Corey Heim is a NASCAR Cup Series winner. Heim won Sunday afternoon’s Cup Series race in San Diego, defeating his 23XI Racing teammates in a late-race showdown. The driver of the No. 67 car was able to pass Tyler Reddick in the closing laps before the No. 45 car had a tire go down.
Following the race, Heim spoke about winning his first career Cup Series race in San Diego. It was a stunning development in the NASCAR world.
“I’m speechless,” Heim said. “I mean, we started the race, I mean, 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. Bootie kept telling me these were our worst two sets of tire, 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.”
In his 13th career start, Corey Heim has his FIRST Cup Series win! 🤯 #NASCARonPrimepic.twitter.com/j604yklzgm
— Sports on Prime (@SportsonPrime) June 22, 2026
“After Stage 2, 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.”
Heim came out of nowhere in the Final Stage, tracking down Kyle Larson and then moving past his 23XI Racing teammates after the final restart. It has been a long journey for the 2025 NASCAR Truck Series champion, but he is finally a Cup Series winner with 23XI Racing.
This article originally appeared on Motorsports Wire: Corey Heim discusses first career NASCAR Cup win at San Diego in 2026
