Corey Heim: Driver, No. 51 JBL® Toyota
NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Overview:
Event: Fr8 208, Race 3 of 23, 135 Laps –30/30/75; 207.9 Miles
Location: Atlanta (Ga.) Motor Speedway at (1.54-mile Quad-oval)
Date/Broadcast: March 19, 2022, at 2:30 p.m. ET on FS1, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR 90
The Story on Corey:
Georgia native Corey Heim will make his first career start in any series at his home state track in Saturday’s Fr8 208 at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Saturday’s event will be Heim’s second of what will be a 16-race schedule behind the wheel on the No. 51 Tundra TRD Pro in NASCAR Camping World Truck Series 2022. Heim opened his season at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway where he qualified sixth and finished fourth in the opening stanza before a pit road accident caused significant damage to his Toyota and relegated him to a 32nd-place finish.
Heim made three NASCAR Camping World Truck Series starts in 2021, with a best result of 11th coming at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway. Heim had an impressive Truck Series debut at Darlington (S.C.) Raceway last May, where he led two laps, finished Stage Two in the runner-up position and was running second when he got turned from behind on a restart with just under 30 laps remaining.
Despite not being slated for a full-time schedule this year, Heim is competing for the 2022 Sunoco Rookie of the Year award. After two events, he sits fourth in the standings, 28 points behind Lawless Alan. Heim will look to join three other KBM drivers that have won the award, reigning winner Chandler Smith, William Byron (2016) and Erik Jones (2015).
While he didn’t race in the last event at Las Vegas (Nev.) Motor Speedway, Heim traveled with the No. 51 team and observed KBM owner-driver Kyle Busch throughout the Truck Series practice, qualifying and race.
In addition to his part-time Camping World Truck Series schedule, the 19-year-old driver is running six-race schedule in the ARCA Menards Series for Venturini Motorsports. In his lone start so far this season, Heim led 74 of 90 laps en route to the victory at Daytona in February. The win marked was the eighth of his ARCA Menards Series career. Across 37 career ARCA Menards Series starts has 577 laps led, 27 top-five and 36 top-10 finishes resulting in an average finish of 4.1. Heim finished second to Ty Gibbs in the 2021 ARCA Menards Series championship standings. The Toyota Racing Development product collected six wins, three poles, 406 laps led, 16 top-five and 20 top-10 finishes and produced an average finish of 3.1 across 20 starts.
Mardy Lindley returns to KBM for his second season atop the pit box of the No. 51 team. The No. 51 team produced three victories in Lindley’s first season as a crew chief at KBM, two with owner-driver Kyle Busch and one with Martin Truex Jr. Before arriving at KBM, Lindley guided his drivers to 32 wins and four ARCA Menards Series East championships since 2013, including back-to-back titles with Sam Mayer the last two seasons. Additionally, he earned the ARCA Menards Series Sioux Chief Showdown championship with Mayer in 2020. Behind the wheel, the second-generation driver won 11 races on the Pro Cup Series from 2000 to 2006 and was crowned the series champion in 2001. In Lindley’s lone race atop the pit box at Atlanta, he was victorious with owner-driver Kyle Busch leading a race-high 102 laps in last year’s race.
JBL, the authority in engineering superior sound, returns to KBM for an eighth season and will be the primary sponsor on Heim’s Toyota for 10 races this season including Saturday’s race at Atlanta. Crescent Tools, a premier hand tool brand from Apex Tool Group, will serve as a primary sponsor for four of Heim’s races, beginning July 29 at Lucas Oil Indianapolis (Ind.) Raceway Park.
Corey Heim, Driver Q&A:
As a kid from Georgia did you frequent Atlanta Motor Speedway?
“I grew up racing at and also watching all the NASCAR races at Atlanta Motor Speedway. I grew up racing Legends and Bandoleros there and every year that the NASCAR Series would go there, I’d watch all three series cheering on selected drivers. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen Kyle Busch himself win there, so to be racing with him and his team now is pretty special.”
You traveled with the team to Las Vegas to watch and learn while Kyle (Busch) raced. How did that go?
“I think it was great for me to just kind of be part of the team and see how it functions outside of being a driver. Being with Derek Kneeland in the spotter’s stand and kind of listening to the radio all throughout the day, through practice, qualifying and the race, I learned a lot about how Derek talks and how Kyle speaks to his spotter and his crew chief. I think it gave me a lot of good information heading into Atlanta.”
With the track being repaved and reconfigured, do you feel like it levels the playing field for you in your first race there?
“I’d say so, it’s kind of a good equalizer. KBM has always been so good at Atlanta Motor Speedway, I’ve seen Kyle Busch win there so many times, even with the new repave I think my JBL Tundra TRD Pro is going to be really good this weekend.”
Corey Heim Career Highlights:
- Made three Truck Series starts in 2021 with a best result of 11th coming at Martinsville in October.
- Finished runner-up in the ARCA Menards Series championship standings in 2021 after collecting six wins, three poles, 406 laps led, 16 top-five and 20 top-10 finishes resulting in an average finish of 3.1 across 20 starts.
- Across 37 career ARCA Menards Series starts has eight wins, 577 laps led, 27 top-five and 36 top-10 finishes resulting in an average finish of 4.1. Picked up his first career ARCA Menards Series victory at Kansas Speedway Oct. 16, 2020.
- Brought home a victory March 27, 2020, in the Super Late Model Georgia Spring Nationals at Crip Motorsports Park in Cordele, Ga. It was his second Super Late Model win at his home state track, where he also won CRA SpeedFest at the 3/8-mile track in 2020.
- On the CARS Tour, has collected one Super Late Model win at South Boston (Va.) Speedway in 2018 and one Late Model Stock victory at Hickory (N.C.) Motor Speedway in 2020.
Corey Heim’s No. 51 JBL Tundra TRD Pro:
KBM-66: The No. 51 JBL team will unload KBM-66 for Saturday’s 135-lap event at Atlanta. This Tundra TRD Pro has one victory under its belt, which came with owner-driver Kyle Busch at Atlanta in 2021.
Click here to see KBM-66 Performance Profile
KBM Notes of Interest:
- KBM drivers have collected three wins, two poles, 689 laps led, 10 top-five and 13 top-10 finishes resulting in an average finish of 12.8 across 26 starts at Atlanta. KBM Owner-driver Kyle Busch won last year and in 2019 while Christopher Bell brought home the trophy in 2017.
- KBM holds the Camping World Truck Series records for most career wins (91) and most wins in a single season (14 in 2014). With his victory at Bristol Motor Speedway last September, Chandler Smith became the 17th different driver to win a Truck Series event for KBM. In addition to collecting a series-record seven Owner’s Championships, the organization has produced two championship-winning drivers: Erik Jones (2015) and Christopher Bell (2017).
- With 37 victories, the No. 51 is the winningest number in KBM’s Truck Series fleet.
