Sam Hunt Racing Impresses With Dual Top 10s In Bristol

Teammates Dean Thompson (26) and Corey Heim battle at Bristol Motor Speedway. (Jacob Seelman/Race Face Digital photo)

BRISTOL, Tenn. – A big day for Sam Hunt Racing ended with dual top 10s in the SciAps 300 at Bristol Motor Speedway, with Corey Heim finishing eighth Saturday and Dean Thompson finishing 10th.

It was just the third time in team history SHR has put both its NASCAR Xfinity Series cars in the top 10 and the first time since Road America in 2023. Heim also finished eighth in stage two, earning the No. 24 team three bonus points toward the owner’s standings.

“Great day for the company,” team owner Sam Hunt said after the race. “Proud of both drivers. They raced clean all day. They ran smart races.

“I really can’t say enough about this Sam Hunt Racing team – the crew chiefs (Brian Gainey for Heim and Kris Bowen for Thompson) particularly. We brought two really, really good race cars this week and days like this mean a lot to everyone that is a part of our place. Couldn’t do it without Toyota. It is really cool to see all of these people smiling and rewarded for all of the hard work they put in.”

Bristol marked Heim’s third Xfinity Series race of the season and first top 10 of the year.

The current NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series point leader is running a part-time schedule in the No. 24 Toyota GR Supra and has excelled each time out, even though various issues doomed the results in his first two outings.

“Overall, I feel like it was a pretty good day for us,” Heim said post-race. “Could never really get past that top-10 to top-five barrier, per se, but I’m really proud of all the adjustments we made over the pit stops. We made a lot of improvements overall since our first two races at Sam Hunt Racing earlier this year.

“Really proud of my guys on this Upper Deck Supra. [I’m] thankful for Toyota and everything they do and this was definitely a positive.”

Thompson earned his third top 10 of the season, another great result for the Sunoco rookie-of-the-year contender. It was Thompson’s first time at Bristol in an Xfinity Series car, and save for contact with Sheldon Creed that generated the race’s second caution at lap 76, he largely kept his nose clean.

Now sitting just 25 points below the playoff cut line in 18th, Thompson is also in a tight battle for third in the rookie standings with Christian Eckes, Nick Sanchez, and Taylor Gray. The group is separated by just 20 markers from 14th to 18th place.

““I feel like we've got good momentum with the Thompson Pipe Group Supra team,” the Anaheim, Calif., native said. “We’ve been getting better. I’m looking forward to Rockingham (Speedway) because we’ve tested there, so it is finally a track that I’ve been at in this car. It is not super new.

“I feel like it will even out the playing field for me and I’m looking forward to that. This was a good, solid day, and it’s the kind of day we need to build on.”

Putting Bristol in the rear-view mirror, Sam Hunt Racing and the rest of the Xfinity Series field will head next to Rockingham (N.C.) Speedway for the first race since 2004 at the historic one-mile oval.

Broadcast coverage of the North Carolina Education Lottery 250 is slated for Saturday, April 19 at 4 p.m. ET, live on The CW, the Motor Racing Network, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, channel 90.