by Brock Beard / LASTCAR.info Editor-in-Chief
PHOTO: Dustin Albino, @DustinAlbino
Corey Heim picked up the 1st last-place finish of his NASCAR Cup Series career in Sunday’s Season Finale 400 at the Homestead-Miami Speedway when his #67 Mobil 1 Toyota fell out with electrical issues after he completed 57 of 267 laps.
The finish came in Heim’s 20th series start. In the Cup Series’ last-place rankings, it was the 22nd for the #67, the 46th from electrical issues, and the 207th for Toyota. Across NASCAR’s top three series, it was the 27th for the #67, the 147th from electrical problems, and the 444th for Toyota.
The championship weekend in Homestead marked one year since Heim stormed to the 2025 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Championship. Facing a winner-take-all season finale at Phoenix after a year where he won half the season’s 24 races up to that point, Heim still had to rally back through a seven-wide pass in Turns 1 and 2 to take the victory. Despite inexplicably lacking a full-time ride in any of the three series in 2026, Heim has been even more impressive. He won one-third of the nine Truck Series races he entered, and two of his first 12 Cup starts of the year – the inaugural Cup event at Naval Base Coronado, and the Brickyard 400. These were the first two wins for the #67 in Cup Series history, a number made famous by longtime owner-driver Buddy Arrington. He even finished 5th just last month in Phoenix, breaking into the Chase battle. Heim has since wavered as to whether he’ll continue to run the number in 2027, or the #35 he’s taking over for an outgoing Riley Herbst.
For Homestead, Heim carried sponsorship from Mobil 1 in both Sunday’s Cup race and Friday’s Truck Series race, where he piloted TRICON Garage’s #1 Toyota. That day, he qualified 3rd, swept both stage wins, led four times for 45 laps, then fell to 6th in the final running order. This continued an impressive streak for Heim at the track, where he finished in the Top Five in all four of his previous starts and led at least 57 laps in three of those races. This included a 3rd-place finish he ground out last year, even when his truck repeatedly shut off during the battle for the lead.
Heim’s Cup ride for Sunday ran a slightly different version of his San Diego winner, leaving off associate sponsor O’Reilly Auto Parts, so the car carried white numbers on a patriotic blue background. As one of exactly 40 drivers entered for as many starting spots, Heim ran 14th in practice with a best lap of 33.004 seconds (163.617mph), then as the third car on track for qualifying timed in 16th with a lap of 32.763 seconds (164.820mph).
Securing the 40th and final starting spot was Brad Keselowski, an inauspicious start to his final race as driver of RFK Racing’s #6 BuildSubmarines.com Ford. Keselowski spun off Turn 4 on his qualifying lap, leaving him with a speed of 35.589 seconds (151.732mph), just over a second off the next-slowest car of Chad Finchum in the #66 Protection Technologies Ford for Garage 66. Keselowski incurred a redundant tail-end penalty for unapproved adjustments, which kept him to Finchum’s outside for the start.
But as the field rolled off pit road, 28th-place qualifier Cole Custer’s #41 Sysco / Hooters Chevrolet lost power just before he could roll off pit road, leaving him stranded for several seconds. A push truck was summoned, which pushed Custer’s car down the access road and along the apron, just as military helicopters were performing a ceremonial lap over the leaders as they entered Turn 3. The truck got Custer’s car to pit road, where after a crew member came up to the passenger-side window, Custer was able to re-fire the engine and return to the track. Custer apparently accidentally shut off the car himself, and asked his team what other switches he shouldn’t touch. NASCAR allowed him to resume his 28th spot, lining up behind Justin Haley, substituting for a suspended Carson Hocevar in the #77 Spectrum Chevrolet.
When the green flag waved, Keselowski’s outside lane had the advantage, pushing him ahead of Finchum with an interval of 3.241 seconds back of the lead to Finchum’s 3.402. Held up behind Casey Mears, making his 500th career Cup start in the #62 The Gracie Foundation Chevrolet, Finchum continued to lose ground while Keselowski got to the outside of a three-wide battle through Turns 1 and 2, leap-frogging several positions. At the line to complete Lap 1, Finchum was 4.828 seconds back of the lead. On Lap 3, Finchum was 6.589 seconds back of the lead, already a half-second back of new 39th-place runner J.J. Yeley, making his 400th career Cup start in the #44 PCNY Turkey Drive Chevrolet. That gap grew to a second by Lap 4, and on Lap 5, Finchum reported he was “firing off pretty right.” Team owner Carl Long, who couldn’t get access to Finchum’s on-board camera, radioed that Finchum was losing two-tenths of a second per lap.
The interval continued to grow. By Lap 8, Finchum was 16.191 seconds back of the lead, nearly two seconds back of Yeley. It was up to four seconds on Lap 13, when Finchum was 24.266 back. By Lap 14, Finchum said his car was freeing up the longer the green-flag run went, but had “no compliance over the bumps.” On Lap 17, Finchum was 30.646 seconds back of the lead to Yeley’s 24.209, more than six full seconds back of 39th place. On Lap 20, race leader Chase Briscoe caught and passed Finchum in the extreme high lane, putting him a lap down. With Yeley still 30.440 seconds back of the lead in 39th, it took until Lap 31 for him to lose a lap in Turns 3 and 4. By then, Finchum was getting swarmed by lead-lap traffic on both sides.
Green -flag pit stops soon followed, starting with Erik Jones, whose #43 Dollar Tree Toyota dropped behind Yeley into 39th on Lap 35. Briscoe pitted from the lead as Jones completed his stop, handing the top spot to Tyler Reddick. On Lap 37, Long radioed, “One more lap and pit him, Richard.” Finchum twice said he “got pretty free on that run” as he slowed in Turn 4 and came in for his first stop, pulling into Pit Stall No. 27 just short of the starting line. Finchum returned to the track showing three laps down with 39th-place Yeley two down, but on Lap 41, Finchum was again two down with Yeley one down. By Lap 46, Finchum had again been passed by nearly the entire field as 38th-place running Mears got under him off Turn 4. Long discussed further adjustments, including to Finchum’s left-rear.
By Lap 56, Heim had led two laps during the green-flag stops and was still near the Top Ten. Entering Turn 3, he had just taken 12th when he radioed he thought his car was blowing up. This was confirmed heading into Turns 1 and 2, when he lost power altogether, causing him to coast down the backstretch and onto the access road. He made it to his stall, Pit Stall No. 7 near the exit at Turn 1, where the crew lifted the hood. By Lap 61, when Heim had taken the last spot from Finchum, the crew was calling for another battery, and discussing an electrical issue. On Lap 66, they had attempted a repair, and said if it didn’t work, they’d have to go to the garage. “Okay, push it behind the wall,” the team then radioed on Lap 67. While both the Truck Series and O’Reilly race made use of the opening between Stalls No. 3 and 4, Heim’s crew was instructed to push his car backwards up nearly the entire length of pit road, using the opening between Stalls No. 33 and 34. The crew didn’t reach there until Lap 71.
On Lap 73, Heim’s car was pushed into the garage stall for Spire Motorsports’ #77 team, which still carried Carson Hocevar’s name above the door. As the on-board camera started to flicker, Heim said he was going to climb out, but decided to stay onboard. The crew told him he’d been running a good pace the previous run, when he was running scuffed tires. Moments later, on Lap 78, Briscoe felt a momentary vibration in his 7th-place running #19 Bass Pro Shops Toyota. He thought it was a tire going down, but off Turn 4, the engine let go in a plume of white smoke. He pulled to the inside, then stopped on the apron of the backstretch, ending his afternoon. A tow truck pulled his car behind the wall. By Lap 83, Briscoe was now 39th, 21 laps ahead of Heim, and on Lap 90 was the first driver declared out of the race.
Repairs continued on Heim’s car. “Something between the battery and the ECU is kaput,” said the team. On Lap 97, his on-board camera shut off, switching to a graphic that indicated he was still I the garage. The graphic remained on the screen on Lap 108, when Heim re-fired the engine and returned to the track 51 laps down. But NASCAR noticed he was still off the pace, and was headed back to the garage area. Heim managed to complete his first lap since his issue began, clocking in at 2,369.127 seconds, or about 39 minutes and 30 seconds. By Lap 111, Heim was now 52 down, and his on-board camera switched back on just as he pulled alongside the garage stalls. He pulled into Hocevar’s stall again, where the crew continued their work. On Lap 137, the team radioed, “We’re done. We’re gonna load it, 67.” At the time, Heim was 78 laps down, but still within 20 of Briscoe. NASCAR declared him out on Lap 139, and his onboard camera shut off on Lap 142.
Heim and Briscoe were the only two DNFs of the afternoon as Finchum, Mears, and Yeley in the other three “open” entries completed the Bottom Five. Finchum crossed the stripe ten laps down to race winner Ryan Blaney.
Gragson rounds out season with third top-ten finish of 2026
Securing a solid run in the last race of the season was Noah Gragson, who despite late-race contact with Daniel Suarez finished 9th in his #4 Long John Silver’s Ford after he qualified a distant 33rd on the starting grid. Ranked a distant 31st in points, this marked only the third top-ten finish of the season for Gragson and matched his season-best from Talladega in April. The run still took its toll, as Gragson was sick on pit road after he climbed from the car.
LASTCAR STATISTICS
*Heim is the only first-time last-place finisher of the 2026 NASCAR Cup Series season. The last first-timer was Riley Herbst after his crash in the #35 Monster Energy Toyota after 98 laps at Phoenix on March 9, 2025. Curiously, it’s Herbst who Heim will replace at 23XI Racing next season.
*This marked the first last-place finish for the #67 in a Cup Series points-paying race since May 29, 1988, when Dale Jarrett ran a #67 Chevrolet sponsored by Raven Boats and Bud Light that was fielded by longtime owner-driver Buddy Arrington. Jarrett lost the engine after 27 laps of the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte.
*Heim is the first driver to finish last in a Cup race at Homestead with electrical issues since February 28, 2021, when Timmy Hill’s unsponsored #66 Motorsports Business Management Toyota fell out after 21 laps.
THE BOTTOM FIVE
40) #67-Corey Heim / 57 laps / electrical / led 2 laps
39) #19-Chase Briscoe / 77 laps / engine / led 33 laps
38) #66-Chad Finchum / 257 laps / running
37) #62-Casey Mears / 261 laps / running
36) #44-J.J. Yeley / 262 laps / running
2026 LASTCAR CUP SERIES OWNER’S CHAMPIONSHIP - FINAL
1st) Trackhouse Racing (6)
2nd) Front Row Motorsports, Hendrick Motorsports, Joe Gibbs Racing (4)
3rd) 23XI Racing, Garage 66 (3)
4th) Kaulig Racing, Live Fast Motorsports, RFK Racing (2)
5th) Beard Motorsports, Richard Childress Racing, Rick Ware Racing, Spire Motorsports, Wood Brothers Racing (1)
2026 LASTCAR CUP SERIES MANUFACTURER’S CHAMPIONSHIP - FINAL
1st) Chevrolet (18)
2nd) Ford (9)
3rd) Toyota (6)
2026 LASTCAR CUP SERIES DRIVER’S CHAMPIONSHIP – FINAL
