Toyota Racing – Corey Heim
NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series Quotes
CHARLOTTE (August 20, 2024) – TRICON Garage driver Corey Heim was made available to the media today as part of the NASCAR Truck Series Playoff Media Day.
COREY HEIM, No. 11 Safelite Toyota Tundra TRD Pro, TRICON Garage
Do you have more Xfinity races scheduled during the Playoffs?
“I believe we have three more. I don’t know if we’ve made that an official social media statement yet, so I don’t want to say which ones, but we do have a few more with Sam Hunt Racing.”
Do you find it easy to compartmentalize each?
“Yeah, there is certainly some races that have – the doubleheaders specifically – that have affected me and my performance in a positive way. I think any seat time for me, and my development has been necessary in the last couple of years and has always helped me learn certain race tracks that I may not have as much experience on, and maybe progress faster on than if I only ran the Truck race. Any time we can get the extra seat time is super important, and I feel like I go a race track I come back better, so if I can knock out two in the same weekend, that would be even better for me.”
How do you rank your competition going into the Playoffs?
“I think the 19 (Christian Eckes) has been really good, especially in the last few weeks. He has been putting up a lot of points – kind of reminds me of my season last year, where he may not have gotten the wins that he deserved throughout the year, but they have been lights out consistent and in contention every single week. I feel like we have been really good too. We have had our good days and we have had our great days, and our good days are kind of right around the top-five and our great days – we can lead a lot of laps and win the race, so I think for us – it is just about making all of our days, great days in the Playoffs. We only have two rounds, and it all goes by really quick. They have kind of checked that box as long as they keep it going. I think we maybe have a little bit of work to do to make sure every race is great. Back to your question – I feel like he has been the best other than us, and you mentioned the 98 (Ty Majeski) has been good recently, more on the short track side. If they can get their big track program a little bit better – they would be a contender as well, and really any of those guys teammates that are in the Playoffs as well. They have really similar equipment, so they will be a threat at any point.”
What is the one hurdle you have to get past to get to Phoenix?
“I don’t know. We are such a complete race team. As you mentioned, last year, we were just super consistent and had really good points days – didn’t make any awful mistakes. When you go into the Playoffs, especially with our situation, with all of the Playoff points that we have, as long as you don’t do anything crazy – of course there are some variables that are out of your control, like Talladega. You can get one bad push and your day is pretty much over. You just try not to worry about that. You just try to go out and execute as we should and as we know we are capable of. I think we will be just fine. We were able to do that last year, and I think that is the goal this year. Go off our normal routine and keep moving forward.”
How eager are you to get back to Phoenix this year after what happened last season?
“I feel like we probably deserved to win the championship last year, and we certainly had the speed. We executed and did everything right and didn’t win it. I know that we are capable of doing that this year, as long as we execute like we did last year, but I feel like we have a better race team. I’ve got a lot of confidence in my TRICON Garage, Toyota Racing group and got a lot of confidence in myself. I know that we are very well and capable of it. Certainly, eager and looking forward to having that opportunity again.”
Do you have to be focused as possible for each round or do the Playoff points you come in with help?
“At the end of the day, I feel like the Playoff points help but if you look at the breakdown, you can truly have one bad race and you are reset back at that cutline area. It is super important for us to go out and get stage points every week with Talladega being in that Round of 8. It throws in a lot of uncertainty and unknowns, so to be able to execute leading into Talladega, the races before that, and races following that as well will be super important, and also the Round of 10. It is not a slip-and-slide for us either. We have to go out and get some more Playoff points and try to win some races to give us a bigger cushion going into that last round because there is a lot of variables that could prevent you from getting to Phoenix. Kind of like I mentioned earlier, as long as we go out and do what we are capable of, we will be just fine, but you are always kind of anxious to go out and do it, and you never know what could happen. Just have to do what we can during the week to prepare and go out and execute.”
Do you think the championship could help elevate you into a different ride for next season?
“That is a good question, just trying to focus on this year’s 2024 campaign in the Truck Series for now. I certainly hope that this season so far has put me down for a good resume and put in a good word for people, but at the end of the day, I’m focused on the truck championship. It is a big time of year for us. That is where all my energy and focus is going for now, but certainly I hope that I have made a good name for myself with the wins this year, and that I can continue to do that for the rest of 2024.”
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