Corey Heim scored his second victory in the NASCAR Cup Series at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, an oval where he had never competed and where no part‑time driver had ever won the Brickyard 400. His first win in the category had come a month earlier on the San Diego street course, when he left his teammate Tyler Reddick behind in the closing stages of that race. This Sunday, Heim repeated in the 23XI Racing Toyota and beat Christopher Bell by 0.287 seconds in a finish with 34 uninterrupted laps. "That was really tough. I held on to the wheel with everything I had when the shade came down and the pace picked up. My car got really loose. It was the hardest fight of my life," said Heim, who at 24 years old is the second‑youngest Brickyard winner, behind only Jeff Gordon.
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"That was really tough. I held on to the wheel with everything I had when the shade came down and the pace picked up. My car got really loose. It was the hardest fight of my life."
The pit stop on lap 93 was shorter than usual because Heim had stopped later than most in the previous cycle and needed less fuel. That difference allowed him to leave pit road as the leader when the field pitted on lap 115 under a caution triggered by contact between John Hunter Nemechek and Ryan Blaney in Turn 3. Heim took the lead and defended it on the lap 120 restart against Denny Hamlin, who beat him around the outside of Turn 1. The race seemed to be swinging toward the championship leader, but another caution for the Nemechek and Blaney incident bunched the field again and forced the final restart on lap 127.
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Hamlin started on the inside line with Bell and Chase Briscoe as his wingmen, but the coordination among the three Joe Gibbs Racing Toyotas never materialised. The championship leader was chasing the only trophy missing from his collection among NASCAR's crown jewels: he had already won the Daytona 500, the Coca‑Cola 600, and the Southern 500, and the Brickyard 400 was the piece that would complete that set. "Bell pushed me too early, before the restart zone. I can't accelerate until we get to that zone. Briscoe either hung back or got too close too soon, one of the two. That's how you lose these races," explained Hamlin. Joey Logano, who had won at North Wilkesboro the previous week, pushed Heim around the outside of Turn 1, and Heim took a lead that he never gave up. "Logano gave Corey a big push and we could never respond," added Hamlin.
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Bell cut the gap to 0.164 seconds with two laps to go, but Heim restored the margin on the final lap. "My engineers were telling me he was loose. I knew my only chance was for him to make a mistake, but he did 35 flawless laps," acknowledged Bell. Logano finished third, followed by Briscoe and Hamlin. Todd Gilliland took home the million dollars from the In‑Season Challenge by finishing 24th, ahead of Ryan Blaney, who was 26th. Kyle Larson suffered his fourth consecutive incident. He lost control on lap 43 and hit the wall in Turn 3, a retirement that adds to the problems he has been carrying since Chicagoland, Atlanta and North Wilkesboro. The next Cup Series event is at Richmond.
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Brickyard 400 2026
| Pos | Nº | driver | team | brand | time |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | #67 |  * Corey Heim(i) |
23XI Racing | Toyota | - |
| 2 | #20 | Christopher Bell |
Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | +0.29s |
| 3 | #22 | Joey Logano |
Team Penske | Ford | +0.97s |
| 4 | #19 | Chase Briscoe |
Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | +5.72s |
| 5 | #11 | Denny Hamlin |
Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | +6.12s |
| 6 | #6 | Brad Keselowski |
RFK Racing | Ford | +6.80s |
| 7 | #21 | Josh Berry |
Wood Brothers Racing | Ford | +7.51s |
| 8 | #60 | Ryan Preece |
RFK Racing | Ford | +8.47s |
| 9 | #77 | Carson Hocevar |
Spire Motorsports | Chevrolet | +9.07s |
| 10 | #45 | Tyler Reddick |
23XI Racing | Toyota | +10.34s |
| 11 | #17 | Chris Buescher |
RFK Racing | Ford | +10.97s |
| 12 | #54 | Ty Gibbs |
Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | +11.56s |
| 13 | #41 | Cole Custer |
Haas Factory Team | Chevrolet | +14.41s |
| 14 | #2 | Austin Cindric |
Team Penske | Ford | +16.68s |
| 15 | #38 | Zane Smith |
Front Row Motorsports | Ford | +17.45s |
| 16 | #97 |  Shane Van Gisbergen |
Trackhouse Racing | Chevrolet | +17.83s |
| 17 | #7 |  Daniel Suarez |
Spire Motorsports | Chevrolet | +18.12s |
| 18 | #71 | Michael McDowell |
Spire Motorsports | Chevrolet | +18.48s |
| 19 | #48 | Alex Bowman |
Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | +19.40s |
| 20 | #47 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. |
HYAK Motorsports | Chevrolet | +19.76s |
| 21 | #24 | William Byron |
Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | +20.27s |
| 22 | #4 | Noah Gragson |
Front Row Motorsports | Ford | +21.62s |
| 23 | #1 | Ross Chastain |
Trackhouse Racing | Chevrolet | +24.07s |
| 24 | #34 | Todd Gilliland |
Front Row Motorsports | Ford | +24.30s |
| 25 | #16 | AJ Allmendinger |
Kaulig Racing | Chevrolet | +24.50s |
| 26 | #12 | Ryan Blaney |
Team Penske | Ford | +24.85s |
| 27 | #43 | Erik Jones |
Legacy Motor Club | Toyota | +25.16s |
| 28 | #23 | Bubba Wallace |
23XI Racing | Toyota | +25.70s |
| 29 | #3 | Austin Dillon |
Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | +26.56s |
| 30 | #10 | Ty Dillon |
Kaulig Racing | Chevrolet | +36.56s |
| 31 | #51 | Cody Ware |
Rick Ware Racing | Chevrolet | +37.10s |
| 32 | #42 | John Hunter Nemechek |
Legacy Motor Club | Toyota | +2 vueltas |
| 33 | #33 | Austin Hill(i) |
Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | +35 vueltas |
| 34 | #88 | Connor Zilisch # |
Trackhouse Racing | Chevrolet | +38 vueltas |
| 35 | #62 | * Casey Mears |
Beard Motorsports | Chevrolet | +39 vueltas |
| 36 | #35 | Riley Herbst |
23XI Racing | Toyota | +40 vueltas |
| 37 | #9 | Chase Elliott |
Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | +41 vueltas |
| 38 | #78 | * Daniel Dye(i) |
Live Fast Motorsports | Chevrolet | +67 vueltas |
| 39 | #5 | Kyle Larson |
Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | +117 vueltas |
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Carlos Castillo Sansabas
Upcoming Races
Drivers Standings 2026
| POS | PILOTO | PTS | ↕ |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Denny Hamlin | 886 | |
| 2 | Tyler Reddick | 802 | |
| 3 | Ryan Blaney | 766 | |
| 4 | Ty Gibbs | 751 | |
| 5 | Carson Hocevar | 638 | arrow_up2 |
| 6 | Chase Elliott | 635 | arrow_down1 |
| 7 | Chase Briscoe | 623 | arrow_up1 |
| 8 | Kyle Larson | 617 | arrow_down2 |
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