Kevin Harvick voices concern for Corey Heim in Toyota system, getting stuck in NASCAR Trucks

It’s quite clear that Corey Heim has nothing left to prove in the NASCAR Truck Series. The 23-year-old has 19 wins in 83 career starts, including a series-high eight in 19 races this season.

Even for being such a young driver, Heim can be considered, at this point, a veteran of the Truck Series. Though he’s dominating the field week in and week out, Heim still doesn’t have an immediate path to move up to the Cup Series in a full-time capacity. Kevin Harvick believes that by staying this long in the Truck Series, it could create some flaws in Heim’s skillset.

“Fortunate or unfortunate for Corey Heim, I think when you look at his position — kind of being stuck in that Toyota system and not being able to really know what to do with him — it has allowed him to become that veteran of the Truck Series,” Harvick said on Tuesday’s Happy Hour podcast. “But there could be some flaws that get created with being stuck in the Trucks too long with the habits, the things that you do and work ethic. I don’t think worth ethic is going to be a problem for him, but I mean that by just developing and pushing towards the next skill, whether it be Xfinity or Cup for him.

“He can do either one, but he’s kind of stuck in this weird spot in the Toyota ecosystem that he can’t get out of, and probably as good if not better than some people in some of those positions above him. But they’re taking advantage of it, just putting an absolute thumping on the rest of the field.”

Corey Heim waiting for a Cup Series opportunity to open up

Anyone that’s watched Heim over the last few years knows he probably deserves a full-time ride in Cup. But Heim, Toyota’s No. 1 prospect, has two things working against him. For starters, there are simply no open seats in Cup. According to Jordan Bianchi of The Athletic, “a lack of sponsorship means he’ll have to wait until 2027 before advancing to Cup full-time — which is expected to happen.”

As for 2026, the plan, per Bianchi, is for Heim to have a combination schedule where he runs select races in all three of NASCAR’s national series. Heim would run Cup races for 23XI Racing, in the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series for Sam Hunt Racing and in Trucks for Tricon Garage, his current team.

Heim’s time will come at some point in the future. This season, he’s chasing his first Trucks championship. Heim is locked into the Round of 8 with his victory in this past Saturday’s race at Darlington Raceway.