Corey Heim Just Joined One of NASCAR’s Most Exclusive Clubs
· Yahoo Sports
Corey Heim’s remarkable start to his NASCAR Cup Series career continues to put him in rare company.
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By winning Sunday’s Brickyard 400, Heim collected the second Cup Series victory of his young career while still competing on a part-time schedule. The accomplishment was impressive on its own, but history shows just how uncommon it really is.
According to NASCAR statistician Seth Eggert, Heim became just the fourth driver in NASCAR’s modern era to win multiple Cup Series races before beginning his first full-time season. The milestone places the 23XI Racing driver alongside three of the sport’s most recognizable names: Darrell Waltrip, Tim Richmond and Davey Allison.
For a driver with only 15 Cup Series starts, it’s another sign that Heim’s rise has been anything but ordinary.
Heim joined three NASCAR legends
Few drivers have found Victory Lane twice before committing to a full-time Cup Series campaign.
The previous three to accomplish the feat all went on to become some of the most memorable drivers of their generation.
Darrell Waltrip won twice in 28 starts during the 1975 season before becoming a full-time Cup competitor. Tim Richmond matched the feat in 1982, earning two victories in 26 starts before embarking on a full-time campaign.
The most recent driver to join the group had been Davey Allison, who won twice in 22 starts during the 1987 season before becoming a full-time driver the following year.
For nearly four decades, no one added their name to that list.
Then came Corey Heim.
His victory at Naval Base Coronado earlier this season marked his first Cup Series triumph. Sunday’s win at Indianapolis Motor Speedway gave him a second victory and ended a 39-year drought for drivers reaching the milestone before their first full-time Cup campaign.
Heim’s historic start keeps getting better
The latest milestone adds to what has already become one of the most impressive starts to a Cup Series career in recent memory.
Heim’s Brickyard 400 victory not only earned him his first crown jewel win but also made him the first driver of NASCAR’s modern era to collect two Cup Series victories within his first 15 career starts.
Instead of easing into NASCAR’s premier series, the 23XI Racing development driver has immediately emerged as a race winner capable of competing against the sport’s biggest stars.
Whether he eventually follows the same Hall of Fame trajectory as Waltrip, Richmond or Allison remains to be seen.
What is already clear, however, is that Heim has accomplished something almost no modern-era driver has managed. Just 15 starts into his early Cup Series career, he already owns two victories and a place in one of NASCAR’s most exclusive clubs.