LEBANON, Tenn. — 23XI Racing has provided an important update about the future of its driver lineup. The team has announced that Corey Heim will move into a full-time role while taking over the third car.
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The team owned by Michael Jordan and Denny Hamlin met with media members at Nashville Superspeedway on Saturday and made the announcement. Heim, the 2025 Truck Series champion, will replace Riley Herbst in the team's third Toyota Camry XSE. This will remain the No. 35.
He will compete for Rookie of the Year in 2027 while working as a teammate to Tyler Reddick and Bubba Wallace. 23XI Racing will announce the crew chief and full list of sponsors at a later date.
"We're excited to welcome Corey to our full-time roster next season and look forward to watching him race every weekend in 2027," said Hamlin. "Corey is a gifted driver who is continuing to get better and better with each race he runs.
"He has a bright future in the sport and joins a team that is continuing to build a solid foundation. We're thankful to Riley for all he has done to help get the 35 team going and appreciate the work that he and the team will continue to do this season to be competitive each week."
You can finally stop yelling in our comments 😌@CoreyHeim_: Full time in the NASCAR Cup Series in 2027 🤝 pic.twitter.com/pHhNjFNWNP
— 23XI Racing (@23XIRacing) May 30, 2026
The expectation in the garage is that Herbst, who has drastically improved during his sophomore campaign, will move over to Legacy Motor Club as the Toyota-affiliated team expands to three full-time entries next season. This has not yet been confirmed.
This move does not come as a surprise. Heim has been one of the sport's top prospects since he first competed in the ARCA Menards Series in 2019.
He made waves in 2021 while running part-time in ARCA, and he won six races while battling eventual champion Ty Gibbs every single week.
Heim then won his first Truck Series race in only his fifth career start and provided a glimpse of the dominance that he would ultimately deliver at the national level.
The Truck Series served as Heim's playground in 2022-2025. He won 23 races, including a record-setting 12 in 2025. He won a championship before moving into a part-time role in 2026. He has added two more Truck wins this season while only making four starts thus far.
Corey Heim rebounds from a lap 1 accident to win his 10th race of 2025, passing Greg Biffle's 1999 record for the most ever in a Truck Series season. pic.twitter.com/CdC3OOx1aG
— NASCAR Insights (@NASCARInsights) October 3, 2025
Heim has been in the 23XI Racing fold for multiple seasons since becoming the team's first development driver. He has driven the team's third entry, the No. 67, in eight races, while posting a career-best sixth-place finish at Bristol Motor Speedway.
Heim led a career-high 69 laps at Texas Motor Speedway earlier this month, and he put himself in position for a solid finish before a late crash.
He also drove the No. 50 for 23XI Racing during a one-off Cup start in 2024 while partnering with Mobil 1 for a special promotion.
Heim has eight more Cup Series races on his schedule this season before he joins 23XI Racing on a full-time basis. This includes Sunday night at Nashville Superspeedway.
Heim's remaining races also include San Diego on June 21, Chicagoland Speedway on July 5, Indianapolis Motor Speedway on July 26, Daytona International Speedway on Aug. 29, Darlington Raceway on Sept. 6, Charlotte Motor Speedway on Oct. 11, and Homestead-Miami Speedway on Nov. 8.
