The 2025 Truck Series season was less of a competition and more of a 23-race parade for Corey Heim. Driving the No. 11 for Tricon Garage, Heim captured a staggering 12 race wins, eclipsing Greg Biffle’s 1999 record of 9, and clinched the series championship. His dominance was near-total, setting records for most laps led in a single season and becoming the first driver in the top-3 NASCAR national series to lead a lap in every race of the season. Beyond the win column, Heim established an insurmountable presence at the front of the field, leading a staggering 1,625 laps over the course of the season, surpassing the 29-year-old record set by Mike Skinner in 1996.

His performance, which included 19 top-five finishes and a stunning 1.4 average finish across the seven playoff races, should have guaranteed an immediate promotion to a full-time ride in the Xfinity or Cup Series. Despite the historic, record-breaking season, Heim’s path forward in 2026 remains surprisingly murky, sparking widespread confusion across the racing industry. For a driver who also secured the Truck Series Regular Season championship twice in 2023 and 2025, he has already proven capable in limited starts in the Xfinity and Cup Series, making Cup starts for both Legacy Motor Club and 23XI Racing.

However, this absurd stagnation of a generational talent is rooted in a much more personal and contentious conflict, as confirmed by Fox analyst Bob Pockrass: the lingering bad blood between Heim and fellow Toyota star, Ty Gibbs. The unspoken consensus around the garage is that Heim’s career progression within the premier Toyota organization, Joe Gibbs Racing, is effectively blocked due to the long-standing feud with team owner Joe Gibbs’s grandson. As JGR is the primary feeder system for top Toyota talent into the Cup Series, this institutional barrier prevents Heim from accessing the guaranteed top-tier Xfinity seat that drivers of his caliber, including Christopher Bell and Erik Jones, typically receive as the final stepping stone.

The source of the conflict might trace back to the intensely fought 2020 ARCA Menards Series season, where Heim and Gibbs were the dominant titans vying for the championship. Their on-track relationship boiled over in several races, culminating in a dramatic, hard-contact incident where Gibbs punted Heim out of the lead to steal the victory at Winchester Speedway. While both drivers have matured since those teenage rivalries, the perception remains that the personal friction has created an organizational obstacle to Heim joining the powerful JGR family.

Many fans argue that Toyota is making a fundamental business error by risking the loss of a generational talent, especially when competitor manufacturers like Chevrolet and Ford could capitalize on the opening.

Fan anger over personal conflict hurting a talent like Corey Heim

One fan’s sentiment, saying, “Corey needs to bet on himself at this point,” is directly inspired by successful precedents where highly-touted development drivers chose to leave a manufacturer pipeline that failed to provide a clear path forward. The most prominent example is that of Bubba Wallace, who, following the 2014 season, was unable to secure a full-time, fully sponsored Xfinity Series ride with JGR, despite having driven for them part-time.

One fan added to that sentiment, stating, “It’s funny because a very similar situation happened with Bubba Wallace when he left Toyota the first time, and it worked out pretty well for him in the long run.” Wallace successfully requested his release from the Toyota program and was immediately signed by Roush Fenway Racing to drive the No. 6 Ford full-time in 2015. This move ultimately paid off, as Wallace not only advanced to the Cup Series but also found his way back into a premier Toyota ride with 23XI Racing.

While another fan commented, “Absolutely. I guarantee the GM camp would’ve already had him in a JRM ride by now, at a minimum. Toyota is only holding him back.” JRM, co-owned by Dale Earnhardt Jr., operates one of the most successful Xfinity programs and frequently provides seats to top prospects who lack the necessary immediate Cup funding, such as Noah Gragson and Josh Berry. Crucially, the Chevrolet pipeline, historically less rigid than Toyota’s, has a proven history of immediately promoting dominant Truck Series drivers to competitive Xfinity programs, such as when Jesse Love went straight into a full-time Xfinity ride with Richard Childress Racing in 2025.

Some fans stated in bewilderment, “I don’t know how Chevy or Ford didn’t/haven’t poached him after the news that 2026 was sort of up in the air of what he was going to do.” The most desirable seats at top-tier organizations like Hendrick Motorsports and Team Penske are locked up with long-term contracts extending through 2026 and beyond. But the scarcity of available charters and the necessity for drivers to bring substantial sponsorship money often trumps raw talent, as seen with Riley Herbst securing the 23XI No. 35 seat largely due to the financial backing of his family’s Monster Energy affiliations.

Yet another fan opined, “JGR and 23XI are both going to fumble this. Heim will wind up at Legacy once they secure that 3rd charter.” This theory gained significant traction due to Heim’s existing relationship with LMC, where he previously served as a reserve driver and made two Cup Series starts in 2024, filling in for the injured Erik Jones. Heim’s chances at LMC dramatically improved when the team, co-owned by Jimmie Johnson, successfully secured a 3rd charter for the 2026 season via a resolution with Rick Ware Racing after a contentious lawsuit.

While the drama continues, the unified voice of the fans is clear: Toyota must find a seat for its fastest young star, or risk losing a generational talent to the competition.