Out of the three most dominant drivers in all three NASCAR series, only Corey Heim managed to conquer the Playoff format. The 23-year-old has been on an upward trajectory since his Truck Series debut, and his star is only growing. In his first full-time season, he finished 4th in the championship with three wins under his belt. All of this came after he clinched a maiden win in 2022 with Kyle Busch Motorsports.

A year later, he bumped up his tally to 9 wins during the season and a grand total of 11. That same year, he finished as the runner-up to Ty Majeski, but 2025 was when all the puzzle pieces fell into place. He went on an absolute tear, winning 12 races, including the season finale at the Phoenix Raceway, to clinch the title.

Corey Heim reflected on his journey up the NASCAR ranks

Corey Heim told NASCAR Live, “In a couple of different ways, the main ones are, I feel like I’ve matured a good bit. It’s easy for me to say, I guess.” This was in response to how much he has grown as a driver during his Truck Series tenure. Back when he raced for Kyle Busch Motorsports, he impressed enough to win rookie of the year. From there, Tricon Garage recruited him and paired him up with crew chief Scott Zipadelli.

So what was their relationship like and how did they become a match made in heaven in 2025? Heim admitted, “When I look back at 2023 at thinking about the radio interactions with Scott. My feedback wasn’t the greatest, so I was kind of still learning the Truck. I could have a meltdown pretty easily as if something started to go wrong.”

Okay, so there were some bumps along the road, especially from Heim’s end. He confessed, “It’s easy for it to snowball and then kind of weigh on us. I feel like that’s gotten a lot better on my part. Just kind of typical stuff that you’ve seen in a rookie. I feel like I’ve done a pretty good job at developing, but at the same time I feel like I still have a long way to go. Hopefully, I can continue to do that through all the NASCAR ranks.” 

As he said, the journey was far from easy, but he worked on his faults and matured as a driver. However, at 23 years old, Corey Heim feels that there is still room to grow, especially as he moves up the ranks.

Is the young driver ready to tackle the NASCAR Cup Series?

The straight answer would be that he is nowhere close to being ready just yet. However, Heim recently said that the Truck Series is the best path for future Cup drivers to hone their skills. The proof of the pudding is Carson Hocevar, who kicked off his NASCAR career in the Truck Series. Then, in 2023, he competed in eight of the last 10 races, with a best finish of 11th place at Bristol Motor Speedway.

He recently said, “I think the trucks are probably the most similar to Cup cars. I’ve driven all three. From a vehicle perspective, I think it definitely resonates the most when you’re trying to develop to be a hopeful Cup driver like myself. Xfinity is great, too. You’re comparing apples to oranges at the same time. You race a lot more on the Xfinity side. They’re a little tougher to drive at the end of the day. When you want to go Cup racing, you have to come to the truck.”

This probably explains why the Truck Series is a lot more likely to attract Cup drivers to run part-time. Starting in 2026, new NASCAR rules will give veteran Cup drivers more chances to drop down: they’ll be allowed up to 10 races in the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series (the current Xfinity Series) and up to eight Truck starts per season, both increases from five. That’ll keep Cup regulars cycling through the lower series more often, which in turn gives Truck and future O’Reilly drivers more direct battles with Cup-level talent.