Bootie Baker makes wild statement on Corey Heim, NASCAR Cup racing

This season, Corey Heim has dominated the NASCAR Truck Series and made select starts in the Cup Series for 23XI Racing. On top of another race in the big league coming up at Richmond, Heim is getting massive praise from his crew chief, Bootie Barker.

Bootie Barker worked with Bubba Wallace for the last few seasons at 23XI Racing. Since the end of last season, Barker has moved into a different role within the organization. He is still a crew chief whenever Heim steps into the No. 67 car.

Corey Heim has shown great skill. He has shown that he could be competitive in a Cup ride right now. But could he win a race? Bootie Barker seems to think so.

“Truck star Corey Heim announced he’ll be back in 23XI Cup car 2 weeks at Richmond,” Danielle Trotta of SiriusXM NASCAR Radio reported. “Bootie Barker told me & [Larry McReynolds] Heim is Cup ready right now & said if Heim were full-time Cup racing this year he’d have already won a race. Whoa. Question is when will Toyota put Heim in a Cup car and where???”

Corey Heim is very talented, but a Cup Series win as a rookie would be very impressive. We have seen someone like Carson Hocevar struggle to get a win in his second year in the series. Ty Gibbs has been in the Cup Series for more than 100 races and has yet to claim a checkered flag.

Bootie has a lot of belief in his driver. You like to see that. However, it doesn’t look like 23XI Racing is going to have a full-time ride for Heim in 2026. So, where does he go?

Corey Heim dominating Trucks, is Cup ride next?

Between the 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports lawsuit against NASCAR and Legacy Motor Club’s lawsuit against Rick Ware Racing, a lot can happen between now and 2026 in regards to charters. Depending on who holds the charters, we could see a very different field of drivers.

23XI and FRM are hoping to keep all three charters that they had somewhat this season. For now, they remain charterless for the 2025 season. Even with three charters, 23XI has a multi-year deal with Riley Herbst to uphold. So, where does that leave Corey Heim?

Toyota would like to keep Heim. They have developed him as a talent, and he has close ties to the manufacturer in his early career. But there are others who have taken note of Heim’s talents. For starters, Brad Keselowski is a pretty big fan. Could Keselowski step aside and offer his No. 6 ride to Heim, stealing him from Toyota and 23XI?

Corey Heim is extremely talented. I’m not sure where he ends up in Cup next year, but he has to find a ride somewhere. Bootie Barker thinks he can win a race early on, so why wouldn’t a team take a risk on him for next season?