NEWTON, Iowa: After earning his fourth top-five finish of the ARCA Menards Series season last Saturday night at Elko (Minn.) Speedway, rookie Corey Heim heads to Iowa Speedway hungry for more than a top-five finish in Friday night’s Fans with Benefits 150.
With the power and knowledge of crew chief Paul Andrews at his side, Heim has impressed. In seven races, the Marietta, Ga. native has earned four top-five finishes, six top-10s and a worst finish of 11th.
And with back-to-back top-five runs at World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway and Elko Speedway respectively, Heim is ready to push himself into Victory Lane and bring his Mooresville, N.C.-based team their fourth ARCA win of 2019.
“This weekend at Iowa Speedway is going to be a very new and exciting experience for me,” Heim said. “I’m really looking forward to a bigger track like Iowa because of my performance at Gateway a few weeks ago.”
Like much of his freshman season of ARCA competition, Heim has never competed in a race at Iowa’s 0.875-mile short track. To prepare him for his eighth ARCA start, Heim joined his CBR teammate Joe Graf Jr. for a private test in the Midwest where he and Andrews focused on everything from practice runs to mock qualifying runs and long green-flag runs in race trim.
Knowing he has to be prepared for whatever the 14th race of the season will unravel; Heim feels like his No. 22 Speedway Children’s Charities team can unload fast and be an immediate contender.
“We tested at Iowa a few weeks ago, and I feel good about it,” he added. “The track was very hot and slick, just like it’s going to be on race day.”
Nestled inside the cockpit of the No. 22 Chad Bryant Racing Ford Fusion for six of the remaining seven races on tour this season, the recently turned 17-year-old is embracing his opportunity behind the wheel.
From testing at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway in January to his impressive ARCA debut in March at Five Flags (Fla.) Speedway to his approaching speedway debut next Friday afternoon at Pocono (Pa.) Raceway, Heim is buzzing in the headlines but there’s still work to be done before his curtain is drawn in late September.
“I’ll be in the No. 22 car regularly until the end of the season, and I’m excited for the remaining schedule. Racing back-to-back in the ARCA car will help me a lot because I can stay sharp every weekend.
“With this stretch of races, I’d really like to win a race at some point. This Chad Bryant Racing team has given me great cars and great opportunities to win races, but the win just hasn’t come yet.
“I’m working harder than ever to change that this weekend at Iowa Speedway, and trying to get these guys an owners’ championship.”
Andrews a former Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series championship crew chief concurs with his young driver.
“The Iowa test was very good with Corey,” offered Andrews. “Like always, Corey adapted quickly and had fast lap times. Iowa Speedway’s track surface is old, rough, abrasive and we love it.
“ARCA cars will run multiple grooves and Corey tested on all of them to get comfortable. We’re excited to get back there this and hopefully get Corey to Victory Lane on Friday night.”
For more on Corey Heim, please like him on Facebook (Corey Heim Racing) and follow him on Instagram (@corey.heim) and Twitter (@coreyheim3).
For more on Chad Bryant Racing, please like them on Facebook (Chad Bryant Racing) and follow them on Twitter (@ChadBryantRace). Also, visit the new ChadBryantRacing.com.
The Fans with Benefits 150 (150 laps | 132 miles) is the 14th of 20 races on the 2019 ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards schedule. Practice begins Fri., July 19 with an hour and 30-minute practice session planned from 11:45 a.m. – 1:15 p.m. General Tire pole qualifying is set for later in the day at 3:45 p.m. The race is set to take the green flag shortly after 8:00 p.m. The event will be televised live on MAVTV. ARCARacing.com will also stream live timing and scoring throughout the day’s festivities. All times are local (Central).