Corey Heim – No. 51 JBL Tundra TRD Pro Camping World Trucks World Wide Technology Raceway Preview

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The Story on Corey:
 
  • Corey Heim returns to the No. 51 JBL Tundra TRD Pro for this week’s Toyota 200 at World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway in Madison, Ill. Saturday’s 160-lap event will be the 19-year-old driver’s sixth Truck Series start of 2022 and the ninth of his career. Despite having just eight starts under his belt, the talented teenager already collected his first series win earlier this year at Atlanta (Ga.) Motor Speedway. Overall, in eight starts, he has tallied 43 laps led and an average finish of 18.5. He has led at least one lap in three of his five starts this season and qualified inside the top five for each of his last three starts.
 
  • In his most recent start, Heim qualified second at Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth but suffered right front damage after making contact with another competitor exiting pit road during the Stage Two break. The No. 51 team used several stops to repair the damage and Heim was able to battle back to a seventh-place finish. Kyle Busch piloted the No. 51 Tundra TRD Pro to a seventh-place finish last week at Charlotte.
 
  • While Heim has yet to make a Truck Series start at World Wide Technology Raceway, he did take part in a rookie test at the 1.25-mile oval in May. He was able to complete over 150 laps in the one-day test. The Toyota Racing Development driver also has one ARCA Menards Series start under his belt at Gateway, a fourth-place finish in 2019.
 
  • Despite not being slated for a full-time schedule this year, Heim is competing for the 2022 Truck Series Sunoco Rookie of the Year award. Having only competed in five of the 10 events this season, he sits third in the standings, 17 points behind Lawless Alan. 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 made three NASCAR Camping World Truck Series starts for KBM in 2021, with a best result of 11th coming at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway. 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. The incident forced him to the garage and ended his night with a disappointing 23rd-place finish.
 
  • In addition to his part-time Truck Series schedule Heim is competing in a six-race schedule for Venturini Motorsports in the ARCA Menards Series. Heim led 74 of 90 laps en route to the victory at Daytona in February to pick up his eighth career ARCA Menards Series victory. Across 40 career ARCA Menards Series starts he has produced 659 laps led, 29 top-five and 38 top-10 finishes resulting in an average finish of 4.4. Heim finished second to Ty Gibbs in the 2021 ARCA Menards Series championship standings.
 
  • Mardy Lindley returns to KBM for his second season atop the pit box of the No. 51 team. In addition to this year’s with Heim, 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. Lindley’s lone Truck Series race at Gateway resulted in a 26th-place finish with Derek Griffith last season. He also was atop the pit box for three ARCA Menards Series events at the 1.25-mile oval, producing an average finish of 7.3, including two third-place finishes with Mayer (2019 & 2020).
 
  • 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 this season including Friday’s race at Texas. 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. 
 
 
Corey Heim, Driver Q&A:
 
You have an ARCA start at Gateway and tested a truck there a few weeks ago. Would you say this is the most comfortable you’ve felt heading into a Truck Series race?
“I’ve mentioned that a few times this year, as far as tracks that at least I’ve got a little bit of experience on, it really helps me going into a Truck Series weekend due to the lack of practice and qualifying that we get compared to ARCA, Late Models, etc. Having experience, having that rookie test a few weeks ago definitely helps me a lot, and I’m looking forward to getting back there.”
 
What do you think will be the biggest challenge racing in the Truck Series at Gateway?
“The track with being so flat passing is going to be super tough. It’s very aero dependent and I feel like it’s going to be a lot of single-file racing and it is going to take a really good truck to get by, but our JBL Tundra TRD Pro has always been good this year, so I’m looking forward to it.”
 
Does it make it more exciting for you to have some extra money on the line with the Triple Truck Challenge?
“For sure, the last few years I thought it was very interesting from the sidelines – super exciting to see who is really stepping up to the plate in those really big money races. That’s something that I’ve really been looking forward to the past couple of years and I think we’ll be good.”
 
 
Corey Heim Career Highlights:
 
  • Picked up first career NASCAR Camping World Truck Series victory at Atlanta Motor Speedway March 19, 2022 in just his fifth start. Across eight career starts has one win, 43 laps led, one top-five and two top-10 finishes resulting in an average finish of 18.5.
  • Made three Truck Series starts in 2021 with a best result of 11th coming at Martinsville Speedway in October.
  • Finished runner-up in the ARCA Menards Series championship standings in 2021 after collecting six wins, three poles, 406 laps led, 16 top-five and 20 top-10 finishes resulting in an average finish of 3.1 across 20 starts.
  • Across 40 career ARCA Menards Series starts has eight wins, 659 laps led, 29 top-five and 38 top-10 finishes resulting in an average finish of 4.4. Picked up his first career ARCA Menards Series victory at Kansas Speedway Oct. 16, 2020.
 
Corey Heim’s No. 51 JBL Tundra TRD Pro:
 
KBM-59: The No. 51 JBL team will unload KBM-59 for Saturday’s 160-lap event at Gateway. KBM-59’s best result across nine career starts was a third-place finish with Chandler Smith at Phoenix (Ariz.) Raceway in 2019. It is the same Tundra TRD Pro that Heim tested with at Gateway in May.
 
 
KBM Notes of Interest:
 
  • KBM drivers have collected two wins, 422 laps led, six top-five and 12 top-10 finishes resulting in an average finish of 14.9 across 26 starts at World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway.
  • Christopher Bell was victorious at the 1.25-mile track in 2016 and Darrell Wallace Jr., won the 2014 event.
  • KBM holds the Camping World Truck Series records for most career wins (93) and most wins in a single season (14 in 2014). With his victory at Atlanta Motor Speedway Heim became the 18th 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 38 victories, the No. 51 is the winningest number in KBM’s Truck Series fleet.

KBM PR

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