The easiest mistake in NASCAR is thinking a driver promotion is limited to the driver only. Corey Heim is going to run full-time in 2027, taking over Riley Herbst in the No. 35 Toyota; it sounds simple. However, the project that seems destined for success could be derailed if 23XI Racing doesn’t make the right decisions.
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Kenny Wallace thinks that is where the real problem starts, and it could force Denny Hamlin and Michael Jordan into a decision they probably did not want to make yet. He digressed on it in a video on X.
“Bootie Barker and Corey Heim, what to do with this team?” he said. “So we know that Bootie Barker and Corey Heim, we know they’re winning races in this 67. But next year, Riley Herbst is leaving. That’s the car that Corey Heim is gonna take over.”
“In a perfect world, you take Bootie Barker, you take Corey Heim, and you just plug this team in. Hell, leave it number 67. But a little birdie tells me that maybe Bootie don’t wanna run the whole year. So do we keep this team together? That’s what Denny Hamlin and Michael Jordan are gonna have to ask themselves.”
That pushes the conversation into a different direction. Corey Heim replacing Herbst is expected. Barker possibly not following him is a completely different issue. Heim and Barker have become one of the most dangerous pairings in the Cup Series despite running only a part-time schedule.
They won at Naval Base Coronado, then backed it up with a Brickyard 400 win at Indianapolis. Two wins in fifteen starts are not just impressive; they represent the kind of efficiency which usually gets people talking about championships, not development programs.
Barker has publicly praised Corey Heim’s work ethic and even compared the way he lifts a team to a young Jeff Gordon. But, even if 23XI Racing somehow manages to keep this pairing intact, they won’t have the last say.
The complication is Barker himself. He was moved out of Bubba Wallace’s full-time crew chief role after 2024 and into a broader organizational role at 23XI Racing. If Wallace is right that Barker may not want a full-time 36-race schedule anymore.
Keep him in a senior management position that helps the whole organization, or put him back in the pit box with the driver who looks like the future of the company. Consequently, this could have a bigger effect than originally thought.
Upon a simple glance, it looks like Corey Heim is moving into the No. 35 team. In reality, he would be leaving behind the group that has figured out how to win with him. The No. 35 program has not shown the same speed or consistency that the No. 67 team has.
If Heim starts his rookie season with a different crew chief and a different group around him, he loses the chemistry that has made his transition to Cup racing look almost effortless. That is why Wallace’s comments landed the way they did.
The question is not whether Corey Heim belongs in the Cup Series. He has already answered that. The question is whether 23XI can keep together the one partnership that has already proven it can beat the best drivers in the sport.