Corey Heim will run a partial NASCAR Xfinity Series stint with Sam Hunt Racing for the second time in his career for the 2024 season.
The news comes as the 21-year-old Heim from Marietta, Georgia, is coming off his first full-time campaign in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series with TRICON Garage, where he achieved three victories, clinched the 2023 Truck Series regular-season championship, made the Championship 4 round and finished in third place in the 2023 driver’s standings. He also made his first four career starts in the Xfinity circuit with Sam Hunt Racing throughout the 2023 campaign, where he recorded two top-15 results.
“I can’t wait to join Sam Hunt Racing again in 2024,” Heim said. “I saw improvement throughout every start I made with [Sam Hunt Racing] in 2023 from top to bottom, including in myself as a driver. That’s really what I’m looking for in a partnership — the constant push to be better, and I know SHR will continue to make that their goal in 2024. It really excites me as a driver to be part of a group like this. I’m looking forward to building this year together and contending for wins.”
Heim, a former Rookie-of-the-Year recipient in both the CARS Super Late Model and Late Model Stock Car Tour regions along with being a nine-time winner in the ARCA Menards Series, made his inaugural presence within NASCAR’s top three national touring series in 2021 when he competed in three Truck Series events for Kyle Busch Motorsports. The following season, he scored his first career victory at Atlanta Motor Speedway, his home track, and would achieve another victory at World Wide Technology Raceway. Despite competing in 16 of the 23-race schedule in 2022, Heim achieved the Truck Series Rookie-of-the-Year title.
This past season, Heim became a full-time competitor in the Truck Series for the first time in his career as he joined forces with the newly rebranded TRICON Garage while remaining as a Toyota Racing Development competitor. Despite being absent at World Wide Technology Raceway in June due to an illness, Heim generated his strongest season to date with three victories, four poles, 12 top-five results, 19 top-10 results, 611 laps led and an average-finishing result of 6.8 in 22 starts, all en route to making the Playoffs and settling in third place in the final standings. He is set to return for a second full-time Truck Series campaign and championship bid with TRICON Garage this upcoming season.
During the previous season, Heim’s first Xfinity Series career start with Sam Hunt Racing occurred at Dover Motor Speedway in April. He would then achieve his first top-10 career result in the series at Darlington Raceway in May by finishing 10th before returning for Pocono Raceway in July and at Darlington in September, where he finished 15th in the latter event.
Heim’s first Xfinity start of the 2024 season will be at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in early March as he will pilot Sam Hunt Racing’s No. 26 Toyota GR Supra. The remainder of his part-time Xfinity schedule along with Sam Hunt Racing’s full driver lineup for the 2024 season remains to be determined.
“Everyone at Sam Hunt Racing is excited to have Corey back with us at an expanded capacity in 2024,” Sam Hunt, owner of Sam Hunt Racing, added. “Corey is a young man that I’ve been a vocal believer in for years now, and I know he will be a driver that can grow into a staple of our Xfinity Series program. He embraces and believes in our group, and he is willing to put the work in to grow with us and compete at the highest level possible.”
Corey Heim’s first Xfinity Series start of the season with Sam Hunt Racing is set to occur at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on March 2. The event’s broadcast time is slated to occur at 5 p.m. ET on FS1.
