With the clock ticking down to his first full-time season in the NASCAR Cup Series, 23XI Racing prospect Corey Heim has made the most of a part-time schedule.
With just 12 races on his slate for 2026, the Georgia native has already brought home two race wins in the No. 67, the second most of any 23XI driver. Furthermore, the 24-year-old is one of just seven drivers to win multiple races this season.
While his first full-time season has yet to happen, and though he would have stiff competition from Wood Brothers Racing signee Jesse Love, many fans thought that, before even going full-time, Heim was a clear lock for 2027 NASCAR Cup Series Rookie of the Year.
But this week, it was revealed by a NASCAR executive that Heim will not be able to compete for Rookie of the Year honors, owing to the many starts that he already has in the Cup Series.
Of course, NASCAR is much different when it comes to being a Rookie, as oftentimes, there are seasons, such as this year, where there is only one driver in contention.
Furthermore, a driver has to declare their Rookie of the Year contention beforehand, meaning that drivers are not shoehorned into the running immediately.
As NASCAR Managing Director for Racing Communications, Mike Forde explained on this week’s episode of the Hauler Talk podcast, Heim did not declare for Rookie of the Year honors this year, and will not be able to next year due to his 15 career Cup Series starts.
“For the NASCAR Cup Series, you can have no more than 12 starts prior to the Rookie of the Year season that you’re looking to apply for. For the O’Reilly auto parts series, no more than 10 starts for the Craftsman Truck series, no more than eight starts. So Corey Heim has 15 right now. So by rule, he cannot be a rookie in 2027, or at least a rookie of the year candidate in 2027.” — Mike Forde
This news is disappointing to some fans, as many feel that Rookie of the Year is an honor that a young driver projected to ascend to legendary heights like Heim should have on their mantle.
In fact, 13 of the sport’s Cup Series Rookie of the Year winners have gone on to win the Cup Series title, though others like Jimmie Johnson did not win Rookie of the Year, but still had all-time great careers.
Still, some fans have taken issue with the decision, pointing to the fact that 2023 Rookie of the Year Ty Gibbs had the same number of starts, 15, prior to his rookie season.
Of course, Gibbs’ starts were all with 23XI Racing in the unfortunate role of filling in for Kurt Busch, who earlier in the 2022 season suffered what was ultimately a career-ending injury.
Regardless of the reason, Forde explained during this episode that Heim is not eligible because these rules have been reworked over the past few seasons after years of uncertainty and lack of clarity surrounding what takes away rookie status.
“I think last year, the year before, we kind of put a line in the sand and said, ‘H ey, let’s make it easy for everybody’, because. . . for a good while there, it kind of got a little bit confusing on,” Forde said. “‘I don’t understand how this person’s a rookie, he had 20 starts last year or whatever.’ So we put some numbers and parameters in there, just to make it a little bit black and white.”
Given the facts of the matter, some fans are now pointing to the fact that if Heim had declared for Rookie of the Year and Cup Series points this season, he would have a legitimate shot at taking over from Connor Zilisch.
Through his nine starts this season, accounting for stage finishes, race finishes, and fastest lap bonus points, Heim would currently have 227 points, just 18 behind Zilisch.
This is even more interesting when pointing out that prior to this past weekend’s race at Iowa, a race in which Zilisch scored a solid 11th place finish and 29 points, the Rookie only had 216, 11 less than Heim.
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