CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Corey Heim is in the driver’s seat entering the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Playoffs.
Heim enters Sunday’s playoff opener at The Milwaukee Mile as the point leader, having won five times during the 16-race regular season. The driver of the TRICON Garage No. 11 Toyota credits his race team for his position entering the six-race run to the championship that concludes Nov. 8 at Phoenix Raceway.
“We are such a complete race team. Last year, we were just super consistent and had really good points days – didn’t make any awful mistakes,” Heim said on Tuesday. “When you go into the playoffs, especially with our situation, with all of the playoff points that we have, as long as you don’t do anything crazy – of course there are some variables that are out of your control, like Talladega.
“You can get one bad push and your day is pretty much over. You just try not to worry about that. You just try to go out and execute as we should and as we know we are capable of. I think we will be just fine. We were able to do that last year, and I think that is the goal this year. Go off our normal routine and keep moving forward.”
Heim, 22, went into the Championship 4 last year and finished third.
“I feel like we probably deserved to win the championship last year and we certainly had the speed,” Heim said. “We executed and did everything right and didn’t win it. I know that we are capable of doing that this year, as long as we execute like we did last year, but I feel like we have a better race team. I’ve got a lot of confidence in my TRICON Garage, Toyota Racing group and got a lot of confidence in myself.
“I know that we are very well and capable of it. Certainly, eager and looking forward to having that opportunity again.”
Heim has also started nine Xfinity Series races and three in the Cup Series this season. He hopes a strong playoff run will contribute to an even brighter future.
“That is a good question, just trying to focus on this year’s 2024 campaign in the Truck Series for now,” he said. “I certainly hope that this season so far has put me down for a good resume and put in a good word for people, but at the end of the day, I’m focused on the truck championship. It is a big time of year for us.
“That is where all my energy and focus is going for now, but certainly I hope that I have made a good name for myself with the wins this year, and that I can continue to do that for the rest of 2024.”