Heading into the weekend, nobody really knew what to expect as the NASCAR Cup Series was set to compete at Chicagoland Speedway for the first time in seven years. After Friday afternoon's practice session around the 1.5-mile speedway in Joliet, IL, one thing seems perfectly clear: 23XI Racing is going to be tough to beat.The team, led by Riley Herbst, the driver of the No. 35 Monster Energy Toyota, swept the top-two spots in single-lap practice speeds, and all four of the team's cars ranked inside the top-eight of the session.Herbst's fast lap, a 30.326-second (178.065 mph) lap time, came on his 41st of 43 laps in the hour-long practice session. Herbst was able to clock in ahead of his teammate Bubba Wallace, who is driving an Upper Deck/Space Jam car, honoring the 30th anniversary of the film's release.Ironically, Wallace, the driver of the No. 23 Toyota, timed in 0.023 seconds off the pace of Herbst's fast lap.Kyle Larson, the defending series champion, who is seeking his first win of the 2026 NASCAR Cup Series season, was third-fastest, and he was followed on the speed chart by Denny Hamlin, the current series points leader.Ty Gibbs, who has strung together a very consistent campaign this year, was fifth-fastest in the practice session.Corey Heim, who scored his first career NASCAR Cup Series win a couple of weeks ago at the San Diego Street Race, was the third-fastest 23XI Racing driver as he slotted in sixth on the single-lap averages.Austin Cindric, Tyler Reddick, Carson Hocevar, and Chris Buescher rounded out the top-10 drivers in the session.eero 400 Practice Results1. 35 - Riley Herbst2. 23 - Bubba Wallace3. 5 - Kyle Larson4. 11 - Denny Hamlin5. 54 - Ty Gibbs6. 67 - Corey Heim7. 2 - Austin Cindric8. 45 - Tyler Reddick9. 77 - Carson Hocevar10. 17 - Chris Buescher11. 9 - Chase Elliott12. 6 - Brad Keselowski13. 38 - Zane Smith14. 19 - Chase Briscoe15. 71 - Michael McDowell16. 24 - William Byron17. 20 - Christopher Bell18. 16 - AJ Allmendinger19. 60 - Ryan Preece20. 41 - Cole Custer21. 42 - John Hunter Nemechek22. 12 - Ryan Blaney23. 48 - Alex Bowman24. 7 - Daniel Suarez25. 88 - Connor Zilisch26. 97 - Shane van Gisbergen27. 34 - Todd Gilliland28. 4 - Noah Gragson29. 1 - Ross Chastain30. 21 - Josh Berry31. 3 - Austin Dillon32. 10 - Ty Dillon33. 51 - Cody Ware34. 22 - Joey Logano35. 43 - Erik Jones36. 47 - Ricky Stenhouse, Jr.37. 33 - Austin Hill38. 44 - JJ YeleyAdd us as a preferred source on GoogleFollow