INDIANAPOLIS, IN (Sunday, July 26, 2026) – Corey Heim stepped into Indianapolis Motor Speedway for the first time Friday. Two days later, he was celebrating on Victory Podium after an impressive drive to victory Sunday in the Brickyard 400 presented by PPG.

Part-time NASCAR Cup Series driver Heim, from Marietta, Georgia, took the lead in the No. 67 Field & Stream Toyota of 23XI Racing on a frantic restart on Lap 127 and held off Christopher Bell over the final 34 laps for victory in his first Brickyard start. This was just his 15th career Cup Series race.

A star is born.

“This is a dream come true, winning at the Brickyard,” Heim said. “That was unbelievable. Caught a break early with the pit cycle and just executed all day. Made no mistakes, my pit crew and my team.”

Heim, 24, won the 2025 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series championship and is running a partial Cup Series season with 23XI Racing before joining the team full time in 2027. He became the first part-time driver to win this crown jewel NASCAR event and the second-youngest driver to win this race behind Jeff Gordon, who was 23 when he captured the inaugural Cup Series race at IMS in 1994. Gordon is the only other driver to win the Brickyard in his first start in the race.

This also was the second consecutive Brickyard victory for the 23XI team, co-owned by basketball icon Michael Jordan and Cup Series star Denny Hamlin. Bubba Wallace won last year for 23XI.

Bell finished second today in the No. 20 Rheem Toyota of Joe Gibbs Racing, .287 of a second behind Heim. Three-time Cup Series champion Joey Logano was third in the No. 22 Shell Pennzoil Ford of Team Penske.

Indiana native Chase Briscoe placed fourth in the No. 19 Mobil 1 Toyota of Joe Gibbs Racing, and Denny Hamlin placed three Joe Gibbs Racing cars in the top five in the No. 11 National Debt Relief Toyota.

Todd Gilliland earned a $1 million bonus for winning the NASCAR In-Season Challenge. He placed 24th in the No. 34 Grillo’s Pickles Ford of Front Row Motorsports, edging the No. 12 Menards/Delta Ford of fellow Challenge finalist Ryan Blaney of Team Penske, who finished 26th.

The pivotal point of the 160-lap race came on the final restart on Lap 127. Hamlin led the field to the green flag on the inside line, with teammates Bell and Briscoe right behind. Heim started second, on the outside line with Logano behind him.

But the JGR line on the inside lane was scattered, with Hamlin, Bell and Briscoe not aligned nose-to-tail to possibly bump-draft and keep Hamlin out front. Meanwhile, Logano pushed Heim ahead of Hamlin on the outside in Turn 1.

Hamlin nearly edged even with Heim in Turn 2, but Heim slammed the door shut and kept a lead he would never surrender.

“It’s a fight to win the race, and when you’re clear by an inch, you’re going to take that inch,” Hamlin said. “It’s really more on us and the 20 (Bell) and the 19 (Briscoe) to just not orchestrate the good pushes there.

“I thought the 20 was obviously onboard with giving us the push. It was just way too early, before the restart zone. I can’t go until you get to the restart zone. He said that Briscoe was on him way, way early or laying back, one of the two. That’s how you lose them. These restarts, when everyone kind of knows when you’re going to go, it’s about the pushes. That’s how I got the lead from the 67 (Heim) on the restart before.”

But once he got out front, it was far from a Sunday stroll to victory for Heim, who also won earlier this season in the street race at San Diego.

Bell stayed within three- to four-tenths of a second of Heim for the next 30 laps. He pulled to within .164 of a second with two laps to go, pouring on pressure, but Heim padded that gap to .364 of a second with one lap to go and held on to a loose-handling race car on the final trip around the 2.5-mile oval to win.

“That was a damn handful,” Heim said. “I was hanging on for dear life once the shade went down and the pace picked up. My car got really loose. I had never really been in a lot of clean air throughout the day, so that was the hardest I’ve ever fought in my life to just make sure I focused on exits and kept them in dirty air. I’m pretty out of breath. That was a workout.”

Said Bell: “I didn’t think I was going to be able to get there at all. My guys were telling me he was going loose, and I knew that was going really be my only opportunity, was a mistake by him.

“I knew that 35 laps was a very long run. Man, I just needed one bobble. If he would have had one bobble, I was going to be able to get there. But he did a great job. He showed excellent mental toughness and put together 35 good laps.”

Heim, who started seventh, led four times for 58 laps, both race highs.

Pole sitter Carson Hocevar led the first 31 laps in the No. 77 Ziegler Auto Group Chevrolet of Spire Motorsports before making his first pit stop. But he never led thereafter and finished ninth.

Heim inherited the lead on Lap 41 by running long on the first pit cycle before Ty Gibbs took the top spot on Lap 45 in the No. 54 SAIA Freight + Logistics Toyota of Joe Gibbs Racing. Gibbs stayed there – also winning the first stage at the end of Lap 60 — until pitting on Lap 74, with Heim taking over the lead from Laps 75-91.

Ross Chastain won the second stage, which ended on Lap 100, in the No. 1 Busch Light Chevrolet of Trackhouse Racing. By that point, Heim had climbed back to fifth and jumped to third when leader Chastain and second-place Gilliland pitted on Lap 101.

Nearly the entire field pitted for their final stops on Lap 115 during a caution, and Heim’s earlier pit strategy paid dividends. His previous stop was on Lap 93, later than most of his rivals, so he needed less fuel and a shorter stop, giving him the lead as the field approached the restart on Lap 120.

Hamlin passed Heim on the outside of Turn 1 on that restart, but another caution flew almost immediately when John Hunter Nemechek’s No. 42 Pye-Barker Fire & Safety Toyota nudged Blaney into the Turn 3 wall. That set up the fateful final restart on Lap 127 where Heim took the lead for keeps.

INDIANAPOLIS, IN (Saturday, July 25, 2026) – The relief was mixed with tears, joy and a stage dive from his car into his crew’s arms at the fabled Yard of Bricks for Carson Kvapil.

Kvapil earned his first NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series victory Saturday in the Pennzoil 250 presented by Take 5 Oil Change at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, leading a historic sweep of the top four finishing positions by JR Motorsports, co-owned by NASCAR legend Dale Earnhardt Jr.

The breakthrough victory in the No. 1 Wilde Protein Crackers Chevrolet came in the 64th career start in the series for Kvapil, 23, son of 2003 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series champion and former NASCAR Cup Series driver Travis Kvapil.

“It means the world to me,” Kvapil said. “It’s very emotional. I rode around on that (victory) lap backward and sat there and thought about all the hard work I put in, me and my dad, Travis, to get to this point and the faith that (team owners) Dale Jr., L.W. Miller, Kelley Miller put behind me to give me this opportunity, to give me a second chance to come back at it this year.

“From Lap 1 in practice, the thing was a rocketship. I just knew we had to do all the right things and make the right adjustments. I just couldn’t make any mistakes. This is going to be an exciting one for a long time. I’m just going to try not to cry too much; I’ve already shed a few tears. I’m just trying to hold it together right now.”

JR Motorsports earned its third victory in this race, adding Kvapil’s name to a winner’s list including Connor Zilisch last year and Justin Allgaier in 2018. The team also became the first in series history to take the top four spots in a race and has 14 victories in 22 races this season in NASCAR’s second-tier championship.

Allgaier finished second in the No. 7 BRANDT Professional Agriculture Chevrolet, his late-race charge toward his teammate falling .643 of a second short.

Ross Chastain placed third in the No. 9 Roto-Rooter Chevrolet, with Chase Elliott rounding out JRM’s fantastic four in the No. 88 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet after starting last in the 38-car field. William Sawalich finished fifth in the No. 18 SoundGear Toyota for Joe Gibbs Racing.

Kvapil, who started second, took the lead for good on Lap 79 of 100 when he powered past Chastain on the back straightaway. With 10 laps to go, Kvapil led by .82 of a second.

Then Allgaier entered the picture. Allgaier, who started 13th, passed Chastain for second in Turn 1 on Lap 93 and was .96 of a second behind leader Kvapil.

But series points leader Allgaier began to methodically chip away at Kvapil’s lead, pulling to within .283 of a second with one lap to go. But Kvapil kept his poise, hit his marks on corner entry and eased away from Allgaier on the final trip around the 2.5-mile oval.

“I’m disappointed we ran second,” Allgaier said. “We knew that short-run speed was going to be a challenge all day, and long-run speed was where we were going to be great, and we were. Just came up a little bit short.

“Happy for Carson. The kid has worked his tail off to get to this point and really cool to see him get this first victory.”

Chastain led three times for 31 laps, both race highs.

Jeremy Clements won the first 30-lap stage in the No. 51 Sky Fund Aviation Chevrolet before fading to 37th. Rajah Carruth won the second 30-lap stage by keeping his No. 32 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet on track when most of the field pitted during a caution from Laps 55-57. Carruth pitted during the ensuing stage break and finished 22nd.

By Holly Cain
NASCAR Wire Service

LAKEVILLE, CT (July 12, 2026) – Popular veteran Grant Enfinger took the lead on a late race restart and held off a hard-charging Landen Lewis to make his first visit to the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Victory Lane in more than a season – earning his first career road course win Saturday afternoon in the LiUNA 150 at Connecticut’s historic Lime Rock Park.

Enfinger, who lined up alongside Gio Ruggiero for a restart with three laps remaining, got the jump at the green flag and then held off Lewis – who was racing for his first career series win. It was a fittingly exhilarating way to close out the race which included an 18-minute red flag and thrilling door-to-door competition particularly in the closing laps.

Enfinger’s No. 9 CR7 Motorsports Chevrolet crossed the line only a slight .483-second ahead of the Niece Motorsports driver Lewis.

“I feel like we had some things play into our hand,’’ Enfinger said, noting of the day’s strongest cars, “I don’t think we had anything for the 11 [Honeycutt] or the 34 [Scott Riggs] straight up.”

Of the final restart, Enfinger said he was enthused to get the edge out front on then-leader Gio Ruggiero at the drop of the green. He had considered taking the preferable position outside but opted to start alongside Guggiero on the front row and honorably vie for the lead that way. This marks his 13th career win.

“I wanted to beat him straight up on the outside,’’ Enfinger added. “A lot went into that decision but I didn’t want to go in there and purposefully take him out of the way for the win. I feel like we beat him on the launch. And I think we had a better car.

“Just an amazing job with this Chevrolet. … I think this is only my second top 10 at a road course. We have had road course trucks this year, but I think today we were a solid top five truck and the seas parted and the good Lord blessed us today and we were able to come home for a win.’’

Championship contender Kaden Honeycutt claimed third place after an absolutely amazing drive back up through the field. The TRICON Garage Toyota driver had dropped to 24th position with 28 laps to go after being involved in a multi-car accident late in the race.

Popular driver and television analyst Parker Kligerman – a part-owner of Lime Rock Park – finished fourth in the Spire Motorsports No. 77 Chevrolet. Christian Eckes was fifth in the No. 91 McAnally Hilgemann Chevrolet.

Honeycutt’s finish to the day came after he won Stage 2 and kept polesitter, and the series championship points leader Riggs honest for the majority of the race. Riggs led the first 34 laps with one or the other leading through the opening 62 laps of the 100-lap event. Riggs won Stage 1 and Honeycutt won Stage 2.

And then the chaos set in. Four caution flags – and the red flag – came out in the closing 40 laps.

Varying pit strategies shook up the front of the field, relegating Riggs and Honeycutt to play catch-up following the Stage 2 break at Lap 60. The two who have dominated the championship standings for the last two months collided while trying to race through the field.

The damage to Riggs’ No. 34 Front Row Chevrolet proved to be too much for him to contend up front. His 48 laps out front was the most on the afternoon, but he ended up 23rd, the first driver a lap down.

He retained the championship lead, however, and is now 44 points up on Honeycutt with four races remaining to settle the regular season championship. They officially clinched a spot in the Chase today.

Enfinger’s victory was crucial in that it moved him inside the championship top 10 that will ultimately advance to the Chase. He’s now ninth in points, 25 points up on 10th place Tyler Ankrum. Stewart Friesen and Jake Garcia are tied, 17 points behind Ankrum.

Daniel Hemric, Andres Perez De Lara, Tanner Grey, Friesen and Colin Braun – an IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Series full-timer – rounded out the top 10 Saturday.

Thomas Annunziata, who ran up front all day after winning the ARCA Menards Series race at Lime Rock on Friday, ended up sidelined in the most dramatic incident of the day. He pulled off track with his No. 1 truck in flames while running second with 22 laps to go. Annunziata climbed out his No. 1 truck quickly and bent over to catch his breath next to a track wall. He was transported to a local area medical facility for further evaluation. He finished 29th.

The NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series returns to competition next week with Saturday’s Faith Fest 250 (12:30 p.m. ET on FS1, NRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) at the historic North Wilkesboro (N.C.) Speedway. Front Row Motorsports’ Chandler Smith is the defending race winner.