All of Sam Hunt Racing is bound to be screaming YAHOO! after Friday’s NASCAR Xfinity Series practice session from Iowa Speedway, Corey Heim put the No. 26 Toyota GR Supra at the top of the speed charts.
Heim, a regular in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series for TRICON Garage, posted a time of 22.648 seconds (139.085mph) to lead the 50-minute session from the 0.875-mile short track in Newton, Iowa.
“Yeah, certainly it helps when you fire off good,” said Heim. “So, huge props to Sam Hunt Racing, this Yahoo! Toyota Supra is as fast as Xfinity internet and I feel like we made a lot of gains. Super interesting with the repave, it seems like everyone was on the bottom, I felt like I learned a lot, and made some good adjustments. It’s always nice to have some speed.”
Rookie of The Year (ROTY) contender Jesse Love was second-quickest in Friday’s practice session, just under a tenth of a second behind the quickest time set by the defending NASCAR Truck Series regular-season champion.
Jeb Burton was third fastest in the session, posting a lap more than three-tenths of a second behind the session leader. Parker Kligerman was fourth fastest, with Iowa native Sammy Smith completing the top five in the No. 8 TMC Transportation Chevrolet Camaro for JR Motorsports.
Parker Retzlaff was ranked sixth overall in practice, with Matt DiBenedetto just behind him having an impressive session for RSS Racing. Joe Gibbs Racing teammates Sheldon Creed and Brett Moffitt were eighth and ninth on the timesheet, while Justin Allgaier completed the top-10.
Chandler Smith, driving the No. 81 Toyota GR Supra for Joe Gibbs Racing, was 11th-quickest overall in the session, but managed to have the fastest 10-lap average among all drivers. Creed, Ryan Sieg, Moffitt, and Smith were the top five.
Glen Reen, making his Xfinity Series debut in the No. 53 for Joey Gase Motorsports, was the slowest of the 38 drivers that hit the racetrack on Friday afternoon.
Shane van Gisbergen, coming off back-to-back wins in the series at Portland and Sonoma, was the only driver who ran into issues during Friday’s session, snapping loose and smacking the Turn 2 wall.
Next for the NASCAR Xfinity Series is qualifying, which will take place on Saturday, June 15, before the HyVee Perks 250 at Iowa Speedway — the series’ first race at the track in several years.
Practice Results: NASCAR Xfinity Series Hyvee Perks 250 at Iowa
