A pole sitter is the driver who starts the race from the pole position, meaning the front-most spot on the grid. In NASCAR coverage, “pole sitter” is shorthand for the qualifying winner (or the driver awarded pole based on the series’ rules for that event).
The right rear tire is the back tire on the right side of the car. If something goes wrong with it—like a blowout or hard contact—the car can get out of shape fast.
Suspension damage is when parts that help the car handle bumps and grip get hurt in a crash. That usually makes the car handle worse and can force the driver to limp or slow down.
AJ Foy is referenced as the last driver to achieve a similar milestone to Corey Heim’s early-career win record. The hosts are discussing historical context for how rare that level of success is.
Conor Zillich is another driver they’re talking about. They’re saying he’s dealing with the usual struggles rookies face, while Heim is adjusting faster.
Corey Heim is a NASCAR driver. In this segment, the hosts are saying he’s doing so well that he could be a serious contender for big goals like winning races and possibly fighting for a championship.
In NASCAR, points are how drivers earn standings over the season. The better you do in races, the more points you collect toward championship contention.
A “rookie” is a driver who’s new to the top series. The hosts are debating whether a brand-new driver could win the championship, which is usually very hard.
Person
Chase Berth
Chase Berth is another NASCAR driver being mentioned as a benchmark for how good someone might be. The point is that the speaker thinks Berth will be solid, which helps set expectations for the season.
Tyler Reddick is another NASCAR driver. The hosts bring him up to show that Corey Heim’s recent success is happening in the same kind of winning company.
San Diego is mentioned as a previous race location where Heim already proved he could win. The point is that he’s successful even when the track is tough and different from the one he’s at now.
Place
Marquis Venues
“Marquis Venues” just means well-known, important race tracks. The hosts are saying Heim’s wins happened at big-name places.
Carson Hocevar is another NASCAR driver. The hosts say he and Corey Heim were racing hard against each other, including a situation where Hocevar had to get around Heim after leaving pit road.
Pit Road is where race cars pull in during the race for things like tires and adjustments. When a driver comes out of Pit Road, they often have to fight for position right away.
Blocking is when one driver places their car in a way that makes it hard for another driver to pass. It’s a common tactic in tight NASCAR battles for position.
A post-race presser is the interview session right after the race. Drivers answer questions from reporters, and that’s where Heim’s comments about their rivalry come from.
Racecraft is basically how good a driver is at racing. It includes things like where they drive, how they pass, and how they handle other cars—so “tightening up racecraft” means getting better at those skills.
The End Season Challenge is a season-ending competition made up of multiple races. The hosts are debating whether it’s the right way to award a big prize when crashes and randomness can decide outcomes.
Todd Gilland is a NASCAR driver discussed here as the winner of the End Season Challenge. The hosts describe how he capitalized on late-race incidents, finished ahead of Ryan Blaney, and earned the prize money, which is framed as a morale boost for his team.
Front Row Motorsports is a NASCAR racing team. The hosts are saying Gilland’s success matters for the team because they have to perform well across several races, not just one.
The playoffs are NASCAR’s postseason races that decide the champion. The hosts bring them up to say that even with a structured format, racing can still be unpredictable.
“Indy” means Indianapolis Motor Speedway, a very famous oval track. On ovals like this, cars can get stuck behind each other because the air gets messy, which makes passing harder.
Term
air to your advantage
This is about aerodynamics—how the air affects the cars. By lining up just right behind another car, you can get a benefit that helps you close the gap and try to pass.
“Next gen” is NASCAR’s newer type of race car. The rules and car design are updated to try to make the racing more competitive and easier to race side-by-side.
A “single-groove track” is a track where there’s basically one good racing line. If you try to drive in a different lane, the car loses grip, so it’s hard to pass.
Term
wash straight up over the wall
“Wash” means the car gets pushed around by the airflow when it’s following another car. If the air is bad enough, the car can lose grip and drift toward the wall.
Topic
package has to be changed
They’re talking about changing the race car rules/setup so it’s easier to pass. The goal is more competitive racing, not just faster cars.
“O’Reilly cars” means the cars from the O’Reilly-branded NASCAR group. The idea is to mix them with Cup cars to shake up the racing and make passing better.
“Cup cars” are the main cars used in NASCAR’s top series. The speaker is talking about mixing those cars with another group to change how the race plays out.
Topic
f1 and monaco
They’re comparing Indy’s passing difficulty to F1 and Monaco, where it can be hard to overtake. The point is that some tracks naturally make passing rare.
LIVE
Let's get started.
time. What time is it? Hime time. What time is it? Hime time. That's right. Corey Hime
scores his second Cup Series victory this time at the famed Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
I am your host Eric Schneck and we're here for another episode of Front Stretch.com's
stock car scoop. That's right folks. Corey Hime scored his second victory of the
2026 season this time at the world famous Indianapolis Motor Speedway for the Sundays
running of the Brickyard 400. And what's even more impressive, this kid is part time
this year. He has two victories, one at Naval Base Coronado, the other at Indianapolis
Motor Speedway in a part time schedule. Only 15 total Cup Series starts. Absolutely
impressive for young Corey Hime. Now the rest of the top 10 at Indianapolis would be as
follows. Like I mentioned, Corey Hime led 58 laps in Route 2 victory. Charging behind
him very quickly and trying to get past was Christopher Bell who started it in 23rd position.
So a great day for Christopher Bell. Joey Logano finished in 3rd. Chase Briscoe finished
4th. Denny Hamlin 5th. Brad Keselowski 6th. Fantastic day for Josh Berry. He's not someone
you think about at these big high speed flat tracks. Josh Berry started 26th. Finished 7th.
Fantastic day for Josh Berry. 8th. Ryan Priest who started 34th. Fantastic day for Ryan Priest.
Our pole sitter Carson Hosevar finished 9th and rounding out the top 10 was Tyler Redick.
Now one thing you may have noticed when I was reading off that top 10 would be the lack of
Chevy's. In fact, the only Chevy in the top 10 would be our pole sitter Carson Hosevar who
finished 9th. Chevrolet had a rough day, particularly Hendrick Motorsports. Kyle Larson
finished dead last. 39th position started in 10th. He looked really, really sporty during stage 1.
Blue, a right rear tire, backed hard into the wall, ruined his day after only 43 laps.
teammate Chase Elliott got into it with Ricky Stenhouse Jr. He collected the wall and ended
up with suspension damage. I'm not sure if the suspension damage came first and then the wall
or the wall and the suspension damage. I've seen a couple different reports. Rough day for Chase
Elliott. 37th. And the other Hendrick Motorsports cars, well William Byron finished 21st and leading
the pack. Lame duck Alex Bowman in 19th. A very un-stereotypical rough, rough day for Hendrick
Motorsports. Now that's enough for the top 10 and enough for me for now. Let's go ahead and head
trackside to Indianapolis Motor Speedway where FrontStretch.com reporters Dalton Hopkins and
Kevin Nix had boots on the ground all weekend. Covering the storylines for FrontStretch.com,
boys take it away. Thanks Eric and hello everyone. Welcome to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. We
just got done with the Brickyard 400 on Dalton Hopkins at FrontStretch.com. This is Kevin Nix,
one of the only YouTube guru for FrontStretch. And we just got done watching 400 miles of racing
here at one of the, if not the greatest venue in racing. Well I was, I will just say one of,
but one of the greatest venues in racing and Corey Heim is your winner Kevin. He's a two-time Cup
Series winner and just 15 starts. That has not been done since, what was it, 1965 I want to say?
Yeah that sounds correct. Yeah I can't remember who it was but the last guy to do it was AJ Foy.
There's been stats thrown around, yeah it was AJ Foy, you're right. Yeah there's been stats
that have been thrown around. Just really, really insane stuff to see Corey go up and win. Got a
great restart near the end, end up passing his boss and I guess not really teammate but his
boss didn't even want to win the race in the final, in the final restart there and from the outside
no less. And at the end of the day we're witnessing something that maybe could be considered, this
is just, we haven't really witnessed, I don't know if great, you could call it greatness but
perhaps the beginning of what is going to be maybe a legendary season Kevin.
Yeah no and time time is here, it's real, it's and it came faster than I think all of us could
have possibly anticipated. Like we, the word generational gets thrown around with Conor Zillich
more often than not and I haven't part of that as well but as this year has gone on, like
you almost think how quickly Heim is adjusted to these cars where Zillich is going through his
rookie troubles which almost every rookie does. Heim's not even a rookie yet, he's going to be
fighting for a championship next year, this year is just to get reps in and like you said
he's already won twice, he flat out passed his boss, held him off when then he tried to pass him
back and just a masterful, masterful job. Like he's, we are living in the world of Corey Heim right
now. It's almost terrifying to think he will be full time next year and he is going to be eligible
for points and you brought up, you brought that he'll be full time and going for a championship,
is there a possibility that we could see a rookie win the Cup Series championship next year because
I'm kind of high on Corey Heim right now. I mean so am I but I also don't want to put that kind of
pressure on him. Like he said in his presser like Chase Berth will probably be good enough.
I think if he continues to drive how he has been this year so far, I could easily see like a top
10 points finished. Toyota's still at the absolute top of their game, they were again today. So
I mean Heim is a champion like I certainly think it will happen at some point in the future.
As a rookie though, I think that personally I think that's a bit of a tall task but I wouldn't
be surprised if he was in championship contention. It is a tall order I would have to agree but just
with the way that 2311 has been seventh win of the year, five with Tyler Redick and now two
with Corey Heim. I mean like six months ago who would have thought we'd be standing here talking
about Corey Heim in his second Cup Series win. Oh and by the way his two wins at Marquis Venues
like San Diego already difficult track and then this is a vastly different track than San Diego
and then he comes here and wins too. Very impressive and he ran up front the whole day.
I mean it was really impressive so I look forward to seeing what else we see out of Corey Heim
but what we also saw out of Corey Heim today was maybe a spark of that rivalry between him
and Carson Hosevar. Carson came out of Pit Road and had to get around Corey Heim but Corey just
kept blocking him and eventually Carson flipped him the bird
when Corey went to Pit Road. Kevin you've got to catch up with Carson Hosevar after the race.
Yeah Dalton I got him quickly and I asked him if he had any comment on telling Heim he was
number one basically and he took the humor route. He said that he knew he was going to win so we
just wanted to congratulate him early on his win. Now it doesn't take a rocket scientist to notice
not actually how he felt but I still appreciate his humor in that moment and Heim said in the
post-race presser that he doesn't consider it to be a rivalry. He doesn't think it's a noise.
Let's be real it is they're going to be racing against each other until 2040 hopefully. Yeah
and that like they're I know Hosevar has had run into other drivers like that and Heim
what's the word I'm looking for like Heim is tightening up his racecraft this year and obviously
today as well but for some reason these two just can't they just drive each other nuts.
Yeah and that's how you know it's going to be a great rivalry. It is a good it's just good when
you see two guys that kind of push each other but what's even better is this banter they have
that is a nice comeback like a nice quick wit from Carson Hosevar saying oh yeah I was
just telling him he's number one because I knew he was going to win so I just want to congratulate
him early that's like look this is going to get thrown around all the time and I'm sure people
are going to be tired of people saying this but that's like something Dale Earnhardt would say.
Yeah you know that's like that's like 80s 90s when NASCAR just had a lot more personality
and that god I love it and then and then by the way they asked Corey Heim on TNT I think it was
actually right here they asked Corey Heim on TNT what he thought about that and he's like well I
just handed him a big fat L and then I asked him in the post race press conference and I was like
is this is it too early to call you guys rivals for next year and he's like I don't know why you
guys keep talking about a guy who finished ninth. A little bit a little bit cheeky so I love this
banter between those two. Yeah and that's so funny with that comment because there is zero other
drivers in the field than Heim would say that about. He Heim is usually a fairly clean racer
all things considered and he was very clean the day too but like I said those two they just get
each other's they get under each other's skins and they set each other off the way no other
drivers can and so yeah it's going to be very entertaining they're both quick-witted and I would
argue that the rivalry is bringing Heim out of his shell a little bit as well I think he's been
showing a lot more personality since he and Hosevar got into it gotten into it earlier this year
then they just can't seem to get away with each other. I love it it's fun to watch but you know
what else was fun to watch today was the ending of the end season challenge a five this five week
odyssey that these teams have been going through and all came down to Ryan Blaney and Todd Gilland
and Kevin for the first hundred laps or so Ryan Blaney just looked like he was going to run away
with it and then with about 40 laps to go it's caught up in an accident and then Todd Gilland
goes around him Blaney gets caught up in an accident has to go to the back has to kind of like
get back up to the tries to get around it Todd Gilland can't quite get there at the end Todd
Gilland actually finishes ahead of Ryan Blaney two spots ahead of Ryan Blaney and wins the end
season challenge for the second year in a row we've had a driver win the end season challenge
before he's even gotten his first cup series win and he's even gotten a top five this year at all
Kevin what do you think about this I mean what does this mean for the end season challenge what
does this mean for Todd Gilland what does this mean for front row motor sports well I'll start
with what the means for the end season challenge like it's it almost feels kind of unnecessary
to me like racing is too much like we saw this with the playoffs obviously and I think racing is
just too much of a crapshoot you know to award a monetary value after x amount of races like
these are I get why they were these five because they're five very different racetracks in theory
they're testing drivers skill they're acumen so like it's a decent idea in theory but as we saw
like the stuff today like anything can happen and on one hand that's the beauty of it like that that
is the beauty of racing anything can happen but on the other hand like I just felt like it wasn't
really talked about like the end season challenge even today like obviously Gilland's a very happy
man he and his team are a million dollars richer but like it's it's hard to say honestly I do I do
think it'll be a nice morale boost for Gilland than a 34 team at front row because at some point
you have to be consistent enough to outlast each of your 1v1 opponents in the challenge and so
you have to at least have somewhat good days in each of those races so
I would not be mad personally if this is the last year of the end season challenge
I think it is out in this welcome but I would not also I would also not be surprised that it came
back I don't mind it I just I would have to agree with you I think this is too much of a
crapshoot I mean think about what I just said this is the second year in a row where a driver
who has not even won his first race has won it yeah and it's Todd Gilland of all people and
honestly you could say it's really because everybody they was racing against had a problem
or had some kind of issue and we just saw it again today so I mean I'm happy for Todd
and you can't really help you can't discount from Todd yeah you can't help but be happy for Todd
you can't help you be happy for that team I mean it's an underdog story right it's kind of cool to
see but who is definitely not happy about it was Ryan Blaney Blaney walked up to Todd Gilland
and congratulated him everything's great there but he had a discussion with John Hunter Nemechek
post-race John Hunter Nemechek being the one who got into him that caused the incident that really
took him out of contention and Blaney said John Hunter came up apologized to him post-race and
Blay caught up with Ryan Blaney and he told me what he said yeah it's great that he apologized
and all but it cost us a lot of money at the end of the day so this is uh it's such a disappointing
ending for Ryan Blaney especially when he is having not the best year he's had it's been an okay year
he's really probably the only four that's actually been competitive but definitely could have used
that that morale boost and just lost it just because of somebody else's mistake at the end
there yeah and that that goes back to this whole thing being a crapshoot like and you said Blaney
had and he did Blaney had the better car by quite a margin throughout the first two thirds of the
race and then being part of it that's just racing but I think obviously he's he would have wanted
like any any sane human being would yeah so I totally get why he doesn't point it because
and he he knows it too that he probably had a better car but just sometimes that's just not
how the cookie comes and then you know he fell back fell back to like 31st Gillan was 20th Gillan
then dropped down 24th and Blaney moved up to 26th on that final restart it just looked like oh my
gosh he might be able to get him might Blaney might be able to actually get to him and then they
just kind of stalled out and they just they couldn't pass nobody could pass and it's really been the
type of racing that we saw all day so then I've already seen some comments about this track about
the racing today and it wasn't all that great because there wasn't a whole lot of passing and
the restarts were everything Kevin I like your brutal honesty so I want to hear what you thought
about this race yeah so I'll preface my comments by saying this indy is always a track where stock
cars it is hard to pass it is never going to be easy but it was flat out impossible after about
three laps after and I think I think that goes to the car honestly because the type of racing
we saw yesterday were guapo got his first win yet it wasn't easy to pass but drivers could pass you
could get up behind somebody and kind of you can wrestle them out of the way a little bit and get
underneath them you can use the air to your advantage to pass the car in front of you yeah
like and indy indy is a track that does not suit the next gen very well because you get it's a
single-groove track you get right behind somebody you're just going to get tightened wash straight
up over the wall and so this is a car that already does not perform well in single-groove tracks and
I'm not surprised at the quality of racing that we saw today but it's obviously not good enough
like that they absolutely should still keep coming here to indy like that the oval just means so
much we spoke to a lot of drivers in the bullpen about how much this track means I think the oval
absolutely should be here to stay but the package has to be changed like legano said after the race
actually that he said the only way to increase passing is to have the o'reilly cars race with
the cup cars here I agree with that and so it's it's well known that you can't pass you're going
to win the race on pit road and like I said well it's usually hard to pass here with stock cars
it should never be as difficult as it was today and so yeah it I mean it's not a surprising result
but I really hope that more work gets done on the next gen in the off season and especially
attracts like this to hopefully make the racing more competitive because it seemed like once
people were in place they were locked in place they couldn't do anything you know what it reminds
me of it reminds me of f1 and monaco everybody kind of dreads going there but it's a crown jewel
event so it's like you can't really take it off the calendar but at the same time nobody can pass
there it's really all about pit strategy and pull and where where you qualify it kind of reminds
me of that almost so I don't know in the future I think I think at the end they got a little bit
more interesting with those with those multiple restarts and the the end season challenge but
at the end yeah it's kind of frustrating you have to be able to see anybody pass
yeah um that's going to do it for this weekend we go into an off season for next weekend so for
some much needed rest not just for us but for everybody in the NASCAR industry so we're going
to send it off we're going to send it back to Eric you can take it away I've been Dalton Hopkins
this is Kevin Nix thanks for watching and thanks for listening and we're back thank you Dalton and
Kevin much much much appreciated as always and uh for all the content you guys cranked out this
weekend we appreciate it very much let's go ahead and take a look at the top 16 in points
we do have four drivers clinched into the playoffs those four would be Denny Hamlin
who's leading the points Tyler Reddick in second Ryan Blaney in third and Ty Gibbs in fourth those
are the four drivers who have locked their way into the chase fifth place in points is Carson
Hosevar who's up two spots Chase Elliott's down to sixth he's down a spot from his rough day at
Indianapolis Motor Speedway Chase Briscoe up one spot to seventh Kyle Larson down two to eighth
when you finish dead last those are the type of things that happen Larson down two spots in the
points to eighth Chris Buscher held steady at ninth C. Bell had steady at tenth Suarez 11th
William Byron 12th Joey Logano continues his charge up the board plus two for Logano in 13th
bubble Wallace down one to 14th Shane Van Gisburgen who had a nice little stretch of run there on the
ovals he's down a spot to 15th and on the bubble is Austin Cindrick in 16th now who is chasing
Cindrick 17th is Ryan Priest who is up a spot 18th Eric Jones who was down a spot 19th Brad K 20th
Michael McDowell so the hunt is on for the chase and time is ticking to lock yourself into the
chase as we only have four count them four races left before the NASCAR Cup series chase returns
to action and that starts in two weeks the final stretch into the chase because next week the
NASCAR Cup series is off for some much needed rest and relaxation before the final run towards the
end of the season we are up next August 9th for the Iowa Corn 350 powered by ethanol taking place
out of course either Speedway then we have the Cookout 400 at Richmond the Dollar Tree 301 at
New Hampshire and the race leading us in to the playoffs the final regular point regular season
points race the coke zero sugar 400 at Daytona International Speedway on August the 29th only
four races left for these drivers to solidify their position in the chase to lock themselves in
the chase or for some of these bubble drivers to make their way up the board here and get themselves
locked in as well so that is it for me this weekend thank you to Dalton and Kevin who had boots on the
ground at IMS again thank you for all of the content and all the work you put
in this weekend we all appreciate it next week you won't see us because we are off we will be back
on the 9th wrapping up the Iowa Corn 350 powered by ethanol once again i'm your host Eric Schneck
thank you Dalton and Kevin we back for another episode of the stock car scoop here on frontstretch.com
About this episode
Corey Heim’s Brickyard 400 win at Indianapolis Motor Speedway anchors the recap, including how a late restart helped him pass and why the day unraveled for others. The hosts then zoom out to Heim’s rapid Cup rise—debating whether a rookie can realistically contend for the championship—and trade banter with Carson Hocevar. Midway, they tackle the chaotic End Season Challenge, where Todd Gilland wins amid late-race reshuffling and post-race frustration. The show closes with Indy passing limits, Next Gen “single-groove” concerns, and the playoff countdown.
