Corey Heim, driver of the No. 11 Safelite Toyota Tundra TRD PRO for TRICON Garage, expressed confidence on Tuesday during NASCAR Truck Series Playoff Media Day as he looks ahead to the upcoming NASCAR Truck Playoffs. Heim highlighted significant offseason adjustments aimed at overcoming previous difficulties and maintaining momentum throughout the playoffs.
Heim noted that while much remains consistent compared to past playoff runs, the team has focused on resolving lingering issues affecting performance last year. He emphasized that improvements in vehicle setups at specific tracks, pit strategy execution, and his own driving style have strengthened since the last season.
“Really not a ton for me. I think the main thing for us is that we’ve really connected a lot of the dots on maybe the prior struggles we’ve had so far and got a lot of things to improve in the Playoffs still regardless as far as keeping that going or keeping the momentum going. I feel like for me, there was some struggle areas last year that kind of lingered throughout the year and we never quite got past that. But we were able to hone in on that in the offseason and sort of clear those up as far as maybe some packages that we brought to specific race tracks that didn’t work, and maybe some pit road stuff. My personal development as far as my driving style at some places. I feel like just within my 11 team and within TRICON and Toyota, we’ve done a great job of just honing in on the things that maybe didn’t work throughout the year and lingered and just kind of fixing that for 2025 and hoping to extend that into the Playoffs as well.”
—Corey Heim, TRICON Garage Driver
Anticipating the Key Challenges in the Playoff Races
When asked about potential obstacles during the playoffs, Heim acknowledged the inherent difficulty of every race, with particular concern for the Round of 8 events. He identified Talladega, Martinsville, and the Roval as especially challenging tracks because of their unpredictable conditions and strategic complexity.
Heim emphasized that while his team has delivered strong speed at most playoff venues, mastering the strategy needed for these demanding tracks will be crucial to advancing. Planning for the Round of 8’s unique challenges, alongside progressing through the Round of 10, will demand focused preparedness.
“Yeah, I mean for the most part every race is a challenge. It’s never a layup by any means anywhere you go, especially if you look at the last round, you’ve got a lot of challenging races within the Round of 8. Talladega is kind of the one that sticks out like a sore thumb to everybody. It’s just such an unpredictable race. As far as the speed we’ve brought to the race track, I think most, if not all the Playoff tracks fit that for us but as far as strategizing – especially Talladega but also Martinsville, the Roval – that whole Round of 8. Strategizing that and also just planning for kind of what our plan of attack is for those last few races is going to be big. Of course, we’ve got the whole Round of 10 to get through as well, but that round specifically stands out to me as something that we need to really think about and how to attack that and make sure we’re in the right spot at the right time.”
—Corey Heim, TRICON Garage Driver
Preparing for Road Courses and Limited Track Experience
Regarding the Roval race, which kicks off the Round of 8, Heim admitted that his experience at that specific course is sparse, having only competed once in a TA2 race several years ago. Nevertheless, he described his preparation as strong, relying on collaboration with the 23XI Racing team and studying how Cup Series drivers perform at similar road courses like Watkins Glen and Lime Rock.
Heim is optimistic his prior success at Lime Rock, despite limited experience, can translate to improved results on the Roval layout, emphasizing the importance of analyzing available data and refining his approach for the specialized track.
“As far as who I lean on, I don’t know if I have anyone specific in mind off the top of my head, but I feel like the road course stuff on my side has been really good as far as preparation this year and just understanding kind of what I need to do to attack the race track in a certain way. I’ve only run a TA2 race there one time in like I think it was 2021 on a different layout so I’ve got a very rough and slim idea of what I need to be successful at that track specifically. But I work with the 23XI people a lot on their side, trying to gauge where their Cup guys are making time on specific race tracks such as Watkins Glen. Lime Rock of course we were by ourselves, but I worked with them on Lime Rock a little bit too actually. But as far as just overall preparation and development, it’s going to be tough to do for sure just with the lack of experience for me at that place. But Lime Rock, I had never been there either and it was a pretty successful day for me so just trying to take the same mindset into that.”
—Corey Heim, TRICON Garage Driver
Familiarizing With Uncommon Tracks in the Opening Round
Loudon stands out as the most unfamiliar venue on the playoff schedule, with neither many Truck Series competitors nor teams having visited it in several years. Heim, though having raced the track last season in the Xfinity Series for Sam Hunt Racing, commented on the challenges posed by this lack of recent experience for most trucks and outlined the need to quickly adapt.
He suggests that despite this, much of Loudon’s layout resembles other tracks on the circuit, potentially lessening the unknown factors and easing preparation efforts throughout the Round of 10.
“That’s a good question. Loudon is tough because we haven’t been there – or the Trucks haven’t been there in about six years. I was fortunate to race there last year in Xfinity for Sam Hunt Racing. Loudon is just a tough one being an anomaly just as far as lack of experience, lack of laps there for most of the truck field including drivers and teams. That will be tough for the Round of 10 for sure. But kind of like you mentioned, the Round of 8 is definitely the ones that stand out more. The Round of 10 is kind of your standard race tracks, places that we’ve been for the most part other than Loudon. But I mean, as far as similarities, we go to a lot of tracks similar to Loudon too so it shouldn’t be anything too crazy I wouldn’t think.”
—Corey Heim, TRICON Garage Driver
The Pressure of a 62-Point Playoff Cushion and Avoiding Complacency
Heim acknowledged the 62-point advantage he currently holds over the playoff elimination cutline provides some breathing room heading into the postseason. However, he warned against complacency, stressing the volatile nature of the playoff format and the potential for rapid shifts in fortunes due to mechanical issues or race incidents.
The driver explained that his team’s mindset remains focused on thorough preparation, consistency, and avoiding failures, rather than resting on their points lead, to sustain their championship pursuit through every playoff stage.
“In a way yeah, but I think with the Playoff format and the way that everything is structured, things can turn sideways pretty quick so I feel like you can never get too comfortable or to the point where – especially as far as my team goes. If they think that we just need to smooth sail through the round and no problem and maybe have a lack of effort – not that they will at all – they prepare very well. But if they were to hypothetically and we have a part failure or something with a DNF, you find yourself in a bad spot pretty quick. I feel like our mindset as far as our 11 crew and the organization with TRICON is to prepare to the best of our ability in the same way that we have for most of the races this year and just to really hone in on everything and if not elevate everything to make sure that we cannot have any failures or anything crazy like that. And also, just continue to bring the speed that we have throughout the year.”
—Corey Heim, TRICON Garage Driver
Views on Phoenix Raceway and Suitability to His Driving Style
Heim described Phoenix Raceway as an average venue in his view, cautioning that its racing quality can sometimes suffer due to traffic congestion on the track. He highlighted the aggressive restarts as the most notable feature but characterized the overall racing experience there as fairly straightforward.
Despite not ranking Phoenix among his favorite tracks, Heim remains pragmatic about competing there as part of the playoff schedule.
“Phoenix is alright. It’s not the greatest quality of racing by any means. I feel like it’s really easy to get stuck in traffic and whatnot, but it’s okay. There’s definitely better race tracks out there in my opinion, but the restarts are definitely crazy and that’s about it. The restarts are crazy and then it’s kind of straightforward from there. Yeah, it’s okay.”
—Corey Heim, TRICON Garage Driver
Growth and Confidence Building Since the 2023 Season
Reflecting on his development as a driver, Heim pointed to increased comfort and understanding of his truck’s behavior as key milestones since 2023. He recalled the uncertainty early in the previous season regarding equipment performance with TRICON, influenced by a different manufacturer and rebranding efforts, which initially hampered consistency.
Heim believes that improved trust in his crew and a relatively stable team roster over the past two years have contributed significantly to his confidence, enabling him to convert top-five finishes into victories more reliably.
“I think for the most part, yeah, for the most part I’ve gotten a lot more comfortable in understanding what I need out of my truck on a regular basis. I feel like in 2023 — I had the 16-race part time schedule in 2022 with KBM and then leading up with TRICON in 2023, I think a lot of us were kind of unsure with where our equipment was with TRICON being a new – I wouldn’t say a new organization by any means but with a new manufacturer and kind of rebranded stuff – a lot of uncertainty as far as where we were. We ended up being really good, and I was also developing myself and maybe not super confident in the adjustments I needed to put me over the edge from being a top five truck to being a winning truck in the same weekend. Just things like that. I feel like I’ve gotten a lot more confident in myself and comfortable in my equipment. Any extra reps and seat time is super important, and I feel like with these two seasons in my back pocket, it’s really helped me just find that comfort with my crew and also have basically the same roster of people on this 11 team for the last two years so everyone is just more comfortable with each other and more confident.”
—Corey Heim, TRICON Garage Driver
Perceptions of Racing Dynamics Compared to Last Year
Heim described the racing environment in 2024 as an improvement compared to last year, attributing this to more measured aggression among competitors. While acknowledging his own involvement in confrontations during the prior season, he noted that penalties were more frequent then and that current conduct seems better balanced.
He implied that this better-managed intensity means drivers are more strategic about when to be aggressive rather than resorting to rash maneuvers at inopportune moments, elevating the quality of competition.
“I feel like if anything its better. I’ve had my run ins with people this year, but nothing super egregious. I feel like in 2023, there was a lot of maybe penalties that should’ve been handed out and penalties that were handed out. I’m looking at myself here in the mirror and that’s one of them. I’m not excused from the craziness of that year by any means, but I feel like overall the aggression is more coordinated, I guess. I feel like it’s more worth it for these guys rather than just doing crazy stuff at inopportune times during the race. It seems like the aggression is kind of honed in to the right place at the right time, if that makes sense? In my opinion, it’s definitely better.”
—Corey Heim, TRICON Garage Driver
The Benefits of Competing in Multiple Series During Race Weekends
Heim emphasized the advantage of running double duty on race weekends, such as at Richmond, where he competes in both the Truck and Cup Series. He credited extra track time, data gathering, and preparation resources available through Cup Series involvement as critical to improving his performance on tracks that have traditionally challenged him.
He cited his recent Richmond win in the Truck Series as evidence that this additional experience pays off, despite less-than-ideal results in the corresponding Cup Series race.
“Yeah, it definitely helps especially at a place like Richmond that I’ve never thought is the best race track for myself personally. Any extra laps and any extra preparation I can do, especially on the Cup side, with the extra data and the extra people they have to prepare for these races, I think it’s really helps at a place that I might not be the best at. But really anywhere, anywhere I can get the extra laps on a given weekend and prepare on the Cup side with those guys definitely helps a lot. Definitely paid dividends in the Truck race for me. I feel like I’ve never run amazing at Richmond and we were able to win the race so that was definitely an improvement for our 11 group. The Cup race certainly didn’t go the greatest, but I did feel like I learned a lot from the preparation side and definitely made myself better as a driver as Richmond.”
—Corey Heim, TRICON Garage Driver
Outlook for the Playoffs and Championship Pursuit
Corey Heim enters the NASCAR Truck Playoffs with a firm belief in his team’s preparation, improved speed, and cohesiveness as they confront the diverse challenges of the upcoming races. With strong points positioning, refined strategy, and gained experience, Heim intends to push aggressively yet carefully through the playoff rounds, targeting a shot at the championship in Phoenix.
However, the unpredictability of venues like Talladega and the Roval, combined with unfamiliar tracks such as Loudon, injects an element of urgency and intensity in the team’s approach. Maintaining focus, adapting to nuanced conditions, and leveraging combined data from Cup and Truck efforts will be essential for Heim and TRICON Garage to capitalize on their momentum and deliver a championship-worthy campaign.