Corey Heim won the Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Sunday after Denny Hamlin surrendered the lead on the final restart.
The 24-year-old 23XI Racing driver led the last 35 laps on the 2.5-mile oval, holding off Christopher Bell by 0.287 seconds.
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Heim became the first driver since A. J.
Foyt in 1965 to win twice within his first 15 career starts.
Joey Logano finished third, 0.972 seconds back, while Hamlin placed fifth, more than six seconds behind.
Hamlin remains winless in 18 career starts at Indianapolis as he pursues a sweep of NASCAR's four crown jewel events.
Heim described the intense physical effort required to maintain control during the final laps. "That was a damn handful," he said.
"I was hanging on for dear life once the shade went down and the pace picked up, my car got really loose and I never really got a lot of clean air throughout the day, so that was the hardest I've ever fought in my life."
Todd Gilliland of Front Row Motorsports claimed the $1 million In-Season Challenge prize despite starting 36th.
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He secured the payout after 2023 Cup champion Ryan Blaney was involved in a nine-car collision with 41 laps remaining, leaving Blaney in 26th place behind Gilliland's 24th-place finish.
Stage one winner Ty Gibbs fell to 14th after a third-stage pit stop, while Ross Chastain took stage two.
Daniel Dye and Chase Elliott both retired early due to wall contact.
Defending series champion Kyle Larson was knocked out late in stage one after a left rear tire failure sent his car into the wall coming out of Turn 3, extending his winless streak to 46 races.
"We just had a tire let go. I wouldn't say pushing had anything to do with it," Larson said.
"Just a little bit of bad luck, I guess."
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The Cup Series now takes a brief break before resuming on Aug. 9 at the 0.875-mile oval in Iowa.
