Toyota GAZOO Racing – Corey Heim
NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series Quotes
CONCORD, N.C. (August 19, 2025) – TRICON Garage driver Corey Heim was made available to the media on Tuesday as part of NASCAR Truck Series Playoff Media Day.
COREY HEIM, No. 11 Safelite Toyota Tundra TRD PRO, TRICON Garage
What is different to you about the Playoffs this year compared to the last two?
“Really not a ton for me. I think the main thing for us is that we’ve really connected a lot of the dots on maybe the prior struggles we’ve had so far and got a lot of things to improve in the Playoffs still regardless as far as keeping that going or keeping the momentum going. I feel like for me, there was some struggle areas last year that kind of lingered throughout the year and we never quite got past that. But we were able to hone in on that in the offseason and sort of clear those up as far as maybe some packages that we brought to specific race tracks that didn’t work, and maybe some pit road stuff. My personal development as far as my driving style at some places. I feel like just within my 11 team and within TRICON and Toyota, we’ve done a great job of just honing in on the things that maybe didn’t work throughout the year and lingered and just kind of fixing that for 2025 and hoping to extend that into the Playoffs as well.”
Is there anything that you look at as being a challenge for your team in the Playoffs?
“Yeah, I mean for the most part every race is a challenge. It’s never a layup by any means anywhere you go, especially if you look at the last round, you’ve got a lot of challenging races within the Round of 8. Talladega is kind of the one that sticks out like a sore thumb to everybody. It’s just such an unpredictable race. As far as the speed we’ve brought to the race track, I think most, if not all the Playoff tracks fit that for us but as far as strategizing – especially Talladega but also Martinsville, the Roval – that whole Round of 8. Strategizing that and also just planning for kind of what our plan of attack is for those last few races is going to be big. Of course, we’ve got the whole Round of 10 to get through as well, but that round specifically stands out to me as something that we need to really think about and how to attack that and make sure we’re in the right spot at the right time.”
Who can you lean on and build a notebook for the Roval race to start the Round of 8?
“As far as who I lean on, I don’t know if I have anyone specific in mind off the top of my head, but I feel like the road course stuff on my side has been really good as far as preparation this year and just understanding kind of what I need to do to attack the race track in a certain way. I’ve only run a TA2 race there one time in like I think it was 2021 on a different layout so I’ve got a very rough and slim idea of what I need to be successful at that track specifically. But I work with the 23XI people a lot on their side, trying to gauge where their Cup guys are making time on specific race tracks such as Watkins Glen. Lime Rock of course we were by ourselves, but I worked with them on Lime Rock a little bit too actually. But as far as just overall preparation and development, it’s going to be tough to do for sure just with the lack of experience for me at that place. But Lime Rock, I had never been there either and it was a pretty successful day for me so just trying to take the same mindset into that.”
Looking at the opening round, what is the biggest trouble track for teams?
“That’s a good question. Loudon is tough because we haven’t been there – or the Trucks haven’t been there in about six years. I was fortunate to race there last year in Xfinity for Sam Hunt Racing. Loudon is just a tough one being an anomaly just as far as lack of experience, lack of laps there for most of the truck field including drivers and teams. That will be tough for the Round of 10 for sure. But kind of like you mentioned, the Round of 8 is definitely the ones that stand out more. The Round of 10 is kind of your standard race tracks, places that we’ve been for the most part other than Loudon. But I mean, as far as similarities, we go to a lot of tracks similar to Loudon too so it shouldn’t be anything too crazy I wouldn’t think.”
Does your 62-point advantage over the cutline give you comfort knowing you have this big of a point lead, and it should allow you to race for the Championship in Phoenix?
“In a way yeah, but I think with the Playoff format and the way that everything is structured, things can turn sideways pretty quick so I feel like you can never get too comfortable or to the point where – especially as far as my team goes. If they think that we just need to smooth sail through the round and no problem and maybe have a lack of effort – not that they will at all – they prepare very well. But if they were to hypothetically and we have a part failure or something with a DNF, you find yourself in a bad spot pretty quick. I feel like our mindset as far as our 11 crew and the organization with TRICON is to prepare to the best of our ability in the same way that we have for most of the races this year and just to really hone in on everything and if not elevate everything to make sure that we cannot have any failures or anything crazy like that. And also, just continue to bring the speed that we have throughout the year.”
Is Phoenix a track you really enjoy driving around and does it suit driving style?
“Phoenix is alright. It’s not the greatest quality of racing by any means. I feel like it’s really easy to get stuck in traffic and whatnot, but it’s okay. There’s definitely better race tracks out there in my opinion, but the restarts are definitely crazy and that’s about it. The restarts are crazy and then it’s kind of straightforward from there. Yeah, it’s okay.”
How much have you improved as a driver or the way that you drive since 2023?
“I think for the most part, yeah, for the most part I’ve gotten a lot more comfortable in understanding what I need out of my truck on a regular basis. I feel like in 2023 — I had the 16-race part time schedule in 2022 with KBM and then leading up with TRICON in 2023, I think a lot of us were kind of unsure with where our equipment was with TRICON being a new – I wouldn’t say a new organization by any means but with a new manufacturer and kind of rebranded stuff – a lot of uncertainty as far as where we were. We ended up being really good, and I was also developing myself and maybe not super confident in the adjustments I needed to put me over the edge from being a top five truck to being a winning truck in the same weekend. Just things like that. I feel like I’ve gotten a lot more confident in myself and comfortable in my equipment. Any extra reps and seat time is super important, and I feel like with these two seasons in my back pocket, it’s really helped me just find that comfort with my crew and also have basically the same roster of people on this 11 team for the last two years so everyone is just more comfortable with each other and more confident.”
How has the racing changed since 2023?
“I feel like if anything its better. I’ve had my run ins with people this year, but nothing super egregious. I feel like in 2023, there was a lot of maybe penalties that should’ve been handed out and penalties that were handed out. I’m looking at myself here in the mirror and that’s one of them. I’m not excused from the craziness of that year by any means, but I feel like overall the aggression is more coordinated, I guess. I feel like it’s more worth it for these guys rather than just doing crazy stuff at inopportune times during the race. It seems like the aggression is kind of honed in to the right place at the right time, if that makes sense? In my opinion, it’s definitely better.”
How much of an advantage is running double duty on weekends like Richmond?
“Yeah, it definitely helps especially at a place like Richmond that I’ve never thought is the best race track for myself personally. Any extra laps and any extra preparation I can do, especially on the Cup side, with the extra data and the extra people they have to prepare for these races, I think it’s really helps at a place that I might not be the best at. But really anywhere, anywhere I can get the extra laps on a given weekend and prepare on the Cup side with those guys definitely helps a lot. Definitely paid dividends in the Truck race for me. I feel like I’ve never run amazing at Richmond and we were able to win the race so that was definitely an improvement for our 11 group. The Cup race certainly didn’t go the greatest, but I did feel like I learned a lot from the preparation side and definitely made myself better as a driver as Richmond.”
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