Corey Heim Secures Second Career Victory in Brickyard 400

Corey Heim continues to add his name to the NASCAR history books with another historic win.

The 2025 Silly Season was uneventful, with only two driver moves in total. One of the most controversial Silly Season decisions was that Corey Heim, who had won nearly 20 Craftsman Truck Series races, would not be driving full-time in the Cup Series. Instead, Heim would compete part-time in the No. 67 for 23XI Racing before assuming a full-time spot with the team in 2027. Now, he will enter his rookie season as a multi-time Cup Series winner with his victory in the 2026 Brickyard 400.

“That was a miracle, I was hanging on for dear life one the shade went down and the pace picked up. I was loose and I hadn’t really been in a lot of clean air today. That was the hardest I fought in my entire life just to focus on exits. I’m pretty out of breath, that was a workout,” Heim said on his victory.

In the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series race, Carson Kvapil earned his first win after five career runner-ups. Christopher Bell, coming off of five runner ups in 2026, was not so lucky.

“Honestly I didn’t think I was gonna be able to get there at all,” Bell said. “My guys were telling me he was going loose and I knew that my only opportunity was going to be a mistake for him. 35 laps was a very long run and I just needed one bobble. If he had had one bobble, I was gonna be able to get him.”

Rest of the Race

The Spire Motorsports teammates of Carson Hocevar and Daniel Suarez led the field to green, with the No. 77 vaulting out to an early lead. Hocevar led until Lap 32 when he came for his first pit stop. Kyle Larson cycled to the lead through the pit cycle, but wrecked with five laps to go in the stage. Ty Gibbs maintained the lead in a one lap shootout and went onto win the stage ahead of Corey Heim, Michael McDowell, Carson Hocevar, William Byron, Denny Hamlin, Daniel Suarez, Chase Briscoe, Chris Buescher, and Tyler Reddick.

Gibbs and Heim maintained the front row for the Stage 2 restart, with the No. 54 keeping the lead. Like Hocevar, Gibbs maintained the top spot until his pitstop, but his was Lap 26 of the stage rather than 32. This handed the race lead to Heim, but Gibbs maintained the lead. Heim pit with nine laps to go in the stage, but not without a middle finger from Hocevar on the way down due to the No. 67 holding him up following his pit stop. Like in Stage 1, the caution came out late, this time for a crash from Daniel Dye with four laps to go. The caution ended the stage, giving Ross Chastain the stage win. Todd Gilliland, Gibbs, Hamlin, Heim, Hocevar, Ryan Preece, McDowell, Erik Jones, and Suarez also earned stage points.

The Joe Gibbs Racing teammates of Gibbs and Hamlin led the field to green in Stage 3. The No. 54 remained on point, keeping the lead on a third consecutive restart. A caution for debris came out with 45 to go, calling the entire field down to pit road. Heim won the race off pit road, followed by Joey Logano and Christopher Bell. The part-time driver was unable to maintain the lead, giving it to his owner Denny Hamlin before the caution came out yet again due to contact between John Hunter Nemechek and Ryan Blaney.

Heim retook the lead on the next restart, with Hamlin falling all the way to fourth place. With 20 laps to go, it looked like Heim or Bell would win, but Logano slowly but surely gained on the leaders and made it a three car battle.

In-Season Challenge

Blaney ran ahead of Gilliland for a majority of the race. With 40 laps to go, Blaney ended up on the wrong end of an aggressive move from Nemechek. Blaney remained on the lead lap, but with damage. A 24th-place was enough for Gilliland was enough to secure the million dollar prize and become the second In-Season Challenge champion.

Major In-Season Challenge implications!@Blaney and @JHNemechek make contact, and the No. 12 goes around! pic.twitter.com/IL5ayxZod4

— NASCAR (@NASCAR) July 26, 2026

“It seemed like we barely skated by every single round (but) we did what we had to do,” Gilliland said. “We weren’t great today, but we made the most of it and came out of here the In-Season Challenge champions.”

Chase Storylines

Gibbs joined Hamlin, Reddick, and Blaney as drivers locked into the Chase. Logano (+65), Bubba Wallace (+60), Shane van Gisbergen (+57), and Austin Cindric (+38) enter Iowa Speedway within one race of the cutline, while Preece (-38), Jones (-44), Keselowski (-60), and McDowell (-76) enter within one race of the cutline.

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