HEIM TIME SCORES BIGTIME BRICKYARD 400 WIN: Corey Heim Wins at Indianapolis

RPW EXCLUSIVE COLUMN BY: Steven Brien / RACE PRO WEEKLY – SPEEDWAY, IN – Corey Heim held off Christopher Bell in the final laps to earn his second NASCAR Cup Series victory of the season in Sunday’s Brickyard 400 presented by PPG at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

“I was hanging on for dear life once the shade went down and the pace picked up,” Heim said after climbing from his No. 67 Toyota. “That was the hardest I’ve ever fought in my life to just make sure I focus on exits and dirty air.”

Heim led a race-high 58 laps and threw a decisive block on Denny Hamlin during the final restart before holding off Bell in a breakout performance at one of NASCAR’s crown-jewel events

“This is a dream come true,” he added. “I just had to be aggressive.

Bell finished second after hounding Heim in the closing laps

“If he [Heim] would’ve had one bobble, I was gonna be able to get there,” Bell said after exiting his No. 20 Toyota. “He showed excellent mental toughness and put together 35 really good laps.”

Bell recorded his sixth runner-up finish of the season.

“We’ve had a lot of bad second place finishes, but this one’s a good one,” Bell added. “Proud of this team.”

Last week’s winner, Joey Logano, tracked down the leaders in the closing laps but settled for third.

“We’ve been so close to winning here for years now,” Logano said. “You got to be on the front row on the final restart here to me and I wasn’t able to be there.”

Chase Briscoe was fourth and Hamlin completed the top five.

“These restarts when everyone kind of knows when you’re gonna go, it’s about the pushes.” Hamlin said. “Just getting a shove up so early, just didn’t allow me to get my car straight before taking off.”

Brad Keselowski was sixth, followed by Josh Berry, Ryan Preece, polesitter Carson Hocevar and Tyler Reddick to complete the top ten.

During green-flag pit stops in Stage 1, Kyle Larson short-pitted Hocevar and appeared poised to cycle into the lead with seven laps remaining in the stage. Instead, Larson’s left-rear tire failed entering Turn 3 on Lap 45, ending a promising afternoon. The finish marked Larson’s fourth consecutive race outside the top 10.

Ty Gibbs capitalized to edge Hocevar in a one-lap sprint and win Stage 1, his fifth stage victory of the season. Gibbs went on to lead 46 laps.

Heim finished second in the stage, followed by Michael McDowell, Hocevar and William Byron. Hamlin, Daniel Suarez, Briscoe, Chris Buescher and Reddick also earned stage points.

Hendrick Motorsports’ difficult day continued on Lap 60 when Ricky Stenhouse Jr. turned Chase Elliott into the outside wall exiting Turn 2. The impact flattened Elliott’s tire and forced the No. 9 Chevrolet to the garage.

Daniel Dye brought out the caution on Lap 96 after suffering a left-rear tire failure entering Turn 3 and spinning into the outside wall.

The incident ended Stage 2 under caution, allowing Ross Chastain to stay out and claim his fourth stage victory of the season.

Todd Gilliland finished second in the stage, followed by Gibbs, Hamlin and Heim. Hocevar, Preece, McDowell, Erik Jones and Suarez rounded out the top 10.

The caution would wave again on lap 115 for a small piece of debris on the racetrack with Gibbs out front.

With 43 laps remaining, John Hunter Nemechek attempted to make it three-wide entering Turn 3 and made contact with Ryan Blaney, triggering a multi-car crash. The incident collected A.J. Allmendinger, Austin Hill, Casey Mears and Riley Herbst, while Chastain, Connor Zilisch and Zane Smith also sustained damage.

Despite finishing 24th, Gilliland beat Blaney by two positions to capture the $1 million NASCAR In-Season Challenge bonus for Front Row Motorsports.

“It seemed like we barely skated by every single round,” Gilliland said after exiting his No. 34 Ford. “I think we always found just a little bit more in all of ourselves.”

The NASCAR Cup Series heads to Iowa Speedway in two weeks with four races remaining in the regular season.

NASCAR Cup Series Race – Brickyard 400 presented by PPG

Indianapolis Motor Speedway

Speedway, IN.

Sunday July 26, 2026