Young NASCAR star Corey Heim has revealed how 23XI Racing are getting him ready for his first full-time season in the Cup Series.
The 23-year-old shattered records en route to the Truck Series title last year, winning eight of the last 11 races to secure the trophy, but was left without a full-time role in any series for 2026, instead running part-time in both Cup and Trucks.
That part-time running will end soon though, with Heim recently confirmed as 23XI's third full-time Cup driver, replacing Riley Herbst for 2027 and beyond.
In an interview with ESPN, Heim has now revealed how a conversation with 23XI senior director of competition Dave Rogers helped him adjust his mindset after April's race at Kansas.
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Heim, who finished the race 15th, said: "He was like, 'Hey, man, I don't want you to wreck our cars or anything, but it's OK if you take these bigger risks and learn. No one is going to think poorly of you if you hit a wall or do this or that to hinder the result because you took those risks. We want you to be ready for 2027 and learn from mistakes'.
"I feel like I've been thinking about that a lot, in regard to my decision-making and my mindset throughout a race. It's not as much about results as it is learning and being prepared to be full-time next year."
On the lack of consistency in his racing schedule this yeah, the 23-year-old added: "I'm pretty much as involved as a full-time driver [would be]. I'm basically in every single meeting. I don't sit in on the debriefs on the races that I don't run, but the prep side of things, our meetings to look over previous races, I'll be in those meetings.
"I work out there every day, and I do the simulator two or three times a week. I pretty much prepare as if I'm a full-time driver in case something happens to one of their guys and I have to sub in at the last second. I think that's the vision they had for me from the beginning as well."
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