“We’re excited to give him that opportunity. He deserves it. I’m glad that he chose 23XI.” Denny Hamlin’s stamp of approval is all that a driver needs to proclaim their talent. And that was a long time coming for Corey Heim, one of Toyota’s top prospects in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series. Currently reigning in first place in the championship standings with 5 wins in 2025, the sky is the limit for Heim’s journey, which also started from somewhere inspiring.
In early 2025, 23XI Racing declared Corey Heim as the team’s developmental driver. That booked Heim for an eventual upgrade to the Cup Series, and it also fell in place with the 22-year-old’s lifelong dream. The seeds of that dream were sown by none other than his own father.
Denny Hamlin’s star recalls his roots
Every legendary story has humble beginnings. Corey Heim is currently paving his own legendary story, having picked up 16 career Truck victories across a three-year tenure. He made his Cup Series debut in 2024, being tapped to replace Erik Jones. Heim performed well in both Kansas and Dover, catching twin top-25 finishes. This year, he wheeled the No. 67 23XI Racing Toyota from 28th to a remarkable 13th place in Kansas. Even amidst his high-speed career which is accelerating towards success, Heim pauses to look back at where he started. Growing up in the suburbs of Atlanta, GA, Heim began his racing journey in karting at a young age before moving up to Legends car racing at EchoPark Speedway.
Corey Heim delved a little deeper into that childhood in a recent interview with NASCAR Live. The Toyota speedster said that the root of his ambition lay in his father who was also a racer. He said, “My dad raced when I was very little. He raced locally in Lanier, in Georgia in Legends cars. He actually raced against…Chase Elliott a little bit, the Dillon brothers, a couple of people here and there. Lanier used to be a popular racetrack; he raced there in the national divisions for a while. I used to go on the hillside and watch him race. I was just 3-4 years old. When I was 5 years old…he surprised me with a quarter-midget that we could race…That was my first kind of introduction to motorsports, and I was pumped up about that.”
Corey Heim
Ray Heim had a humble background; he worked in the gambling industry and sold old monitors from slot machines. Nonetheless, he believed in his son’s dream of working with Denny Hamlin and gave it wings. Corey Heim continued: “Doing that as a 5-year-old was the youngest that you could race, so I started that. And he quit racing just to focus on that, there was just too much between the two…just me and him working, working on the racecars at the time. Yeah, I fell in love with it at a very young age. I was a Denny Hamlin fan growing up. So always very interested in motorsports, especially NASCAR, of course…And I enjoyed it from a very young age, and met the right people along the way.”
Corey Heim has met the right people since his birth. From his father to Denny Hamlin, those people keep guiding him to his destination – but Heim is not carried away by it.
Keeping his feet grounded
Well, every diehard NASCAR fan knows what a talent Corey Heim is. His absence as a full-time competitor in the Cup Series still makes people scratch their heads. That is because his fellow 22-year-olds Carson Hocevar and Ty Gibbs are already there. Currently, Heim drives the No. 67 23XI Racing Toyota under Denny Hamlin on a part-time basis. However, the speedster’s mind lingers on the No. 11 TRICON Garage Truck. The great camaraderie between him and his team landed them 16 Truck wins so far. Heim fetched three in the opening 8 races of 2025. Although Heim lost chances at the championship several times (including a 2023 Phoenix wreck with Hocevar), the time seems ripe now.
With a potential Craftsman Truck Series championship looming on the horizon, Corey Heim loves being in the present. He said in early May that no matter where his Cup Series fortune lies, he is content with TRICON at present. Heim said, “I think a lot of it comes back to how good our 11 team is in the Truck side right now. When you are winning races and competing very consistently, it’s fun and you are having a good time. It is rewarding. I feel like if maybe I was struggling more on the Truck side or maybe seeking other opportunities, I feel like it would be different, but I’m really happy with my opportunities in the Truck Series. We are competitive every week, and it is really fun. It is rewarding – that is the main thing.”
Clearly, Corey Heim’s mindfulness may carve a NASCAR legend out of him in no time. Let us wait and see what magic he conjures in his new venture with Denny Hamlin.
The post Denny Hamlin’s Wonderkid Reveals How His Dad’s Love for Racing Sparked His NASCAR Dream appeared first on EssentiallySports.