Cory Heim greets fans before a NASCAR Cup Series race on Sunday in Coronado, Calif. (AP photo)

The oldest and winningest active driver in the NASCAR Cup Series, as well as a shrewd team owner, Denny Hamlin has become a sounding board for his sage counsel.

So he was a little surprised when protege Corey Heim went radio silent ahead of the inaugural race at Naval Base Coronado.

“I asked Corey before the race, ‘This is the first week you haven’t called me for advice, you didn’t think I’d bring anything to the table?'” Hamlin said with a smile. “Apparently, he was good.”

Indeed, Heim proved he had it handled with his upset win Sunday. By winning in only his 13th career start, the rising star reaffirmed that Hamlin has a keen eye for spotting talent while taking risks in building 23XI Racing with NBA legend Michael Jordan, his co-owner.

Four years ago, Hamlin and Jordan showed faith in Tyler Reddick by signing him more than 18 months before his Richard Childress Racing contract expired. Reddick escaped the deal’s final year and validated Hamlin’s faith with a championship round appearance.

Reddick opened this season by winning five of the first nine races, including the Daytona 500. The Cup Series points leader was on his way to a sixth win Sunday on the street course south of downtown San Diego before he got outdueled by Heim, who will move into a Cup ride full time in 2027 as a teammate of Reddick and Bubba Wallace.

“Really surprised,” Hamlin said about Heim’s breakout performance. “Now if you would have asked me in the middle of the race, I wouldn’t have been that surprised. I got to race around him enough to know he had plenty of speed.”

As a top-level driver with 64 victories (four this season), the 45-year-old Hamlin has an edge over other team owners because he can scout prospects with a firsthand perspective while also speaking their language behind the wheel.

After winning the truck series championship last year, Heim passed on full time with other Cup teams and chose to race a partial schedule while waiting for the 2027 ride to open at 23XI Racing.

“I always just had a gut feeling that 23XI was where I wanted to be,” Heim said. “Just so much support from Denny and MJ. I talk to them on a very regular basis, and I’ve always felt like family.”

Street race success

A sellout crowd of 50,000 fans gathered on the active military base to witness the third first-time Cup winner this season.

NASCAR chief operating officer Ben Kennedy, who previously took the Cup Series to inaugural events in downtown Chicago and Los Angeles, said 67% of the attendees were NASCAR first-timers.

Though it’s unclear if Naval Base Coronado will be on the 2027 schedule, Kennedy vowed to stay aggressive in the future by scheduling at least one annual street race with an eye toward new metropolitan areas and military bases.

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AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing