Corey Heim finds himself the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series championship leader through five races but that isn’t exactly the newsworthy part.
It’s the fact that Heim has only participated in three of those races. Of course, he’s won twice and added a fifth-place finish to boot and inherited the championship lead last weekend only after Chandler Smith was disqualified for rear ride height violations at Rockingham.
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Due to rules created during the ‘win and you’re in’ playoff format era, Heim isn’t even championship eligible right now and would need a waiver from NASCAR to become the de facto championship leader.
Has Heim considered actually pursuing a second consecutive championship run?
“Not necessarily, no. I’d never rule it out. Of course, we have another week of thinking about it considering I’m running Bristol and can probably — if we have a good day there — maybe extend the lead or at least hold what we got,” Heim told SiriusXM NASCAR Radio. “I really only have a couple more scheduled, and it sounds like the wins have helped propel sponsors to want to come on board, and we’re kind of working on a couple more races, not exactly sure when or where yet.”
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But again, never say never.
“I don’t think the championship is in my future unless something changes overnight, which it could. I don’t think it’s in the works by any means but for now, just keeping our schedule together and focusing on the ones we’ve got for now,” Heim said. “Maybe we’ll get some more along the line, but I don’t think a championship is in my sights this year.”
The nominal championship leader right now is Kaden Honeycutt, who actually drives the Tricon Garage No. 11 that Heim and crew chief Scott Zipadelli took to the awards banquet in 2025. Heim’s No. 1 truck has Jerame Donley as crew chief. If Heim wins on Friday night at Bristol, he will collect a combined $500,000 for sweeping all three stages of the Triple Truck Challenge.
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All told, Heim’s 2026 schedule includes a mix of starts in all three national touring divisions for 23XI Racing, Sam Hunt Racing and Tricon, but also a handful of Late Model Stock races for Nelson Motorsports as well.
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