Friday was quite a day for the Haas Factory Team. The organization started the day off by announcing that it’ll swap manufacturers from Ford to Chevrolet in 2026 and form a technical alliance with Hendrick Motorsports. Sam Mayer, the driver of the team’s No. 41 entry in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, ended the day by turning the fastest lap in practice for Saturday’s Nu Way 200 Sauced by Blues Hog at World Wide Technology Raceway.
Practice Results: Nu Way 200 Sauced by Blues Hog
Mayer cranked out a fast lap time of 33.375 seconds (134.831 mph) around the 1.25-mile track in Madison, IL, to secure the fastest lap of the practice session. Mayer, who is seeking his second win of the NASCAR Xfinity Series season in Saturday’s regular season finale, won earlier this year at Iowa Speedway.
Mayer turned his fast lap on his third of 33 circuits around World Wide Technology Raceway.
Jesse Love, the driver of the No. 2 Richard Childress Racing Whelen Chevrolet, was the runner-up driver in the session as he clocked in 0.110 seconds off the time set by Mayer.
Carson Kvapil, one of JR Motorsports’ two rookie of the year contenders, slotted in third on the scoring pylon in practice, and he was 0.145 seconds off the session-leading pace set by Mayer.
Jeb Burton, who is the first driver outside the Playoff cutline heading into the regular season finale, was the fourth-fastest in the session. He comes into the race 31 points behind his cousin, Harrison Burton, for the final Playoff spot. Harrison was 18th-fastest in the session behind the wheel of the No. 25 AM Racing Ford.
Connor Zilisch, the NASCAR Xfinity Series regular season point leader and current Rookie of the Year point leader, was the fifth-fastest driver in the session. The driver will look to close out his campaign for the regular season championship on Saturday afternoon.
Justin Allgaier, Aric Almirola, Ryan Sieg, Matt DiBenedetto, and Sheldon Creed rounded out the top-10 fastest drivers in the practice session.
Dean Thompson, who was the 19th-fastest driver in the session, had an issue and got into the outside wall late in the practice, and Matt Mills, 33rd-fastest, appeared to lock up his brakes early in the session.
Other than those two incidents, it was a clean practice for all in the garage.
