Race report

Corey Heim earns shock first Cup win after slamming doors with Reddick in San Diego

It's Heim Time in San Diego, with Heim securing his first-ever NASCAR Cup win in just his 13th career start

It was 23XI vs. 23XI at Naval Base Coronado on Sunday, as championship leader Tyler Reddick battled part-time teammate Corey Heim in the closing laps.

As they battled side-by-side for the lead, they slammed doors and Heim bounced off the wall, before driving off with the win. Reddick suffered a flat tire soon after, and limped home to a 25th-place finish. He now holds just a eight-point lead over Denny Hamlin in the championship standings.

For the 23-year-old Heim, this first-career victory comes in just his 13th career start, and in his sixth appearance of the 2026 season. He was led by crew chief Bootie Barker atop the pit box for the No. 67 Toyota.

Watch: Heim takes late lead, wins at Coronado

It was also a 1-2 finish for the Michael Jordan-owned team, with Bubba Wallace fighting back from two laps down to earn his best finish of the season.

Kyle Larson finished third, Zane Smith fourth, and AJ Allmendinger fifth. Chris Buescher, Ross Chastain, Riley Herbst, Ryan Blaney, and Michael McDowell filled out the remainder of the top ten.

Making his NASCAR Cup debut, ex-Formula 1 driver Kevin Magnussen set the fastest lap near the end of the race, and finished 27th.

Watch: Heim emotional after first career win: 'I hope I don't wake up from this dream'

Stages 1 and 2

Shane van Gisbergen, Trackhouse Racing

Photo by: Sean Gardner / Getty Images

Van Gisbergen led the race from pole position, but as drivers managed the tires, Blaney took control and drove off with the lead.

The first incident was for A. Dillon, who went for a spin. Blaney pitted from the lead halfway through the stage, and several drivers followed suit.

Wallace led for a pit before Van Gisbergen passed him, and they were among a group trying to go longer, saving a set of tires.

However, that strategy bit them as Ricky Stenhouse Jr. stalled on track, triggering the first full-course yellow of the race. During the caution, Christopher Bell climbed out of the car, as he was driving injured and planned to hand over control to 18-year-old relief driver Brent Crews.

Stage 3

Pitlane during a caution flag

Photo by: Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

Buescher took the lead at the start of the final stage, and the next caution was for debris on track. Berry and Custer had a significant incident on the restart, so that was likely the source of it.

As the race resumed, more drama unfolded in the pack, including a collision between A. Dillon and Jones that spent both spinning, Byron spent several laps on pit road for repairs after hitting the wall. Elliott also went for a spin, and Brad Keselowski broke a wheel, ending his day.

But through it all, the race remained green. Larson took control of the race, and while a lot of cars pitted with around 25 laps to go in the race, Larson and a group of about a dozen cars went far longer.

With 20 to go, Larson was now leading Heim by about two seconds, and neither had made their final stop just yet. Heim then rapidly erased that lead margin, and was right behind Larson as they both pitted with 16 laps to go.

Soon after, Stenhouse pulled off track with an issue, and there was clearly fluid all over the track. The caution flew moments after Hocevar, Reddick, Wallace, and Chastain made it onto pit road.

Being caught out by the yellow on older tires, Buescher gave up the lead under caution, pitting for fresh tires. Several drivers followed him, knowing they stood little chance against those who fell on the right side of that yellow.

Hocevar was now in the lead, sharing the front row with Larson. He held the top spot for less than a lap, as Reddick passed them both. Entering the final chicane, Hocevar spun and collected Chastain, falling through the field while Chastain only lost a few spots.

At the front, Heim got alongside Reddick after a small mistake, and they ended up slamming doors, with Reddick pushing Heim into the wall. Realizing his error, Reddick lifted, and soon after blew a left-front tire.

Heim took the checkered flag a full ten seconds clear of Wallace, leading a 23XI 1-2 finish.

Corey Heim, No. 67 23XI Racing Toyota

Photo by: James Gilbert / Getty Images

RACE

All Stats

Cla	Driver	#	Manufacturer	Laps	Time	Interval	Pits	Points	Retirement
1	C. Heim 23XI Racing	67	Toyota	75	3:36'49.275		6
2	B. Wallace 23XI Racing	23	Toyota	75	+10.365 3:36'59.640	10.365	10	35
3	K. Larson Hendrick Motorsports	5	Chevrolet	75	+10.689 3:36'59.964	0.324	7	42
4	Z. Smith Front Row Motorsports	38	Ford	75	+17.114 3:37'06.389	6.425	7	33
5	A. Allmendinger Kaulig Racing	16	Chevrolet	75	+17.623 3:37'06.898	0.509	8	45
6	C. Buescher RFK Racing	17	Ford	75	+17.880 3:37'07.155	0.257	7	39
7	R. Chastain TrackHouse Racing	1	Chevrolet	75	+18.431 3:37'07.706	0.551	7	33
8	R. Herbst 23XI Racing	35	Toyota	75	+19.236 3:37'08.511	0.805	6	38
9	R. Blaney Team Penske	12	Ford	75	+19.556 3:37'08.831	0.320	8	44
10	M. McDowell Spire Motorsports	71	Chevrolet	75	+24.135 3:37'13.410	4.579	7	27
11	R. Preece RFK Racing	60	Ford	75	+26.079 3:37'15.354	1.944	7	45
12	C. Elliott Hendrick Motorsports	9	Chevrolet	75	+27.364 3:37'16.639	1.285	8	25
13	D. Suarez Spire Motorsports	7	Chevrolet	75	+29.151 3:37'18.426	1.787	9	28
14	D. Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing	11	Toyota	75	+29.920 3:37'19.195	0.769	7	23
15	T. Gibbs Joe Gibbs Racing	54	Toyota	75	+32.243 3:37'21.518	2.323	8	29
16	J. Nemechek Legacy Motor Club	42	Toyota	75	+32.924 3:37'22.199	0.681	7	21
17	C. Briscoe Joe Gibbs Racing	19	Toyota	75	+34.521 3:37'23.796	1.597	7	20
18	J. Logano Team Penske	22	Ford	75	+37.607 3:37'26.882	3.086	7	23
19	C. Hocevar Spire Motorsports	77	Chevrolet	75	+39.224 3:37'28.499	1.617	6	27
20	E. Jones Legacy Motor Club	43	Toyota	75	+43.624 3:37'32.899	4.400	8	17
21	T. Gilliland Front Row Motorsports	34	Ford	75	+45.737 3:37'35.012	2.113	8	23
22	A. Cindric Team Penske	2	Ford	75	+46.411 3:37'35.686	0.674	9	15
23	C. Ware Rick Ware Racing	51	Chevrolet	75	+50.422 3:37'39.697	4.011	8	14
24	A. Dillon Richard Childress Racing	3	Chevrolet	75	+54.229 3:37'43.504	3.807	7	13
25	T. Reddick 23XI Racing	45	Toyota	75	+1'11.907 3:38'01.182	17.678	9	12
26	A. Bowman Hendrick Motorsports	48	Chevrolet	75	+1'16.327 3:38'05.602	4.420	8	11
27	K. Magnussen TrackHouse Racing	91	Chevrolet	75	+1'18.006 3:38'07.281	1.679	7	11
28	J. Johnson Legacy Motor Club	84	Toyota	75	+1'39.930 3:38'29.205	21.924	10	9
29	J. Berry Wood Brothers Racing	21	Ford	75	+1'54.299 3:38'43.574	14.369	9	8
30	T. Dillon Kaulig Racing	10	Chevrolet	74	+1 Lap 3:38'06.433	1 Lap	9	7
31	C. Custer Haas Factory Team	41	Chevrolet	72	+3 Laps 3:37'47.841	2 Laps	8	6
32	W. Byron Hendrick Motorsports	24	Chevrolet	68	+7 Laps 3:37'53.370	4 Laps	9	6
33	R. Stenhouse Jr Hyak Motorsports	47	Chevrolet	59	+16 Laps 2:54'19.288	9 Laps	8	4	Radiator
34	B. Keselowski RFK Racing	6	Ford	59	+16 Laps 3:39'01.101	44'41.813	13	3
35	N. Gragson Front Row Motorsports	4	Ford	37	+38 Laps 1:53'11.104	22 Laps	6	2	Accident
36	A. Hill Richard Childress Racing	33	Chevrolet	31	+44 Laps 1:32'31.764	6 Laps	4		Accident
37	C. Zilisch TrackHouse Racing	88	Chevrolet	31	+44 Laps 1:32'31.799	0.035	15	3	Accident
38	S. van Gisbergen TrackHouse Racing	97	Chevrolet	31	+44 Laps 1:32'31.826	0.027	15	1	Accident
39	C. Bell Joe Gibbs Racing	20	Toyota	28	+47 Laps 1:21'48.499	3 Laps	4	1	Engine
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