Heim Time Strikes Again at The Brickyard

Kelsey Christman - Staff Writer

Corey Heim utilizing his practice time to test speed and limits for his first Cup Series start at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. (Logan Riely, Getty Images, July 2026)

Indianapolis, IN- The NASCAR Cup Series returned to the historic Indianapolis Motor Speedway for the Brickyard 400, a crown jewel race for the series. Carson Hocevar scored the pole position to lead the start of the race beside his Spire Motorsport teammate, Daniel Suarez, to make up the front row.

Hendrick Motorsports found trouble early in the race. As Kyle Larson cycled back to the lead upon the conclusion of a green flag pit cycle, he cut his left rear tire resulting in heavy contact with the outside wall of Turn Three to end his day early on Lap 45. Just 15 laps later, teammate, Chase Elliott, drifted up the racetrack across the nose of the No. 47 of Ricky Stenhouse Jr. sending the No. 9 into the wall and cut his left rear tire as well. He was able to limp to pit road without bringing out a caution. With a broken rear toe link, Elliott’s car was damaged beyond repair. Alex Bowman finished 19th, while William Byron finished 21st. 

In opposition to Hendrick Motorsports, the fellow Chevrolet team of Spire Motorsports had a stand out performance from the moment they touched the track to qualifying. With a front row start for Hocevar and Suarez, Michael McDowell also qualified in sixth. All three Spire drivers received stage points in both Stage One and Stage Two as they finished in the top ten each time. The final results were not as high, but Hocevar remained in the top ten to finish ninth. This made him the top finishing Chevrolet. His teammates, Suarez and McDowell, finished 17th and 18th.

An aggressive restart in the final stage led to a nine car wreck as John Hunter Nemechek attempted to split Bowman and Ryan Blaney to go three wide. Austin Hill, Casey Mears, and Riley Herbst had their day ended as result of the damage from the incident.

The In Season Challenge concluded with this race. The final two drivers left in competition were Ryan Blaney and Todd Gilliland. The Ford drivers battled hard throughout each round with Gilliland being the underdog throughout the contest. The Lap 120 incident left Blaney with significant damage, but he returned to the track on the lead lap after. With a 24th place finish, Todd Gilliland secured the In Season Challenge title and a million dollars as Blaney finished 26th. 

Corey Heim secured his second career NASCAR Cup Series victory as he runs a part time schedule for 23XI Racing. The young driver secured a crown jewel of the series prior to his rookie season. He battled hard through the last few laps to hold off Christopher Bell. The margin of victory was just two tenths of a second. Heim is set to replace Riley Herbst as the team’s third full-time driver beginning next season. 

UP NEXT:

The NASCAR Cup Series will take a week off next week prior to heading to Iowa Speedway for the Iowa Corn 350 Presented By Ethanol. The race will be at 3:30 PM ET on Saturday, August 9th, and can be found on USA Sports. Four races remain prior to the start of The Chase.