Heim Downplays Championship Favorite Label Despite Record Season

With a series-record 11 wins on the season, heading into Friday night's NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Championship Race, Corey Heim will be able to say he's had an all-time great season, regardless of how this weekend finishes up.

However, win or lose, Heim will be the story in the NASCAR Truck Series. This is due to his overwhelming dominance this year, which has led to Heim showing up to the Championship Race with 10 more wins than the other three drivers in the Championship 4 combined.

Aside from Heim, the only driver in the NASCAR Truck Series championship battle who has a win this season is Tyler Ankrum. The McAnally-Hilgemann Racing driver won at Rockingham Speedway in April to secure his first NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series win since the 2019 season.

At Championship 4 Media Day on Thursday at Phoenix Raceway, Heim downplayed his status as the favorite for the championship, as he's been in a similar situation in each of the previous two seasons heading into this event. It's that lack of a championship in 2023 and 2024, which has Heim apprehensive about being crowned champion by the media or fans prior to Friday night's race.

"If you ask what it's like, I mean, it doesn't really feel like [I'm the overwhelming favorite]," Heim explained. "Since this is my third year, I felt like I was potentially the media favorite going into last year, maybe not the overwhelming, but carried the most wins coming to Phoenix and kind of got our teeth kicked in."

Heim continued, "I think if we had one to our name already, and we could call ourselves champions of the Truck Series, it would be a little bit different. But that's been the hole in our team, I guess. And I don't think it's for a lack of a race team, by any means.

"It's just kind of circumstantial for how our two Championship Races have gone so far. I think we've shown up with good equipment both years, and just kind of came up short. I don't think it's anything to hang our heads about if it doesn't work out. But certainly something we want to click off before it's all said and done," the native of Marietta, GA, said.

If Heim is going to "click off" a NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series championship, he'll likely need to do so on Friday, or he may not have a chance to achieve that accomplishment later. While there have been no official announcements yet, Heim is expected to run a part-time schedule, with races spanning potentially all three NASCAR National Series divisions, but he's not expected to run full-time in any single series in 2026.

After next year, the talented racer is likely heading to the NASCAR Cup Series.

Heim isn't allowing himself to get caught up in the hype surrounding the opening 24 races of his season, and he's solely focused on this week's race at the 1-mile oval in Avondale, AZ, where he hopes he can finally check a NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series championship off his career bucket list.

A championship-winning run will begin with Thursday afternoon's practice session, which is the thing that has Heim, and potentially his No. 11 TRICON Garage team most nervous heading into the race weekend. Certainly, there's more angst about overall truck speed in practice for the 23-year-old racer than the desparity in the stat-sheet between he and the other three Championship 4 contenders.

"I'd certainly say there's pressure going into practice to make sure we can contend for a win, but I would never think about how many more wins or less wins we have than our competition, considering it doesn't matter at this point," Heim said. "You know, we're all even on points, and we're all kind of in the same boat. Definitely a lot of pressure to make sure we dial our truck in for the Championship Race, but I don't really think about statistics at this point."

While Heim is managing the pressure and emotions of coming into the final "winner-take-all" race of the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series season, the other three championship contenders see the opportunity that lies ahead with their newfound clean slate.

The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Championship Race is set for Friday, October 31, and will be televised on FS1 with coverage set to kick off at 7:30 PM ET. The NASCAR Radio Network and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio will provide the live radio broadcast of the event.