Corey Heim: Driver, No. 51 JBL Toyota
NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Overview:
Event: Worldwide Express 250, Race 18 of 23 (Race 2 in the Round of 10)
250 Laps – 70/70/110; 187.5 Miles
Location: Richmond (Va.) Raceway (0.75-mile D-shaped oval)
Date/Broadcast: Aug. 13, 2022, at 8 p.m. ET on FS1, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR 90
The Story on Corey:
Corey Heim and the No. 51 JBL team head to Richmond Raceway for Saturday’s Worldwide Express 250, the second of three races in the Round of 10 of the owner’s playoffs. After Heim scored a fifth-place finish at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park in the opening race, the No. 51 team sits fourth on the playoff grid, 25 points above the cutoff line for advancing to the Round of 8. For Heim, it will be his first start in a National Series event at Richmond. He was the first driver to cross the finish line in the Pro All Star Series Open Super Late Model Commonwealth Classic at the Virginia track in 2019, but his car failed post-race inspection.
The No. 51 team qualified for the owner’s portion of the playoffs via Heim’s two wins this season (Atlanta Motor Speedway and World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway). They are tied with the No. 38 team with a series-leading three wins this season. In addition to Heim’s two wins, Kyle Busch was victorious at Sonoma (Calif.) Raceway in June.
The No. 51 team has captured the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series owner’s championship three times (2013-2014 & 2019) and as on organization KBM has collected a series-record seven owner’s titles.
Across 10 Truck Series starts this season, Heim has produced two wins, two poles, 64 laps led, four top-five and five top-10 finishes resulting in an average finish of 16.5. The Georgia driver picked up his first career Truck Series victory in just his fifth start earlier this season at Atlanta (Ga.) Motor Speedway in March and was also victorious in June at World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway. He’s one of just three drivers to earn multiple pole awards this season. John Hunter Nemechek leads the series with five, while Ty Majeski also has two.
With two victories across his first 10 Truck Series starts, the 19-year-old driver became one of just 12 drivers in series history to net multiple victories in their first 10 starts. Kasey Kahne and Mike Skinner each produced five victories, Mark Martin collected four wins, Ron Hornaday Jr., Ted Musgrave and William Byron brought home three checkered flags and Heim, Kyle Busch, Erik Jones, Rich Bickle, Clint Bowyer and Tony Stewart all delivered two wins.
Heim is competing for the 2022 Truck Series Sunoco Rookie of the Year award. Despite only having competed in 10 of the 17 events so far this season, he leads the standings by 62 points over 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).
In addition to his part-time Truck Series schedule Heim is competing in a six-race schedule for Venturini Motorsports in the ARCA Menards Series. Heim led 74 of 90 laps en route to the victory at Daytona in February to pick up his eighth career ARCA Menards Series victory. Most recently he led a race-high 54 laps and came home with a runner-up finish at Michigan International Speedway last Saturday. Across 41 career ARCA Menards Series starts he has produced 713 laps led, 30 top-five and 39 top-10 finishes resulting in an average finish of 4.3. Heim finished second to Ty Gibbs in the 2021 ARCA Menards Series championship standings.
Mardy Lindley returned to KBM for his second season atop the pit box of the No. 51 team. Lindley has led his team to six wins since coming to KBM at the start of the 2021 season, including two with Heim and one with Kyle Busch this year. In 2021, his drivers produced three victories, two with 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. Lindley’s lone race calling the shots at Richmond was a runner-up finish with Kyle Busch last year. Lindley’s father, Butch, was a two-time winner in NASCAR Xfinity Series action at the Virginia track.
JBL, the authority in engineering superior sound, will adorn the No. 51 as part of their 11-race schedule with Heim on Saturday. Crescent Tools, a premier hand tool brand from Apex Tool Group, will serve as a primary sponsor for three more races this season.
Corey Heim, Driver Q&A:
Corey Heim | Richmond Raceway Preview
This is your first time racing at Richmond in a truck, but you’ve been there in a Super Late model before. What do you think about the track?
“Yeah, Richmond is cool. It’s definitely an aging race track – very abrasive on tires. KBM has really had a lot of success there in the last couple of years. Really looking forward to getting there in my JBL Tundra TRD Pro this weekend.”
You’ve recorded top-five finishes in each of your last two starts. After having some DNF’s throughout the season, as a team are you concentrating more on producing consistent finishes to advance in the owner’s playoffs?
“I think to start the year we were make or break — we either won the race or had some sort of mechanical issue, or some sort of issue on my part and all together as a team I think we were a little inconsistent to start the year. The past couple of weeks we’ve really been clicking of some top fives and running really good during the race and getting stage points. I think that’s going to be super important for the playoffs and maintaining a good points run to get to Phoenix and hopefully compete for the owner’s championship.”
Corey Heim Career Highlights:
- Picked up first career NASCAR Camping World Truck Series victory at Atlanta Motor Speedway March 19, 2022 in just his fifth start. Across 13 career starts has two wins, two poles, 66 laps led, four top-five and five top-10 finishes resulting in an average finish of 16.7.
- Made three Truck Series starts in 2021 with a best result of 11th coming at Martinsville Speedway 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 41 career ARCA Menards Series starts has eight wins, 713 laps led, 30 top-five and 39 top-10 finishes resulting in an average finish of 4.3. Picked up his first career ARCA Menards Series victory at Kansas Speedway Oct. 16, 2020.
Corey Heim’s No. 51 JBL Tundra TRD Pro:
KBM-62: The No. 51 JBL team will unload KBM-62 for Saturday’s race at Richmond. This Tundra TRD Pro has finished inside the top five in both of its starts this season, a third-place finish with KBM owner-driver Kyle Busch at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway in April and a fifth-place finish with Heim at Indianapolis Raceway Park in July. KBM-62’s best result across 11 starts was a runner-up finish with Busch at Richmond in 2021.
KBM Notes of Interest:
- KBM drivers have produced one win, three top-five and three top-10 finishes resulting in an average finish of 10.5 across six Truck Series starts at Richmond. John Hunter Nemechek was victorious in last year’s Truck Series race. Kurt Busch picked up the team’s lone NASCAR Xfinity Series victory at the Virginia track in April of 2012.
- KBM holds the Camping World Truck Series records for most career wins (96) and most wins in a single season (14 in 2014). With his victory at Atlanta Motor Speedway Heim became the 18th 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 40 victories, the No. 51 is the winningest number in KBM’s Truck Series fleet.
