Corey Heim passed his own team co-owner on the final restart Sunday and never looked back. The 24-year-old driver took the Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, holding off Christopher Bell by 0.287 seconds at the finish line on the historic 2.5-mile oval. Joey Logano finished third, 0.972 seconds behind.
According to ABC News, Heim is the first Cup driver to win twice in his first 15 career starts since A.J. Foyt in 1965. He does not drive full-time in NASCAR's Cup series and is not scheduled to do so until next season. Sunday's victory was his second win of 2026.
The decisive moment came when Heim made a daring outside move to pass Denny Hamlin on the final restart, then led the final 35 laps. Hamlin, who co-owns 23XI Racing alongside Michael Jordan, finished fifth, more than six seconds back. Hamlin was trying to complete a career sweep of NASCAR's four crown jewel races. He is now 0 for 18 all-time at Indianapolis.
Heim described the closing laps as the hardest race he had ever run. "That was a damn handful," he said. "I was hanging on for dear life once the shade went down and the pace picked up, my car got really loose and I never really got a lot of clean air throughout the day, so that was the hardest I've ever fought in my life to make sure I focused on the exits and get through dirty air."
Hamlin made his second straight trip to victory lane as a team owner. His 23XI Racing driver Bubba Wallace won the 2025 Cup title, and now Heim has added the Brickyard.
Todd Gilliland of Front Row Motorsports collected the $1 million In-Season Challenge prize despite qualifying 36th. The payoff came after 2023 Cup champion Ryan Blaney was collected in a nine-car crash with 41 laps remaining. Team Penske's crew tried to get Blaney back into contention, but he finished 26th, unable to pass Gilliland, who ended the day 24th.
Defending Cup champion Kyle Larson had another difficult weekend. His winless streak reached 46 races after a blown left rear tire sent him hard into the wall in stage one, finishing last in the 39-car field. He had qualified 10th, with a lap time more than 0.3 seconds behind pole winner Carson Hocevar. Daniel Dye and Chase Elliott were also knocked out early after hitting the wall.
