"My wife called him the robot": Bill Venturini and his son make opinion clear on what makes Corey Heim so special

Bill and Billy Venturini praised Corey Heim for his exceptional talent behind the wheel at such a young age. The father-son duo described Heim as a standout in the sport for his strong work ethic, which includes extensive preparation through sim racing.

This discussion took place during a conversation with Kevin Harvick on the Happy Hour podcast, where the 2014 NASCAR champion asked the Venturinis who they considered the best driver to have raced for their team. The topic arose as Venturini Motorsports ceased its operations after 43 years of competition in the ARCA Menards Series.

Corey Heim once raced full-time for the team in 2021 before moving to Tricon Garage in 2023. This year, the 23-year-old has been dominating the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, having won 10 times in the #11 Toyota Tundra, making him the winningest driver in a single season.

Speaking about Heim, Billy Venturini told Harvick (via the Happy Hour podcast on X):

“I think the very best one for how he preps using sim and everything else is Corey Heim. Corey is the best sim driver I've ever seen. I'll go that far, and it translates, because he is super special.” [0:27] “I believe he'd win a Cup race as a rookie. That's how strong I think he is. He's unique.” [1:48]

His father, Bill, chimed in and said:

“My wife called him the robot. When he puts his helmet on, totally different person the minute that helmet went on.”

While Venturini Motorsports entered its final race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway last week, Corey Heim still has three races left in the 2025 season, including two Round of 8 races at Talladega Superspeedway and Martinsville Speedway.

With his win from the Charlotte Motor Speedway road course, the Georgia native has already qualified for the final four. The championship race will be held at Phoenix Raceway on October 31.

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“I thought we were done”: Corey Heim on challenging race at Charlotte Roval

After earning his 10th win of the 2025 season, Corey Heim reflected on his difficult day at the Charlotte Roval. The Truck Series driver initially thought his race was over after a first-lap crash with Layne Riggs, but he recovered, returned to the track, and ultimately took the checkered flag.

Heim, who is in his third full-time season with Tricon Garage, said (via NASCAR):

“It was not easy today, I think it was probably the toughest one of the year so far.” “Just shows the resilience of this Tricon team. They fixed it up so good for me after that incident on the first lap. I thought we were done, honestly,” he added.

Corey Heim drives the #11 Toyota Tundra for Tricon Garage - Source: Imagn

The win put Heim at the top of the playoff standings heading into the upcoming race at Talladega Superspeedway. Tyler Ankrum sits in second ahead of Daniel Hemric and Rajah Caruth, respectively. Meanwhile, the drivers below the cutline are as follows: Layne Riggs, Ty Majeski (reigning Truck Series champion), Grant Enfinger, and Kaden Honeycutt.

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Edited by Zarec Sanchez