After an uninterrupted afternoon of practice for the NASCAR Xfinity Series from Iowa Speedway on Friday, the rain has made a trip to Newton, Iowa, forcing the cancellation of qualifying for the HyVee Perks 250.
Just minutes before the session officially began, NASCAR confirmed that time trials would be on hold for the second-tier series, as a weather system prepared to sink its claws into the 0.875-mile short track.
With a schedule packed with on-track activity this afternoon, the sanctioning body was forced to scrap the session, leaving the starting lineup for Saturday’s 250-lap contest at Iowa Speedway to be set by the performance metric (as outlined by the NASCAR Rule Book).
STARTING LINEUP: NASCAR Xfinity Series HyVee 250 at Iowa Speedway
Courtesy of a top-five finish last weekend at Sonoma, and his second-place position in series point standings, Austin Hill will lead the field to green in the No. 21 Bennett Transportation Chevrolet Camaro for Richard Childress Racing.
Shane van Gisbergen, the winner of the last two Xfinity Series events at Portland and Sonoma, will start alongside him on the front row. However, due to an incident in practice, that second-place start will only be on paper, as the No. 97 drops to the rear of the field in a backup car.
Sheldon Creed will start Saturday’s event from third place, with JR Motorsports teammates Justin Allgaier and Sam Mayer completing the top five. Chandler Smith will start sixth, with Cole Custer, John Hunter Nemechek, Jesse Love, and Parker Kligerman rounding out the top-10.
Corey Heim, making his seventh start of the year in the No. 26 Toyota GR Supra for Sam Hunt Racing, will start from the midfield, in 22nd, on Saturday. Heim, a regular in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, was quickest in Friday’s 50-minute practice.
With a high volume of entries changing drivers week-to-week, some notable names will be starting further back in Saturday’s event than they were hoping, including Ross Chastain (28th), Brett Moffitt (29th), and Daniel Dye (37th).
Glen Reen, piloting a second entry for Joey Gase Motorsports, will start from 38th place on the grid, being a part-time entry and therefore the lowest-scoring driver when it comes to the performance metric.
All 38 drivers who entered the event will take the green flag on Saturday.
