Corey Heim reacts to his rookie NASCAR teammate's maiden Truck victory

Tricon Garage driver Corey Heim recently competed in the Love’s RV Stop 225 held at Talladega Superspeedway on Friday. During a post-race interaction with NASCAR analyst Mat Weaver, Heim shared his take on his teammate Gio Ruggiero’s maiden Truck Series win.

The #17 Toyota driver had a strong qualifying session for the 90-lap main event. He secured the pole position at Talladega Superspeedway. He did that by achieving a best time of 54.29 seconds and a top speed of 176.38 mph. Meanwhile, Heim was in third place, 0.02 seconds behind Ruggiero.

The #17 Toyota driver lost some ground during stage one. However, he recovered quickly and claimed P1 in stage two of the race, which ultimately led to his maiden win. Following that, Corey Heim claimed he would have been more aggressive if he were in Ruggiero’s place and stated [00:05 onwards]:

“I think it did everything, to be honest with you. I would have been more aggressive and probably tried to stick the side draft if it was anyone else but a Toyota teammate. But no, I think they did a really good job, and I also think that the damaged 98 behind us didn’t really do us any favors with not having as much help as we normally get.” “My priority was kind of getting both clear and then making the move, but by the time we both got clear I didn’t really have enough of a surge to make a serious run at it. So I peeked out and kind of got to his bumper. He defended well, so he did a great job,” he concluded.

Tricon Garage drivers Gio Ruggiero and Corey Heim dominated the 90-lap race. They secured first and second place, respectively, earning valuable points. Additionally, Heim secured his spot in the Championship Four race after his Charlotte Road Course victory.

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Corey Heim got candid about staying with Toyota amid RAM’s big entry next season

Earlier this year, in September 2025, NASCAR Truck Series driver Corey Heim reacted to a short clip shared by Pat McAfee. In the clip, McAffe opened up about Heim shifting his OEM in the next season amid RAM’s big entry in the series.

Heim debuted in the series with Kyle Busch Motorsports in 2021. He then landed a full-time seat with Tricon Garage in 2023 and has been piloting the #11 Toyota Tundra since then. He has secured 19 wins driving for Tricon Garage. Followed by 43 top fives and 56 top tens.

Reflecting on his dominance, McAfee pointed out that Heim could join RAM in the next season. However, Corey Heim set the record straight and denied all the claims and wrote:

"More of a @Toyota Tundra guy, but appreciate the love @PatMcAfeeShow"

Corey Heim currently leads the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series points table with 3167 points. He has secured ten wins, 19 top tens, 17 top fives, and seven pole positions in 23 starts this season.

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Edited by Tushhita Barua