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See the full story · 3 sourcesCorey Heim stunned the NASCAR Cup Series field by winning the Brickyard 400. Getty
Corey Heim continues to put the NASCAR Cup Series field on notice.
After winning his first career Cup Series race last month at the Coronado street course in his 13th career start, the part-time 23XI Racing driver proved it was not a fluke.
In Sunday’s Brickyard 400, Heim worked his way past car-owner Denny Hamlin on the final restart of the race and fended off a hard-charging Christopher Bell to capture his second career victory in his 14th start.
Heim, who moves up to full-time Cup Series competition next year, has made a statement in his part-time role in the No. 67 Toyota. Bell finished second, followed by Joey Logano in third, Chase Briscoe finished fourth, and Hamlin rounded out the top five.
The race also saw the finals of the In-Season Challenge, which saw Todd Gilliland outlast Ryan Blaney for the upset win. Gilliland entered as the 25th seed, while Blaney was the third seed in the 32-driver bracket-style challenge.
How Heim delivered at the Brickyard
Carson Hocevar started on the pole and led the field to the green flag. The driver of the No. 77 jumped to nearly a 3-second lead over Spire Motorsports teammate Daniel Suarez in the opening laps.
During the first cycle of green flag pit stops, Kyle Larson cycled to the front. However, in a shocking turn of events, Larson blew a left rear tire and crashed out of the race on lap 44, bringing out the first caution of the race.
The race restarted with one lap remaining in stage one, which saw Ty Gibbs overtake Hocevar and roll to the win. Heim was second, while Michael McDowell was third and Hocevar was fourth.
More disaster struck Hendrick Motorsports in the second stage. After contact with Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Chase Elliott suffered a tire failure, which caused damage to the toe link of his No. 9 car.
Elliott was forced to go to the garage for repairs, thwarting his chances of a win. The driver of the No. 9 has failed to finish top 10 in the last eight Cup Series races.
Ty Gibbs led for the bulk of the second stage. Yet, after a caution for Daniel Dye’s single-car spin, Ross Chastain found himself up front and won the second stage under caution.
Gibbs led the way to begin the final stage. On lap 115, the caution was thrown for debris.
During the subsequent round of pit stops, the top eight off pit road all took two tires, with Heim leading the charge.
Hamlin blasted past Heim on the restart to snag the lead, but the caution was brought back out after a multi-car crash involving Ryan Blaney, A.J. Allmendinger, Riley Herbst, and others.
This set up what would be the final restart of the race, where Heim would power around Hamlin on the outside for the lead and hold it until the checkered flag flew.
NASCAR points standings see shake-up after Indianapolis
With four races remaining until The Chase, the Cup Series saw a major shake-up in the points standings.
Hamlin’s fifth-place result helped him build on his points lead as he is now 84 points ahead of Tyler Reddick, who sits in second. Ryan Blaney is third in the points, followed by Gibbs in fourth, and Hocevar in fifth.
Austin Cindric sits 16th in the standings, the last driver above the cut line. The driver of the No. 2 holds a 38-point advantage over Ryan Preece, the first driver below the cutoff.
One of the largest gainers on the cut line was Logano, who holds a 65-point edge above the cutoff in 13th place.
The Cup Series circuit takes a week off next week and will head to the Iowa Speedway on August 9.
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