It's Heim Time
Brickyard 400:
Corey Heim won the Brickyard 400 Sunday afternoon after stealing the lead from Denny Hamlin on the final restart of the day and by holding off a hard-charging Christopher Bell and Joey Logano in the waning laps of Sunday's Crown Jewel event. It was Heim's first win at Indy, and his first Crown Jewel event win. It was also the second win of his career in his part-time campaign for 2026 before going full-time at 23XI Racing in 2027.
The race at Indy has been historically, especially the last few years with this new generation of race car. While I was entertained to see what strategy would work out and who would capitalize on that, and there were exhilarating restarts throughout with some attrition of heavy hitters, it was not the most exciting race I have watched, even for a place as iconic as Indy that is known to put on mundane races for stock cars. Another damning part of the drama, in my opinion, was that, while always at a premium, passing was possible. Moreover, the "more traditional" stock cars of the O'Reilly Auto Parts Series put on a rather compelling race on Saturday afternoon that had many factors that Sunday's Crown Jewel event had...except constant passing. This generation Cup car is simply abysmal at this track, with passing being nearly impossible. Again, passing was at a premium in previous generation cars, but it was possible. In this generation Cup car, count it out if a mediocrely fast car gets out front. It's game over. I do not know the answer: I am not a driver, a crew member, an engineer, or an aerodynamicist. I am simply a passionate race fan who deeply wants NASCAR to do something...anything...that may help these cars put on a more compelling product at Indy because we must be there, we must race there, we must race the oval. It's a non-negotiable. But try something to give us great racing occasionally. NASCAR has nothing to lose and everything to gain.
As I mentioned above, the race was not a total lost cause. I was captivated by the strategy and who would capitalize on it. The attrition and cautions we did have were compelling, especially since it involved heavy hitters like Kyle Larson and Ryan Blaney. This also led to intense restarts, with drivers going all out because they knew they had to get all they could within a lap or two of the restart, since passing (on the track) was nearly impossible the rest of the day. And they needed to ensure they were setting themselves and their crews up to maximize their pit strategy and minimize their time on pit road, thus allowing them to finish as high as possible. The race also allowed Corey Heim to, without a shadow of a doubt, prove he belongs. Heim, who is part-time, executed the day to perfection, as did his crew. He cooked Denny on the last restart, outsmarted him through turns one and two, and managed the race to perfection even with Bell and Logano breathing down his neck. Sure, a bad fast car and the impossibility of passing helped, but Heim was wheeling his Field & Stream Toyota hard over the waning laps to hold these guys off, dominate the end of the race, and capture his second checkered flag of the 2026 season. Regardless of what the racing was like, Heim delivered an exquisite performance.
Next up, NASCAR enjoys an off weekend this weekend before we head to Iowa Speedway August 8-9 with the NASCAR Cup Series and the NASCAR O'Reilly Auto Parts Series; the Craftsman Truck Series rejoins the action on August 14 at Richmond Raceway. For NASCAR's return, the O'Reilly Auto Parts Series will hit the track on Saturday, August 8, on The CW at 5 p.m. EST with the Hy-Vee Perks 250. The Cup Series will tackle the cornfields on Sunday, August 9, on USA at 3:30 p.m. EST with the Iowa Corn 350.
Iowa Picks: Trucks = OFF
NOAPS = Justin Allgaier
Cup = Joey Logano
Comments