After making three NASCAR Camping World Truck Series starts in 2021, Corey Heim returns to KBM where he will make at least 15 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series starts behind the wheel on the No. 51 Tundra TRD Pro in 2022 beginning with the season-opening event at Daytona International Speedway Friday night. Despite not being slated for a full-time schedule, Heim will compete for the 2022 Sunoco Rookie of the Year award this season. Heim will look to join three other KBM drivers that have won the award, reigning winner Chandler Smith, William Byron (2016) and Erik Jones (2015).
Heim had an impressive Truck Series debut at Darlington (S.C.) Raceway last May, where he led two laps, finished Stage Two in the runner-up position and was running second when he got turned from behind on a restart with just under 30 laps remaining. His best result across his three starts was an 11th-place finish at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway in October.
In his lone start at Daytona, Heim led a race-high 38 laps en route to the victory in last year’s ARCA Menards Series event driving the No. 20 JBL Camry for Venturini Motorsports. The talented teenager made it two-for-two in ARCA Menards Series superspeedway races last when he was victorious last October at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway.
JBL, the authority in engineering superior sound, returns to KBM for an eighth season and will be the primary sponsor on Heim’s Toyota for 10 races beginning Friday night at Daytona. Crescent Tools, a premier hand tool brand from Apex Tool Group, will serve as a primary sponsor for four of Heim’s races, beginning July 29 at Lucas Oil Indianapolis (Ind.) Raceway Park.
Heim finished second to Ty Gibbs in the 2021 ARCA Menards Series championship standings. The Toyota Racing Development product collected six wins, three poles, 406 laps led, 16 top-five and 20 top-10 finishes and produced an average finish of 3.1 across 20 starts. Across 36 career ARCA Menards Series starts has seven wins, 503 laps led, 26 top-five and 35 top-10 finishes resulting in an average finish of 4.2. Heim Picked up his first career ARCA Menards Series victory at Kansas Speedway Oct. 16, 2020.
The Georgia native has also found his way to victory lane in the Late Model Ranks the last few seasons. Most recently, the Georgia driver brought home a victory March 27 in the Super Late Model Georgia Spring Nationals at Crip Motorsports Park in Cordele, Ga. It was his second Super Late Model win at his home state track, where he also won CRA SpeedFest at the 3/8-mile track in 2020. On the CARS Tour, Heim has one Super Late Model win at South Boston (Va.) Speedway in 2018 and one Late Model Stock victory at Hickory (N.C.) Motor Speedway in 2020.
Mardy Lindley returns to KBM for his second season atop the pit box of the No. 51 team. The No. 51 team produced three victories in Lindley’s first season as a crew chief at KBM, two with owner-driver Kyle Busch and one with Martin Truex Jr. Before arriving at KBM, Lindley guided his drivers to 32 wins and four ARCA Menards Series East championships since 2013, including back-to-back titles with Sam Mayer the last two seasons. Additionally, he earned the ARCA Menards Series Sioux Chief Showdown championship with Mayer in 2020. Behind the wheel, the second-generation driver won 11 races on the Pro Cup Series from 2000 to 2006 and was crowned the series champion in 2001. In Lindley’s lone race atop the pit box at Daytona, Drew Dollar was running third of the exit of Turn 4 last year when he got clipped from behind and swept up in a crash. Despite the incident Dollar would finish 10th.
KBM owner-driver Kyle Busch will make the first of his five allotted Truck Series starts March 4 at Las Vegas (Nev.) Motor Speedway. The remainder of his schedule will be announced at a later date.
Corey Heim, Driver Q&A:
You won the ARCA Menards Series race at Daytona last year. How do you think racing in the truck at Daytona will compare to that?
“It’s going to be a lot tougher racing a superspeedway in a truck versus an ARCA car. You have a way more dense field, you have way more pack racing, and the aero package is way different. I’m looking forward to getting there and getting behind the wheel of my Tundra TRD Pro.”
Being the driver that has the least amount of Truck Series experience at KBM, how much will you rely on your teammates?
“Last year for me three starts I relied on my teammates a lot, especially at Darlington in my debut. John Hunter (Nemechek) and Chandler (Smith) did a really good job of helping me and that’s something I really appreciate from them. Going into Daytona, they both have truck experience under their belt at Daytona, so I’m going to rely on them for sure.”
How big of an opportunity is your expanded schedule in the Truck Series this year?
“It’s a great opportunity. The three races last year were a good warmup for this year, but nothing compares to the amount of starts I get this year. It’s going to be a good year starting at Daytona, starting my first superspeedway race in a truck and looking forward to going on from there.”
Corey Heim Career Highlights:
Made three Truck Series starts in 2021 with a best result of 11th coming at Martinsville in October.
Across 36 career ARCA Menards Series starts has seven wins, 503 laps led, 26 top-five and 35 top-10 finishes resulting in an average finish of 4.2. Picked up his first career ARCA Menards Series victory at Kansas Speedway Oct. 16, 2020.
Brought home a victory March 27, 2020, in the Super Late Model Georgia Spring Nationals at Crip Motorsports Park in Cordele, Ga. It was his second Super Late Model win at his home state track, where he also won CRA SpeedFest at the 3/8-mile track in 2020.
On the CARS Tour, has collected one Super Late Model win at South Boston (Va.) Speedway in 2018 and one Late Model Stock victory at Hickory (N.C.) Motor Speedway in 2020.
Corey Heim’s No. 51 JBL Tundra TRD Pro:
KBM-26: The No. 51 JBL team will unload KBM-26 for Friday night’s season-opening event at Daytona. This Tundra TRD Pro has one victory under its belt, which came with Raphael Lessard at Talladega Superspeedway in 2020. Drew Dollar piloted this chassis to a 10th-place finish in last year’s Truck Series race at Daytona.
KBM drivers have collected one win, three poles, 102 laps led, four top-five and 11 top-10 finishes resulting in an average finish of 16.3 across 31 starts at Daytona. Owner-driver Kyle Busch picked up the team’s lone victory at the 2.5-mile tri-oval in dramatic fashion in the 2014 season opener, finishing .016 seconds ahead of fellow Toyota competitor Timothy Peters.
KBM holds the Camping World Truck Series records for most career wins (90) and most wins in a single season (14 in 2014). With his victory at Bristol Motor Speedway last September, Chandler Smith became the 17th different driver to win a Truck Series event for KBM. In addition to collecting a series-record seven Owner’s Championships, the organization has produced two championship-winning drivers: Erik Jones (2015) and Christopher Bell (2017).
With 37 victories, the No. 51 is the winningest number in KBM’s Truck Series fleet.
