Corey Heim – No. 51 JBL Tundra TRD Pro Camping World Trucks Kansas 2 Preview - Speedway Digest

The Story on Corey:

Corey Heim and the No. 51 JBL team head to Kansas Speedway for Friday’s Kansas Lottery 200, the final race in the Round of 10 of the owner’s playoffs. After Heim scored fifth-place finishes in each of the opening two races of the round, the No. 51 team sits sixth on the playoff grid, 31 points above the cutoff line for advancing to the Round of 8. Heim had a really fast JBL Tundra TRD Pro when the Truck Series visited Kansas earlier this year. After starting second, he took the lead on lap 14 and went on to win the opening stage. After finishing second in Stage 2, he dealt with handling issues in the Final Stage which caused him to brush the wall and ultimately blow a tire, relegating him to a 33 ^rd -place finish.

Kansas was the site of Heim’s first career ARCA Menards Series victory. He led 82 of 100 laps en route to his first series victory on Oct. 16, 2020. Across five ARCA Menards series starts at Kansas, he has produced one win, four top-five and four top-10 finishes resulting in an average finish of 5.4.

The No. 51 team qualified for the owner’s portion of the playoffs via Heim’s two wins this season (Atlanta Motor Speedway and World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway). They are tied with the No. 18 and No. 38 teams with a series-leading three wins this season. In addition to Heim’s two wins, Kyle Busch was victorious at Sonoma (Calif.) Raceway in June. The No. 51 team has captured the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series owner’s championship three times (2013-2014 & 2019) and as on organization KBM has collected a series-record seven owner’s titles.

Across 11 Truck Series starts this season, Heim has produced two wins, two poles, 64 laps led, five top-five and six top-10 finishes resulting in an average finish of 15.5. The Georgia driver picked up his first career Truck Series victory in just his fifth start earlier this season at Atlanta (Ga.) Motor Speedway in March and was also victorious in June at World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway.

Heim leads the Truck Series rookie of the year standings by 87 points over 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).

While many Truck Series drivers have been inactive since the last race on Aug. 13, Heim has stayed busy. He led all 125 laps and picked up a Southern Super Series Super Late Model victory Aug. 24 at Watermelon Capital Speedway in Cordele, Ga. He also competed in the Late Model Stock CARS Tour event Aug. 31 at North Wilkesboro (N.C.) Speedway where he qualified second but was relegated to a 25th-place finish after getting spun with 20 laps remaining in the 125-lap event. Most recently Heim piloted the No. 15 Camry to a ninth-place finish for Venturini Motorsports on the dirt track at DuQuoin (Ill.) State Fairgrounds.

The DuQuoin event was part of a seven-race schedule for Heim with 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 42 career ARCA Menards Series starts he has produced 713 laps led, 30 top-five and 40 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. He will make his seventh and final scheduled start of the season Saturday at Kansas.

Mardy Lindley returned to KBM for his second season atop the pit box of the No. 51 team. Lindley has led his team to six wins since coming to KBM at the start of the 2021 season, including two with Heim and one with Kyle Busch this year. In 2021, his drivers produced three victories, two with 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 was victorious with KBM owner-driver Kyle Busch in the 2021 race at Kansas and finished 33^rd with Heim earlier this year.

JBL, the authority in engineering superior sound, will adorn the No. 51 as part of their 11-race schedule with Heim Friday night. Crescent Tools, a premier hand tool brand from Apex Tool Group, will return for three more races this season beginning next Thursday night at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway.

Corey Heim, Driver Q&A:

While the Truck Series has been off the last several weeks you’ve still been active racing other series. How important is it to have that seat time?

“I think the seat time is super important in racing and I believe that racing on a weekly basis in between all the Truck Series races will certainly pay off heading to Kansas on Friday with our No. 51 JBL team.”

You were really fast earlier this year and won the opening stage at Kansas before having some issues. Is this a race you’ve been looking forward to?

“Kansas is certainly a race I’ve been looking forward to. I feel the experience I have there in ARCA and now having a Truck Series race under my belt will really help me be up to speed and be able to go out and compete for the win on Friday.”

How will you approach this race with the No. 51 team being 31 points above the cutoff line for advancing to the Round of 8?

“Our mindset is to not overthink where we are in the playoff standings. If we go out and have a solid race and don’t make any major mistakes, we will be just fine.”

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 14 career starts has two wins, two poles, 66 laps led, five top-five and six top-10 finishes resulting in an average finish of 15.9.
With two victories across his first 10 Truck Series starts, the 19-year-old driver became one of just 12 drivers in series history to net multiple victories in their first 10 starts. Kasey Kahne and Mike Skinner each produced five victories, Mark Martin collected four wins, Ron Hornaday Jr., Ted Musgrave and William Byron brought home three checkered flags and Heim, Kyle Busch, Erik Jones, Rich Bickle, Clint Bowyer and Tony Stewart all delivered two wins.
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 42 career ARCA Menards Series starts has eight wins, 713 laps led, 30 top-five and 40 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-54: The No. 51 JBL team will unload KBM-54 for Friday’s race at Kansas. This Tundra TRD Pro is the same truck that Heim led 18 laps with and won the opening stage with earlier this year at Kansas before being relegated to a 33^rd-place finish after cutting a tire in the Final Stage. KBM owner-driver Kyle Busch has two victories driving KBM-54, including at Kansas Speedway last May. The other victory came at Pocono (Pa.) Raceway in 2018 in its first career start.