LEBANON, Tenn. — As Corey Heim routinely dominated NASCAR Truck Series races, a large contingent of fans wondered when the 23-year-old would secure a full-time ride in NASCAR’s premier Cup Series.This question now has an answer.23XI Racing is promoting Heim, a development driver for the team since 2024, to Cup next year, where he will drive its third entry full time. Heim will replace Riley Herbst and join the returning Tyler Reddick and Bubba Wallace to fill out 23XI’s driver roster next year.The news was made official Saturday at Nashville Superspeedway, the site of Sunday’s race and where, two years ago, Heim debuted with the team, whose ownership group includes NBA legend Michael Jordan and NASCAR star Denny Hamlin.“I know that this is my trajectory from the time I started with 23XI, but obviously, there’s always questions on if it will see it through and I’ll end up in the position that I hope to be in,” Heim told The Athletic. “Everyone’s been kind of wondering about it, including some of my extended family and my fans, so to have them know that it’s all kind of working out, and it’s going the right direction, is good for me.“I don’t have to sit on it and kind of keep it all looming for any longer than I have already.”Heim has dominated NASCAR’s third-tier Truck Series in recent years, winning 25 races — fifth-best all-time — across 93 starts and the 2025 championship. Last year, Heim rewrote the record book in several categories: for laps led (1,627 laps) in a single season (by leading at least one lap in every race) and wins (12).Yet, despite Heim enjoying substantial success and having more than proved himself worthy of an opportunity at a higher level, his progression has been more of a slow boil compared to that of other young prospects who’ve achieved a similarly high level of success.Wanting him to acclimate to Cup gradually, 23XI had him start one race for the team in 2024 and four in 2025. He is scheduled for 12 races this year. It’s a plan that, while known to him, was not publicized.“I’ve had several of these instances in my career where I’ve had these kinds of strange part-time years not running for any championship in a given year, and I don’t mind it,” Heim said. “Obviously, as a competitor, you want to compete for championships, but on a weekly basis, I feel like I can still compete for wins between all of my Cup starts and my truck starts.“But, yeah, looking at guys that I kind of raced with in 2023 in the Truck Series and to see them jump up, it has been a little weird. But I feel like my development hasn’t necessarily been slowed by that.”Not everyone’s path is the same, but for Heim, it has worked out. He’s now in an enviable position, with a team that has a driver in Reddick who’s won five times this season, including a record three consecutive to start the year, and Wallace, who last year won the Brickyard 400. 23XI has established itself as one of NASCAR’s upper-echelon organizations.As a child, Heim was starting to get into NASCAR just as Hamlin was beginning to establish himself in Cup. Heim liked how his future boss handled himself on the track, so Hamlin became the driver he rooted for.The age gap between Heim and the 45-year-old Hamlin is 22 years, which Heim tries to stay away from mentioning, but he admits he peppers Hamlin with questions about notable moments in his career — moments Hamlin would sometimes prefer to forget.“I remember one of the crushing days of my childhood was where (Hamlin) was going for the 2010 championship and he spun out of (Turn) 2 and he goes, ‘Trust me, it was crushing for me, too,’ ” Heim said, laughing. “It’s just funny to reminisce about me as a fan when I was a kid and of when he was driving. It’s kind of fun.”The rest of 2026 will see Heim continuing to make select Cup starts — including Sunday night’s race — and cameo appearances in trucks, where he’s won twice in four starts this season. And there is still plenty to learn.Although Heim has impressed in his limited Cup starts, it has been a learning curve. He has both flashed the talent that led to being heralded as one of NASCAR’s top prospects and shown he still has room for growth. How his race unfolded at Texas earlier this month encapsulates both his potential and that he is still developing: He led a career-high 69 laps and was positioned for a strong finish, only for his day to end early after he made a mistake and crashed out.“I feel like I’m making progress; it’s just going to take time,” Heim said. “I think without being full-time and having the (qualifying) metrics sort of work in our favor, it definitely makes us fight an uphill battle every weekend. … I feel like I’m facing maybe more challenges than I would in a full-time season, so this is probably good for me long term.“We knew this was going to be a grind of a year, regardless of how fast our cars were or not. But at the end of the day, it’s a development year for me. We’re not running for points, and it’s all kind of setting up for next year.”