into the side of Heim, causing the driver of the No. 67 Mobil 1/O’Reilly Auto Parts Toyota to graze the outside wall. Reddick, being a good teammate, let Heim retain the lead. With two laps to go, Reddick’s left front tire gave out, giving Heim a 10-plus second lead over Bubba Wallace as Reddick fell further back through the field. With no pressure from behind, Heim claimed his first NASCAR Cup Series victory. 

“Just crazy,” Heim said. “It feels like a dream. I hope I don’t wake up from this dream. This is insane. So thankful for 23XI, Mobil 1, Toyota for this journey. I didn’t expect to come into my part-time season and win. Here we are. It’s crazy. Hasn’t even sunk in yet. I’m sure it will.” 

After struggling through the first two stages Heim took a deep breath, reminded himself of his expectations and how he was on an even playing field with his competitors as this was an inaugural race for everyone.

“Hit the wall a couple of times and maybe knocked some good into the car,” Heim said. “I have no idea. After stage two, I just took a deep breath. I had high expectations coming into this race. Even playing field for me. 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. Caught a couple breaks with some of the good guys out.”

In a post race interview, Heim alluded to having been offered multiple NASCAR Cup Series opportunities in the past few years but chose to be patient and have faith in 23XI Racing, where he will race fulltime in 2027. Heim came into the 2026 season without a primary placement and has been running part-time for the organization along with running part-time in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series for TRICON Garage, where he has three wins so far this season.

“We gave Corey an agenda this week that in each start this is our expectations, here’s what we want you to work on,” 23XI Racing Co-owner Denny Hamlin said. “I don’t think this was in the agenda for San Diego. He’s been good at road course racing anyway, as (Ryan) Blaney mentioned, he’s going to be a problem.”

Heim is set to pilot the No. 67 Toyota Camry for 23XI Racing in six more races this season with the next being at Chicagoland Speedway on July 5. 

Wallace, who rallied back from a two lap penalty for losing a tire after a pit stop finished second on Sunday, giving 23XI Racing its first one-two finish in organization history. Kyle Larson finished third, followed by Zane Smith in fourth and AJ Allmendinger in fifth. Rounding out the top-10 was Chris Buescher, Ross Chastain, Riley Herbst, Ryan Blaney and Michael McDowell.

Blaney won Stage 1, and Preece won Stage 2.

There were 20 lead changes among 13 drivers. Blaney led a race high of 12 laps in the 75-lap race.

There were seven cautions for 11 laps. Only one caution was for a multicar accident, and it occurred on Lap 33, when Austin Hill, Connor Zilisch and Shane van Gisbergen crashed hard in Turn 1 while battling for the lead. Nine drivers were involved, and the red flag was displayed for 9 minutes 33 seconds.

With Denny Hamlin’s 14th-place finish and Reddick’s 25th-place finish, Hamlin now only trails Reddick for the lead in the standings by eight points.

The NASCAR Cup Series will stay on the West Coast and visit Sonoma Raceway on Sunday, June 28, for the Toyota/Save Mart 350. Live coverage will broadcast on TNT at 3:30 p.m. ET.

Photo Credit: Sean Gardner/Getty Images