NASCAR Brickyard 400 takeaways: Part-timer Corey Heim shocks field with crown jewel win

INDIANAPOLIS — Corey Heim has done the improbable again.

The 24-year-old part-time NASCAR Cup Series driver, whose first full season isn’t until 2027, pulled another stunner by winning the Brickyard 400 on Sunday to claim one of NASCAR’s crown jewel races at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Just last month, Heim seemingly came out of nowhere to win the street course race on Naval Base Coronado for his first career victory. Now he’s a winner at the famed Brickyard, the youngest winner of this prestigious race since Jeff Gordon in 1994, two days after he turned 23.

Heim is now also the first part-time driver to win more than one Cup race in a season since both Davey Allison and Tim Richmond did it in 1987.

“I was hanging on for dear life once the shade went down and the pace picked up,” Heim said. “That was the hardest I’ve ever fought in my life to just make sure I focused on exits and kept (the cars behind him) in dirty air.

“This is a dream come true. I mean, winning at the Brickyard? That is unbelievable.”

Heim snatched the lead away from Denny Hamlin, the co-owner of Heim’s 23XI Racing car along with NBA legend Michael Jordan, on a pivotal restart with 34 laps remaining. Joey Logano gave Heim a huge push on the outside while Hamlin had no help on the inside, and Heim was able to escape with the top spot.

IT’S HEIM TIME IN INDY!! pic.twitter.com/BDmLyc5EL7

— NASCAR (@NASCAR) July 26, 2026

Joe Gibbs Racing’s Christopher Bell and Logano doggedly chased Heim over the final couple dozen laps, but passing for the lead was nearly impossible (in fact; no one made a pass for the lead under green-flag running conditions all day).

“Nobody was going to pass unless there was a huge mistake,” Bell said. “It’s been Indy for the three years since we’ve been coming here (in the Next Gen car). … The Cup car is just tough, and everybody knows that. It’s the same for everybody, so it just becomes an execution race.”

But regardless of the passing conditions, it’s remarkable what Heim has been able to accomplish in his brief Cup Series career. He now owns a Brickyard 400 title — something Hamlin has not been able to achieve in his two-decade career — and has won a crown jewel race, a claim that has eluded big-name drivers such as Chase Elliott in a group of marquee races that also includes the Daytona 500, Coca-Cola 600 and Southern 500.

“He’s got it,” Logano said. “We’re going to be battling him forever. Just a solid race car driver. Does the right things, doesn’t get over his skis, doesn’t get nervous, just executes really well.

“He’s got some good experience and a good head on his shoulders, and he’s got fast race cars right now. They capitalize. So good for him.”

— Jeff Gluck

Passing at a premium

Drivers said the Next Gen car just isn’t going to produce passing opportunities for the lead at Indianapolis.

When asked what it would take to make a pass for the lead, Logano said: “Probably an Xfinity car,” referring to the second-tier circuit now known as the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series.

“These things just can’t do it,” Logano said of the Cup car. “Can’t get close enough to make a move. Just get stuck. A multiple-groove track is necessary. This one doesn’t have that.

“But it’s forever going to be a crown jewel in my mind. It’s forever a special race.”

Carson Hocevar said the Cup cars are too fast in the corners to be able to get a big enough run down the straightaway that would overcome the loss of their track position.

“Either we need more draft, or we need to slow down way more in the corner — or have both,” Hocevar said. “The second I got clean air (with no cars in front of him), I instantly went a second faster.”

— Jeff Gluck

Kyle Larson crashes out

Armed with a fast car and sound strategy that positioned him to be a contender, Kyle Larson’s team radioed him to push his car a little bit toward the end of Stage 1, wanting him to get a feel so they could see what adjustments needed to be made to improve his chances.

Three laps later, a blown left-rear tire sent Larson spinning hard into the Turn 2 wall. His race was over in a blink of an eye. He finished in last place (39th).

There’s trouble in Turn 3!@KyleLarsonRacin spins and gets into the wall. pic.twitter.com/sO5CSfXqfO

— NASCAR (@NASCAR) July 26, 2026

 

“There was still obviously a lot of the race left, but I feel like we were positioning ourselves within the race and within the strategy to set ourselves up well to go after a win,” he said. “It’s a bummer.”

Not only was it a stomach punch, eliminating Larson from a crown jewel race he was seemingly well positioned to win — a victory that would’ve been his first since May 2025, a span of 46 races — but it also continues a tough summer stretch that has now seen him finish in the 30s in three of the past four races.

And while Larson is still comfortably positioned to make the Chase, sitting well clear of the cut line with four regular-season races remaining, the winless drought and his summer performance cast doubt on how much of a factor he’ll be in the championship.

— Jordan Bianchi

Trouble for Elliott

Chase Elliott tried to cut across Ricky Stenhouse Jr.’s nose before he was clear and slammed the wall early in Stage 2, sending him to the garage for lengthy repairs.

Elliott finished 37th and scored just one point, the latest in a string of poor finishes for the No. 9 team. Since winning at Texas Motor Speedway for his second victory of the season, Elliott has just one top-10 finish in the last 11 races and has fallen from third to sixth in the standings during that stretch.

The slump now includes eight consecutive races without a top-10 finish.

Even worse, statistics analyst Seth Eggert noted on X this is the first time Elliott’s four-car Hendrick Motorsports team has gone three straight races without a finisher in the top 10 since the summer of 2020.

— Jeff Gluck

Todd Gilliland’s Cinderella $1 million win

Even though Todd Gilliland talked a big game throughout the week, unabashedly making his case why he could defeat Ryan Blaney to win NASCAR’s In-Season Challenge tournament that awards $1 million to the winner, the Front Row Motorsports driver knew he’d need some good fortune, as Blaney was the heavy favorite.

That lucky break for Gilliland came with 39 laps remaining when Blaney was involved in a multi-car accident. This allowed Gilliland, who trailed Blaney for the entirety of the race, to jump ahead. And while Blaney was still able to make a charge after getting his car repaired, it wasn’t enough to prevent Gilliland from scoring the upset win.

“My heart was pounding those last 25 laps,” Gilliland said. “It was me, (AJ Allmendinger) and (Blaney). It still seemed like one slip-up and I was going to be right in front of (Blaney) or right behind him even coming down to the very end.

“I still feel like we kind of earned it coming down the stretch.”

Gilliland said he honestly isn’t sure what will happen to the $1 million prize and believes it goes to the team. He did not know what his share might be, but said: “I definitely believe it’s going to be the biggest payday of my life so far.”

— Jordan Bianchi