NASCAR phenom Corey Heim wins first Cup Series race at Naval Base Coronado
Posted/updated on: June 22, 2026 at 9:06 am
Last month, Denny Hamlin called Corey Heim a “gifted driver” and a “generational talent.”
On Sunday at Naval Base Coronado near San Diego, Heim proved the co-owner of 23XI Racing right.
In his 13th career start in NASCAR’s top-level Cup Series, the 23-year-old Heim won the Anduril 250, taking the checkered flag in the sport’s first-ever race on an active military installation. Heim won by a wide margin with in No. 67 Toyota, finishing 10 seconds ahead of fellow 23XI teammate Bubba Wallace.
“I hope I don’t wake up from this dream,” Heim said. “Caught a good break by some good guys wrecking out, but they don’t ask how, just how many.”
For a while in the late stages of the race, it looked like a day when another 23XI driver, Tyler Reddick, would make his way to victory lane. Reddick already owns five victories this season and leads the 2026 drivers standings over Hamlin.
Carson Hocevar led a restart with 12 laps to go after the final caution of the day, but he couldn’t hold off Reddick. After Reddick passed the No. 77 Chevrolet, Hocevar spun out after getting hit on the bumper by Heim.
Over the next several laps, Heim chased down Reddick, waiting for an opening. After Reddick went wide in turn 2, the two Toyotas went side-by-side, then Heim passed Reddick with less than three laps to go after kissing the wall in turn 5. Moments later, Reddick then blew his left front tire and fell back, finishing 25th. From there, no driver came close to catching Heim.
Heim is running a mixed schedule this season, but will be full-time in the Cup Series for the team co-owned by Hamlin and NBA legend Michael Jordan next year. Driving the No. 11 Toyota for Tricon Garage last season, Heim won the championship in the Truck Series and set the record for most wins in a single season at that level with 12 — breaking Greg Biffle’s mark of nine victories set in 1999.
A native of Marietta, Georgia, Heim has been viewed as one of NASCAR’s best emerging prospects in the last few years. He has three victories in the Truck Series this season.
Wallace’s comeback on Sunday was remarkable too. After leading a few laps early in the race, the driver of the No. 23 Toyota took a two-lap penalty when he lost his right front tire at the end of Stage 1. Wallace battled all the way back and the second-place finish marks his best of the season. It’s also Wallace’s best result ever at a road course.
Another 23XI driver, Riley Herbst, finished eighth, tying his best career finish at the Cup level.
Hamlin finished 14th and now trails Reddick by just eight points atop the season standings.
Three contenders were knocked out of the race in a multi-car crash on the 32nd lap. Battling with Connor Zilisch for the lead out of a restart, Austin Hill seemingly missed Turn 1, and Shane van Gisbergen slammed into his rear, sending Hill into Zilisch. All three Chevrolets received massive damage and were ordered to the garage. The red flag came out to repair the wall the trio wrecked into.
Van Gisbergen was widely seen as the favorite entering this race, as the driver of the No. 97 machine for Trackhouse Racing had won six of the previous seven Cup Series competitions on road courses. Hill, in the No. 33 for Richard Childress Racing, which was previously Kyle Busch’s No. 8, won the second-tier O’Reilly Auto Parts Series race on Saturday. Zilisch led eight laps Sunday and previously won seven road course races at the O’Reilly level.
“I felt like I was giving Austin space, and the next thing I was in the wall,” Zilisch told Prime Sports after exiting the infield care center.
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The DNF for van Gisbergen is bad news for his standings in the points on a day where it was widely assumed he would contend for a win. Asked how disappointed he was after leaving the care center, the New Zealand native said, “I’m filthy.”
Van Gisbergen fell below the Chase cutline with the result, but he should have the chance to bounce back next weekend at another road course, when NASCAR heads to Sonoma.
Noah Gragson, driver of the No. 4 Ford, was also knocked out of the race. Gragson wrecked when Kevin Magnussen drove into his right rear quarter panel, spinning him near the end of Stage 2. Magnussen, a former Formula 1 driver, finished 27th in his first NASCAR race, but had the fastest lap of the day at 2:12.485.
Christopher Bell, still racing with a fractured left wrist that he suffered during a high-speed crash at Michigan two weeks ago, was relieved on the 12th lap by developmental driver Brent Crews. Bell initially said he would be a “game-time decision” to run the road course, but his No. 20 Toyota crew decided he would start the race and exit on the first caution. It was the first Cup Series appearance for the 18-year-old Crews, who has notched six top-five finishes for Joe Gibbs Racing in the second-tier O’Reilly Auto Parts series. Crews ran into problems of his own on lap 29 when he blew up his gearbox, ending his day.
With starting position in parentheses, driver, team and car manufacturer:
(13) Corey Heim, 23XI Racing Toyota
(12) Bubba Wallace, 23XI Racing Toyota
(14) Kyle Larson, Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
(4) Zane Smith, Front Row Ford
(15) AJ Allmendinger, Kaulig Racing Chevrolet
(16) Chris Buescher, RFK Racing Ford
(23 Ross Chastain, Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet
(24) Riley Herbst, 23XI Racing Toyota
(3) Ryan Blaney, Team Penske Ford
(9) Michael McDowell, Spire Motorsports Chevrolet
