Hot laps are the short at-speed practice session that opens a race program, run in groups before qualifying so drivers can scrub in tires, check the car, and feel out the track surface.
World of Outlaws describes hot laps as group practice sessions of three or more laps depending on track size, run at speed so teams can make sure the car is ready for qualifying. Some events raise the stakes: at a Short Track Super Series show at Bridgeport, hot laps were timed and used to set heat race lineups, which turns a warm-up into qualifying. Plenty of weekly programs cut hot laps entirely to save time, or give each division one quick group. Whatever you get, remember the surface is at its wettest and tackiest right then. The car that is perfect in hot laps is often tight by the feature, so log the sheet and plan to free it up.
Hot laps are the only laps you get to learn the track before it counts, and a team that treats them as a throwaway shows up to the heat race guessing.