In his NASCAR Cup Series debut as a backup driver, Corey Heim will have a backup crew chief. Dave Elenz has returned to North Carolina to “attend to a personal matter.” Joey Cohen, VP of Race Operations for Legacy Motor Club will fill in.
This has been a tough week for the No. 43 team. Erik Jones suffered a spinal fracture last week at Talladega in a violent wreck. Corey Heim was then named as the replacement driver, which is his role with both Legacy and 23XI Racing.
Now due to another unforeseen circumstance, crew chief Dave Elenz is out this week as well. Legacy Motor Club put out a statement on the matter earlier this morning.
“Joey Cohen, VP of Race Operations for Legacy Motor Club, will assume crew chief duties of the No. 43 Dollar Tree / Petty’s 75th Toyota Camry XSE of Corey Heim for today’s race at Dover Motor Speedway.
“Crew chief Dave Elenz returned to North Carolina last evening to attend to a personal matter.”
As if the pressure wasn’t already enough. Corey Heim is going to make his Cup Series debut in the No. 43 car, sponsored by STP honoring the Petty Family’s 75 years in NASCAR, and he’s gotta do it with a backup crew chief.
Among the young drivers in the NASCAR world right now, Heim is one of the brightest prospects. Toyota sees a real star in the making with Heim. That is if they can keep other manufacturers from taking his services in the future.
This year in the Truck Series, he has a win and an average finish of 3.375 in eight races this year. He has also impressed in Xfinity Series competition.
Corey Heim struggled at Dover once again
The only place where Corey Heim has struggled to find his footing, Dover. In the Xfinity Series Heim has driven for Sam Hunt Racing at Dover the last two seasons. In both instances, he left with a P35 DNF.
Yesterday, Heim had speed at times, but wasn’t able to move up in the field much before experiencing issues with his car. Heim made it up to P16 and then his engine gave up on him right as Stage 2 was ending.
However, that isn’t the only time Heim has raced in the Xfinity Series. Last year he had a top-10 at Darlington. This season at Richmond he wound up with a P4 result in one of his more impressive races to date.
So, Corey Heim is arguably racing on his worst track in a brand new car with a new crew chief and in one of the most iconic paint schemes of all time. No pressure, kid.
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