Time flies, they say, but this is kinda ridiculous.
If there was to be a “Heim Time” in NASCAR, as many expect, you assumed it was at least a year away, and maybe two or three.
Corey Heim is still in his Cup Series courtship stage, doing a little wining and dining, here and there, before officially tying the knot with 23XI Racing next year for full-time duty. That’s still the official roadmap, but a sidetrip through San Diego saw him collect some hardware to bring to that 2027 partnership.
Heim’s Sunday win at Naval Base Coronado was a surprise capper to one of the more unique weekends in NASCAR memory, but we’ll examine why, maybe, we shouldn’t be all that shocked by his victory.
Especially after the three best road-racer’s in today’s NASCAR weren’t there at the end to challenge him. Well, one of them was there near the end, but voluntarily, yet briefly, exited the fight before departing altogether and tweaking an old sports idiom.
Nice guys finish last? Not always. Sometimes they finish 25th.
And yes, we’ll get to that, too.
First Gear: Corey Heim is no stranger to a road-course Victory Lane
Prior to this past weekend, in 12 career Cup starts and 20 O’Reilly Series races, Heim had competed on just one road course — early last year in Austin, where he finished 31st in an O’Reilly race.
And unlike a few other NASCAR racers who grew up on that type of racing — Austin Cindric, Michael McDowell and poor ol’ Connor Zilisch (more on that later) — Heim was basically groomed for NASCAR’s bread-and-butter oval fare.
However, minimal digging uncovers some quality road work in Heim’s past. And not the distant past, either. His utter dominance in NASCAR’s Truck Series hasn’t been relegated to oval tracks.
Of his 12 truck wins last season, three came on road courses (Lime Rock, Watkins Glen, Charlotte Roval) and all three after qualifying on the pole. Those were the only three road races on the 2025 schedule, by the way.
Of the dozen races on his 23XI schedule for 2026, Coronado was the only road course listed. He’s scheduled to return in two weeks at Chicagoland to begin the second half-dozen starts for this year before joining Bubba Wallace and Tyler Reddick on the 23XI roster next year.
Did someone mention Tyler Reddick?
Second Gear: Tyler Reddick wins it, loses it, blows a tire
It had been suggested Reddick would spend these two weeks of road-racin’ (Sonoma follows Coronado this week) recovering some of the points lead he surrendered to the red-hot Denny Hamlin, who’s not exactly a road warrior.
And those doing the suggesting (ahem) were feeling right smart in Sunday’s closing laps as Reddick was hustling toward the final lap and the checkers, with only his rookie-to-be teammate in the mirror.
Heim seized an opportunity to pass and did. Reddick seized an opportunity for a cross-over pass to regain the lead, and did, but seized a bit too hard, couldn’t hold his inside line, and broadsided Heim’s car.
Reddick defied the old saying that all is fair in love and war, and braked briefly to let Heim regain the lead. Say what you want about that, but it didn’t matter, since the back-and-forth left Reddick with a flat left-front tire and, moments later, a finish of 25th.
Denny Hamlin finished a rather predictable 14th and carved another 11 points off Reddick’s lead in the regular-season standings. A Reddick lead that was once comfortably north of 100 points is now eight, but we’ll say it again …
He should be able to regain some of those points this week at the fourth and final road race of 2026.
Yes, should.
Third Gear: Austin Hill upended the odds board
There’s a good chance none of the above theatrics would’ve happened if an unfortunate two-for-one takeout hadn’t happened some 30 laps earlier.
The Lap 32 crash actually involved nine cars, but the two clear headliners were Zilish and Trackhouse teammate Shane van Gisbergen, the most dominant road-course racer in the history of NASCAR. They were part of a mini-Big One triggered by Austin Hill, who’s been given the task of taking over the Chevy formerly driven by Kyle Busch.
In his O’Reilly Series role, Hill is primarily known as a superspeedway ace — 11 of his 16 wins have come in “plate-races” at Daytona, Talladega and Atlanta. But Saturday at Coronado, he won his first O’Reilly Series road-course race and must’ve carried some new confidence into Sunday.
Unfortunately, he also carried too much speed into Turn 1 on a Lap 32 restart. For Connor Z, who’d led the previous eight laps, it was just another blow in a season full of them. His next best chance to salvage something arrives soon — as in this coming Sunday.
Fourth Gear: Will NASCAR return to San Diego?
So, how was the inaugural Naval Base Coronado weekend? The backdrops were fabulous and the race course was quirky and racy enough to hold most folks’ attention.
Reviews, however, suggest logistics were a big issue — not just traffic to and from the little island off San Diego’s western flank, but long lines at concessions and, worst of all, restrooms.
Live and learn, of course, but when will new lessons be put to use at Coronado? Probably not next year. NASCAR’s Ben Kennedy all but said as much after Sunday’s race.
“We would love to return,” Ben said. “We’re also cognizant of the fact this is an active military base. We want to be mindful of that, as well.”
Translation: It’s a lot to ask of the U.S. Navy, but maybe they’ll be willing to do it again in two or three years.
— Email Ken Willis at ken.willis@news-jrnl.com
This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: NASCAR’s San Diego debut gets a fresh Cup Series winner in Corey Heim
Reporting by Ken Willis, Daytona Beach News-Journal / The Daytona Beach News-Journal
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Ken Willis, Daytona Beach News-Journal | USA TODAY Network
