Corey Heim impresses with 13th-place finish at Kansas

After an unfortunate series of events kept Corey Heim out of victory lane in Saturday's NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race at Kansas Speedway, the 22-year-old driver drove one of the best races of his NASCAR career in Sunday's AdventHealth 400. 

In just his fourth career NASCAR Cup Series start, Heim, driving a fourth Toyota for 23XI Racing, finished 13th, best in class of the four 23XI cars. 

Despite struggling in Stage 1 and finishing the stage in 32nd, Heim and the No. 67 team fought on, finishing 23rd in Stage 2 and giving Heim the opportunity to mix it up in the middle of the pack in Stage 3. Despite a series of chaotic restarts, Heim kept his No. 67 Toyota mostly clean en-route to a 13th-place finish. 

"Took me a while to acclimate, but once we made an adjustment and I settled in, I feel like we were good," Heim told reporters after the race. "Obviously learned a lot, just climbing forward and ended up with a good run."

"Getting comfortable was the main thing," he added. "To start the race, I was definitely tight, but you don't want to go out there and wreck five laps in. Once I got the car balanced to where I like it, I felt like it was really good."