23XI Racing teammates Riley Herbst and Bubba Wallace paced Friday’s 50-minute practice session from Chicagoland Speedway, marking the first time the NASCAR Cup Series has turned laps around the mile-and-a-half racetrack since 2019.
Herbst, piloting the No. 35 Monster Energy Zero Sugar Toyota Camry XSE, was the fastest of 38 drivers in the session, posting a quick time of 30.326 seconds (178.065mph) – faster than the pole speed the last time the series visited the racetrack.
The Las Vegas, Nevada-native turned the fastest time in the session late, and bested his teammate Bubba Wallace, who is running a special paint scheme this weekend in collaboration with Upper Deck to celebrate the 30th Anniversary of Space Jam.
Kyle Larson paced most of the session but fell to third by the end of the 50 minutes. Denny Hamlin and Ty Gibbs, teammates at Joe Gibbs Racing, rounded out the top five. Corey Heim, Austin Cindric, Tyler Reddick, Carson Hocevar, and Chris Buescher completed the top-10.
Tyler Reddick turned a session-high 61 laps around the 1.5-mile Chicagoland Speedway.
Erik Jones, driver of the No. 43 AdventHealth Toyota Camry XSE for LEGACY MOTOR CLUB, was the only driver to run into a substantial issue during the session, getting damage to his race car, which required crew chief Justin Alexander to call an audible and replace the rear diffuser. Jones turned the second-fewest laps of anybody, with 15, and ranked 35th.
The NASCAR Cup Series will return to the racetrack on Saturday, July 4 at 3:00 PM ET for qualifying on TruTV. Sunday’s eero 400 will take place Sunday, July 5 at 6:00 PM ET on TNT and TruTV.
