Why Heim’s Championship Title Has Been a Long Time Coming

Heim time finally struck title o’clock, and it’s about time. The Toyota man has been deserving of a title for a while now and even of a Cup Series seat. As his dominant 12-win season now shows. So why aren’t he and Cup, and how close did he come before?

The 2023 Title That Almost Was

2023’s finale would go down in infamy, and Heim was at the center of it. Heading into Phoenix, he was 1 of the favorites, and for good reason. Heading into the finale, he’d have the best average finish in only his rookie year with an otherworldly 6.8. So he deserved it the most and was favored to get it done.

And it looked like he was… then Hocevar happened. It started with an overaggressive mistake late in the race. He was competing for a title too and had used his aggressiveness to outdrive his Niece truck to get there.

But here, his 2023 season would turn into a Greek tragedy when Hocevar tried to make it 3-wide on the exit of the turn. Sliding his truck to get alongside the 52 and the 11 of Heim only makes contact and spins both the 52 and the 11 out. Later, Heim got his payback, but it cost him his title.

As he had charged through the field and found himself up front again, ahead of Hocevar, seeing him in his rearview mirror made him see red . So he backed up and wrecked him, getting payback but ruining his title chances. Although the fan base’s ire was toward Hocevar, no doubt Heim was determined heading into 2024.

How Heim Lost 2024

Corey Heim wasn’t actually the best driver in 2024, with his 7.2, not only worse than his rookie year but also only the 2nd-best, behind Eckes’ godly 5.4, as Eckes finished top 10 in all but one race the whole season. But for Heim, this was about getting back the title he was robbed of last season.

But it wouldn’t be Eckes nor Heim who would win the 2024 truck series title. As Ty Majeski simply had the faster truck that night in Phoenix, dominating the whole race and finishing in 1 spot ahead of Corey Heim to clinch his only truck title so far.

Heim’s 2025 Dominance

This year has been truly the definition of Heim time. Heading into the finale, he had already broken the record for most wins by a truck driver in a year with a total of 11 wins that season. Layne Riggs and Chandler Smith are the only drivers with multiple wins in 2025.

Even matching Eckes’ incredible 5.4 average finish heading into Phoenix. Which beat Layne Riggs, who had the 2nd best average finish, by over four spots. So obviously he deserved the title but also a cup seat, so why doesn’t he have one?

Well, when he was in ARCA, Heim feuded with another Toyota up-and-comer in Ty Gibbs. Having incidents throughout the 2021 ARCA season at Elko, Winchester, and Watkins Glen before Ty Gibbs clinched the 2021 ARCA title.

The problem there is that Ty Gibbs is the grandson of Joe Gibbs, the man who owns Toyota’s top team in both the Cup and Xfinity series, where Toyota only has two full-time drivers, with JGR being the only team with wins.

So, with Heim being under the Toyota umbrella due to circumstances totally out of his control, caused by actions he took when he was 18 that amounted to angering the wrong guy. That’s the only reason he’s still here. So after everything, you bet he’s going to do everything to win this title.

Heim’s 2025 Finale

He stayed up front all day, leading 100 laps. But on a late race pit stop, the 11 crew had a slow stop right before the 1st overtime. Putting him behind the other trucks that took 4 tires, let alone those who took 2, and behind many Final Four drivers.

It looked over for everyone who wasn’t counting on Heim’s willpower and skill. As on the restart, Heim made an unprecedented 7-wide pass, which took him from 10th to 2nd in 1 corner before another caution came out.

On the next restart, he passed fellow final four driver and the man he took the title from last year, Ty Majeski, to win his 12th race of the year and finally clinch his truck series title. Going from averaging 5.4 to 5.0 on the year. Thanks a bunch for reading!