NASCAR on TV this week

Corey Heim in the Hunt Late With 3rd-Place Finish At Iowa

NEWTON, IA – The first NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Iowa Speedway in five years turned into a tire-management event, and Corey Heim thrived. In his seventh start of the season, Heim was fastest in the practice session and poised to contend for his first victory.

Mother Nature forced the cancellation of qualifying and, as per the rulebook metric, Heim started 22nd.

Heim quickly rocketed to the front, and at the end of the Hy-Vee Perks 250 on Saturday (June 15), he set his career-best result with third.

See also
Sam Mayer Collects 2nd Win of 2024 in Xfinity Series' Return to Iowa

“It’s not hard to get greedy,” Heim told reporters post-race about his desire for the win. “We were the best car yesterday and the track, after it rained, as typical for a repave, so many cars put rubber down. And the track changes so much that the older surface like what’s under the repave, the old Iowa, once it rains, it resets everything and you need to re-learn the racetrack. That beat us a little bit, but at the end of the day, we had a good day for Sam Hunt Racing. Super proud of those guys and Toyota Racing, Yahoo, yes, it’s a really good day for us.”

Had there not been two cautions in the final 25 laps, Heim felt confident that he wisely managed his tires for an outstanding result.

“Saved for the first 20-30 laps, if not more, especially if we went green to the end,” Heim said. “And then you could let it up there at the end and gain some spots but you certainly couldn’t go at the beginning of the runs, at least for us; we’d tear up right fronts.”

Blown tires ended the day for multiple drivers, including playoff-bound drivers Jesse Love and Austin Hill. By starting in the back half of the field, Heim and his Sam Hunt Racing team quickly adjusted to the tire wear.

“The first set went away on us,” Heim stated. “I think as soon as we realized that, which was unanticipated for us, we kind of got a new game plan. Slow down the runs a little bit, just not being super aggressive with the tires. Ours lasted fine throughout the race, with one set that corded a little bit or blistered, whatever you want to call it. Minimal issues after we kind of redid our game plan, I guess if that makes sense.”

“Yeah it was wild for sure,” team owner Sam Hunt told Frontstretch about the day. “We kind of took off like a cannon having to start deep and ran the very top and learned very quickly that the tires just couldn’t really handle it. So we blistered pretty good in the first stage. Once we saw what it was doing, we adjusted. Our crew chief Kris Bowen made a strategy from there, and Corey kind of knew what he had to manage with the tires. So from there, for us, it really became about execution. Our guys did an awesome job on pit road all day.

“Can’t say enough about Corey Heim, the kid’s a great teammate, great driver, he’s a great friend of mine, and he almost feels like a little brother at this point. So anytime we get to work together, it’s really fun, and I’m just proud of my guys, thankful for Yahoo, Toyota, TRD, everybody that’s a part of this program. Man, it’s a small effort, but we pack a big punch and hopefully we’re going places.”

Heim entered the 0.875-mile short track with a fourth and sixth-place finish there in the ARCA Menards Series. Granted, those races were contested on the track before its repave this year, but experience, especially success there, cannot be discounted.

“I think any laps help,” Hunt added. “I do think the track was just a lot different with the repave. I’ve got to give a ton of credit to the TRD guys in the simulator in Salsbury for doing a really good job of capturing the new asphalt at the track. I felt like we had a really good sim session this week. Like I said before, without Toyota, TRD we wouldn’t be here, so I think both Corey and I give a lot of credit there for all the hard work they do. Just proud of this little group for bringing a fast racecar.”

Hunt continuously praised Heim, noting his talent.

“Corey’s been great everywhere,” Hunt continued. “The car is a lot different than the Truck, so he’s adapting quickly when he’s been in this car. He’s just a stud.”

SHR also tied its best-ever finish on Saturday. It’s a testament to the continual progress of the Toyota team.

“They’ve just done such a good job at Sam Hunt Racing hiring the right people,” Heim continued. “Brought a lot of good people onboard to make these cars go faster. That’s what it’s all about; I know we’re all hungry for a win, so unfortunate to come up just short. You got to start somewhere. We finished fourth at Richmond and third today, it’s a great start. Still a few races for me to go this year so looking forward to building on it and continuing on.”

See also
Poor Restarts Keep Chandler Smith From Being Short Track King

The tremendous performance has Hunt all that more eager for the team’s first-ever win.

“It’s strange,” Hunt said about his happiness for third but his desire to go to victory lane. “We’re getting to this point where we’re really happy to run third, but we’re close to that first win. So we can kind of taste it, we’re so close that the mindset has really shifted to ‘How do we pull that first one off?’ Cause it’s going to be a big deal for all the people that have been a part of growing this thing and giving me a chance. I just want it for my people really bad.”

Heim is also set to compete in the NASCAR Cup Series race in two weeks at Nashville Superspeedway. He’ll gladly take the momentum from today.

“Any racing for me is good seat time. When I’m in my development stage as I am now I think the more I can gain experience, the better I’ll be. Regardless of what is and where it is, if I’m behind the wheel, that’ll help me out in the long run. Certainly looking forward to Nashville in what we’re doing in a couple of weeks and just trying to learn everything the best that I can.”

Frontstretch.com

Mark Kristl joined Frontstretch at the beginning of the 2019 NASCAR season. He is the site's ARCA Menards Series editor. Kristl is also an Eagle Scout and a proud University of Dayton alum.

Sign up for the Frontstretch Newsletter

A daily email update (Monday through Friday) providing racing news, commentary, features, and information from Frontstretch.com
We hate spam. Your email address will not be sold or shared with anyone else.


1 Comment
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
Drew

Well at least Corey has finished in third place at Iowa today which is not bad.