Corey's time is now and 23XI think they already have a superstar

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Heim Time is so incredibly ahead of schedule.

On May 30, 23XI Racing revealed that Corey Heim would finally compete full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series . Since then, all he’s done is look like a legitimate championship contender for a division he isn’t even fully delved into yet.

Over the past five weeks, he’s won twice, at Naval Base North Island and now the Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway . That doesn’t even include his three Truck Series wins in six starts this season.

The 23-year-old from Marietta, Georgia isn’t an emerging superstar because he already looks like one six months before his inaugural full-time campaign. Bootie Barker, his crew chief, says Heim is simply already one of the best drivers in the division, right now, no argument.

“I think everybody thinks I'm always joking but he's more talented than everybody else,” Barker said. “That’s almost a disservice to some of the great drivers here (but) that's not the case.

"Like all the people we were racing at the end are the best of the best, tremendous. Show much respect to them but Corey is there in talent. Corey is also there in work ethic. He's there as far as a mentality. He has all that now. That's no guarantee going forward, but right now he has it.”

Heim has won twice in eight starts this year, and if it wasn’t for the car not having full-time status, allowing them to qualify even better each week, Barker says they’d have enjoyed even more success.

“If we would have had a better metric in qualifying, we would have won more already,” Barker said.

During the 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports v NASCAR antitrust lawsuit, a text message exchange between team owners Denny Hamlin and Michael Jordan was made public, in which the former said they needed to sign Heim to a multiyear deal.

Jordan said ‘lock him up,’ something they successfully executed this past summer. Team president Steve Lauletta said this is early validation.

“Bootie mentioned it, Denny has many times before,” said Lauletta. “That's why Denny has had his eye on him and why Toyota has invested in Corey as much. His approach, his work ethic, his race craft. Just the amount of discipline that he has and maturity that he has just really shows in all of his preparation.

“The relationship he's built with everybody at (the shop) (and) with the other drivers. I just think he's mature beyond his years and it's showing in a very quick way.”

Now, there was a little fortune involved in winning the Brickyard 400 on Sunday, but that is generally the case on Sundays every week. Heim lost the lead when Joey Logano attempted to take him and Denny Hamlin three-wide on the penultimate restart but the three-time champion then pushed him ahead when it mattered the most.

“As we wound down, I was sitting there talking to my spotter Eddie (D’Hondt) and crew chief Bootie,” Heim said. “They both just said, ‘We got to muscle up on this restart’ (and) ‘This is more than likely going to decide the outcome of the race.’

“That was before Denny got the lead on me. Joey tried to put me three there, kill both of our momentum. That got Denny the lead. I thought that was potentially the race. Got another caution. ‘Here we go, might have a shot at it.’ Then Joey gave me a really good push up front.”

And just like that, Heim has won twice in 15 part-time starts, all before his first full-time season. This is something that hasn’t been accomplished since Davey Allison and Tim Richmond won races on a part-time basis in 1987.

Heim is also the first driver to win two of his first 15 starts since AJ Foyt in 1965.

“I'm not much of a stats guy honestly,” Heim said. “Sounds like it's a pretty good one. Definitely cool to be included with a guy like that. Been a crazy year so far. To win two of my first 15 is something I never thought I would accomplish, but here we are. It's a crazy feeling.”

And one of them is a crown jewel that has been won by the likes of Jeff Gordon, Dale Earnhardt, Bill Elliott, Dale Jarrett, Kevin Harvick, Tony Stewart and Jimmie Johnson. Heim is now on that list before he even gets a chance to go points racing next year.

“It's cool to talk about, I guess,” Heim said in his own understated kind of way. “I don't really ever keep up with how many crown jewel wins most guys have, I guess.

“Yeah, I mean, just to be able to win it for myself is just insane. Just super thankful for 23XI, Toyota, everyone that put me in position to do this. Hopefully cross some more off in my career. Who knows, maybe we can win all of them one day. We'll see.”

Again, at this point, he’s ahead of schedule so the sky is the limit.

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