21-year-old Corey Heim shares how racing NASCAR Cup drivers leveled up his game in Truck Series

NASCAR Truck Series ace Corey Heim recently elaborated on how racing against Cup Series drivers is helping him elevate his game and improve his results in the Truck Series.

Heim made his Cup debut at Dover Motor Speedway, replacing injured Erik Jones in the #43 Legacy Motor Club Toyota. He started the race 32nd on the grid and finished 25th at the end of the race.

A week after his Cup debut, Corey Heim claimed that his learnings from the race helped him win the Truck race at Kansas Speedway. The 21-year-old insisted that his time behind the #43 Toyota helped him work on his restarts and his efficiency on the pit road. He added that he also learned about aero blocking.

"I think a little bit, any time you race against the Cup guys, they're of course the best in NASCAR, so you are going to learn a thing or two by racing around those guys. The tendencies and how they aero block and how good the restarts are and pit road is a big one too," Heim said during a press conference (via Frontstretch).

The #11 Tricon Garge driver mentioned that his Cup Series outing also helped him learn how to extract most of the machinery while not overstepping the limit.

"Having that mindset of - you have to perform to the best of your ability and you can't overstep it or else put yourself in a bad spot. I think when you race the Cup guys that kind of elevates a little bit, you just drive the c*ap out of the car and hope it sticks kind of thing and those guys are really phenomenal race car drivers," he said.

Corey Heim dominated the Heart of America 200, leading a race-high 79 laps. He added that his lessons from the pit road in the Cup Series helped him gain an advantage in the Truck race.

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Jimmie Johnson praises Corey Heim for his debut Cup outing

The Legacy Motor Club co-owner was impressed with Corey Heim's debut outing at Dover Motor Speedway, where he finished 25th, five positions behind teammate John Hunter Nemechek.

Jimmie Johnson praised Heim for his work in the simulator and his curiosity to learn more about Cup Series cars. Johnson also lauded the 21-year-old's ability to articulate his feelings from the cockpit to the team members.

"Yeah, Corey's done a great job. I think us naming him as our backup driver to start the year has given us as a group time to get to know each other," Johnson was quotes as saying by speedwaydigest.com.

He's been doing sim work for us and he's in our system, and I've been able to get to know him and get to watch him, and have been impressed with the questions he's asked, how's he able to articulate what he's and experiencing feeling in the car in a concise manner," he added.

Corey Heim qualified 20th for the AdventHealth 400 at Kansas Speedway and will start the race beside Jimmie Johnson. Catch Heim live in action in the Cup race scheduled on May 5 at 3:00 PM ET.