TC Daily Pit Stop: Christopher Bell, Corey Heim Make Incredible Recoveries at Iowa; Byron Returning to CARS Tour; ATYL Iowa Race Analysis; New Hampshire Entry Lists
TC Daily Pit Stop: Tuesday, June 18, 2024
‘Never Say Quit’ Attitude Nets Christopher Bell, No. 20 Team Fourth-Place Finish at Iowa
After climbing from his No. 20 Rheem Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota Camry XSE after a hard-fought fourth-place finish, Christopher Bell looked worn out. Maybe as worn out as the Iowa Speedway track surface in the areas that hadn’t been subject to a fresh coat of pavement.
Bell’s eyes were red due to a mixture of sweat, and possibly a few tears welling up. The driver knew that had he not had a tire failure in Friday’s NASCAR Cup Series practice, which sent him hard into the wall, and forced his team to roll out the backup car, he likely would have been celebrating his third win of the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series season.
Instead, he was left searching for the silver lining, which was battling back from adversity on a hot night in Newton, Iowa.
“It was a lot, and the adversity, it kept coming all day long,” Bell explained.
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Corey Heim Makes Veteran-Like Recovery for Third-Place Finish at Iowa
This weekend at Iowa Speedway, Corey Heim, a NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series regular for TRICON Garage, proved once again why he’s among the top prospects in NASCAR’s National Series right now.
Piloting the No. 26 Toyota GR Supra for Sam Hunt Racing (SHR), Heim recorded a third-place finish in Saturday’s Hy-Vee PERKS 250, matching the best result for the single-car operation in its Xfinity Series tenure, and the driver’s second top-five of 2024.
After a poor starting spot, and an early-race tire issue, it was all about the recovery for Heim, and he made that recovery like a veteran — and certainly not like someone making their 11th Xfinity Series start.
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William Byron to Contest CARS Tour Event at Caraway with JR Motorsports
William Byron is reuniting with JR Motorsports for the zMAX CARS Tour’s visit to Caraway Speedway on Wednesday, July 3.
The 2024 Daytona 500 winner will pilot a No. 24 entry for JR Motorsports in the event with sponsorship from HendrickCars.com. JR Motorsports made the announcement in a video posted to its social media channels on Monday morning.
Byron went Late Model racing with JR Motorsports at Hickory Motor Speedway in 2014, winning a race and finishing second to teammate Josh Berry in the track championship that year. Byron also competed full-time with JR Motorsports in the NASCAR Xfinity Series in 2017, winning the series championship.
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ATYL: Redemption Win | Playoff Bubble Worries | Iowa Concerns Put to Rest (Race Analysis)
A new Team Penske tradition thrived while the concerns for Iowa Speedway’s debut faded away.
“I ain’t got nothing for the Hendrick cars,” said Ryan Blaney to his team over the radio following the first stage.
The No.12 Advanced Auto Ford Mustang Dark Horse was fast. But, it was hard to deny the strength of the Hendrick Motorsports camp. Until Kyle Larson’s incident with Daniel Suárez on Lap 220, his HendrickCars.com Camaro was the one to beat. With the No. 5 HMS Chevrolet out of contention for the win, the pressure was on the rest of his teammates to deliver.
Join Taylor Kitchen in the latest episode of Above The Yellow Line to discuss the playoff bubble worries and to analyze the on-track product that spiked concern at Iowa Speedway.
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Entry List: NASCAR Cup Series USA Today 301 at New Hampshire
There are 36 cars on the preliminary entry list for Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series USA Today 301 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, the 18th race of the 36-race 2024 NASCAR Cup Series season.
Notable entries for this weekend’s race at New Hampshire include Kaz Grala, who will pilot the No. 15 Rick Ware Racing Ford Mustang Dark Horse, and Ty Dillon, who will drive the No. 16 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet Camaro ZL1.
ENTRY LIST
Entry List: NASCAR Xfinity Series Sci Aps 200 at New Hampshire
There are 39 cars on the preliminary entry list for Saturday’s NASCAR Xfinity Series Sci Aps 200 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, the 16th race of the 33-race 2024 NASCAR Xfinity Series season.
With up to 38 cars being permitted to start races in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, one driver and team will make the trip back home following this week’s qualifying session.
Notable entries for the Sci Aps 200 include No. 07 (SS-GreenLight Racing) Patrick Emerling, No. 4 (JD Motorsports) Garrett Smithley, No. 6 (JD Motorsports) Armani Williams, No. 14 (SS-GreenLight Racing) Logan Bearden, No. 17 (Hendrick Motorsports) Alex Bowman, No. 19 (Joe Gibbs Racing) Justin Bonsignore, No. 20 (Joe Gibbs Racing) Christopher Bell, No. 26 (Sam Hunt Racing) Corey Heim, No. 35 (Joey Gase Motorsports) Glen Reen, No. 74 (Mike Harmon Racing) Jade Buford, No. 88 (JR Motorsports) Carson Kvapil, and No. 92 (DGM Racing) Nathan Byrd.