Sam Hunt Racing

Sam Hunt Racing (SHR) is an American professional stock car racing team that currently competes in the NASCAR O'Reilly Auto Parts Series, fielding the No. 24 Toyota Supra full-time for Harrison Burton and the No. 26 Toyota Supra full-time for Dean Thompson.

The team is currently based in Mooresville, North Carolina, although they have Virginia roots and their original shop was located in Chester, Virginia.^[1]

History

The team, first known as DRIVE Technology, was founded in 2013 by Sam Hunt and Virginian Shayne Lockhart, a former NASCAR driver-turned crew chief. In 2013 they acquired assets from Joe Gibbs Racing's ARCA Menards Series East No. 18 team, which was closing down after the 2012 season. They kept using the No. 18. The team picked up sponsorship from the Denny Hamlin Foundation for most of the races.^[1]

At the end of 2019 Hunt announced the team would move up to the NASCAR Xfinity Series with their driver Colin Garrett in the season-finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway with Joe Gibbs Engines under the hood.

O'Reilly Auto Parts Series

They started fielding the No. 26 in the NASCAR Xfinity Series in 2019 in the season finale at Homestead–Miami Speedway for Colin Garrett, he started 15th and would end up finishing 21st.

For the 2020 season, SHR formed a partnership with Toyota Racing Development in continuation with their partnership on engines with Joe Gibbs Engines.^[2]

In 2022, SHR began operating out of The Motorsports Group's former shop just up the road from the shop they had rented from Rette Jones Racing from 2020-2021 as well as forming a larger partnership with TRD on the technical side.

Car No. 24 history

Part-time (2021–2022)

Starting at the Indy RC, SHR started fielding a second entry in the No. 24 for Will Rodgers with continued Partnership from GoodRx where he finished 28th after starting in ninth.

Jeffrey Earnhardt would drive the No. 24 at Daytona and would finish fifteenth. Joe Nemechek would attempt to race against his son John Hunter Nemechek however, due to qualifying being cancelled due to rain, the elder Nemechek did not qualify. He was originally entered for the Talladega race, but his entry was withdrawn because of the high chance of qualifying being rained out.

Connor Mosack and others (2023)

Connor Mosack would anchor the No. 24 for the 2023 season by driving in 22 races. Cup series driver Tyler Reddick and Truck Series driver Corey Heim, among others, would also drive in the car for the team.

Part-time (2024–2025)

The first race in 2024 that Sam Hunt Racing entered the No. 24 into was the race at COTA, with Ed Jones serving as driver.^[3] Ryan Truex was announced as the driver for the 2025 Daytona 300.^[4]

On February 23, 2025, it was announced that Corey Heim would drive the No. 24 part-time in 2025, with support from 23XI Racing.^[5]

Patrick Staropoli, Jeffrey Earnhardt, Christopher Bell, Kaz Grala, and Alon Day also competed for the team in 2025.^{[6][7][8][9][10]}

Harrison Burton (2026)

On October 25, 2025, Sam Hunt Racing announced that Harrison Burton will drive the No. 24 full-time in 2026.^[11]

Car No. 24 results

Car No. 26 history

Part-time (2019–2020)

On October 28, 2019, the team announced that they would field an Xfinity team for the first time in 2020, the No. 26 Toyota, with Garrett driving. Brian Keselowski became the team's crew chief, moving over from the Brandonbilt Motorsports No. 68 car.^[12] They later attempted the season finale at Homestead in 2019, where they qualified fifteenth and finished twentieth in preparation for their 2020 schedule of races.

In 2020 Colin Garrett ran select races for the team with a best finish of fourteenth at Homestead-Miami in June of that year.

Brandon Gdovic would join the team for two races at the Indianapolis Road Course and Daytona Road Course finishing twelfth and 28th respectively.

On October 26, 2020, it was announced that TD2 driver Mason Diaz would drive the No. 26 Toyota for the final two races of the 2020 season at Martinsville and Phoenix.^[13]

Multiple drivers (2021–2022)

In 2021 the team ran the full schedule with a huge rotation of drivers Brandon Gdovic, Kris Wright, Santino Ferrucci, Colin Garrett, John Hunter Nemechek. Grant Enfinger, Will Rodgers, and Dylan Lupton splitting the seat.

The team recorded their first ever top-ten with Brandon Gdovic at the season opener at Daytona.

In September at Richmond the team scored their first ever top-five with John Hunter Nemechek battling for the win in the closing laps with Justin Haley and eventual race winner Noah Gragson going on to score a 3rd-place finish.

On January 13, 2022 Ryan Truex was announced to drive the No. 26 at Daytona as well as several other races throughout the season and the next day Jeffrey Earnhardt was announced to compete in at least seven races bringing sponsorship from ForeverLawn.

On January 25, 2022, it was announced John Hunter Nemechek would drive the car at both races at Las Vegas in the season with sponsorship from Berry's Bullets. Other drivers such as Parker Chase, Derek Griffith, and Chandler Smith would also drive the No. 26.

On October 27, 2022, it was announced that Kaz Grala would drive the car in the season finale at Phoenix Raceway^[14] on November 5, 2022, marking Grala's Toyota Racing debut.^[15] On December 8, the team announced that Grala would drive the No. 26 full-time for the 2023 season.

Kaz Grala (2023)

Kaz Grala drove the No. 26 to two top-five finishes at Richmond and the Charlotte Roval, as well as nine top-ten finishes during the season. Grala finished the season seventeenth in points. In late November, SHR announced that Grala wouldn't be returning to the No. 26 Supra in 2024. No replacement driver(s) were announced at that point.^[16]

Multiple drivers (2024)

In January 2024, the team announced Corey Heim, Jeffrey Earnhardt, and Sage Karam, would be driving the No. 26 in multiple races throughout the season.^[17][18][19]

In May 2024, it was announced that Truck Series regular, Dean Thompson, would make his debut in the Xfinity Series at Charlotte's spring race.^[20]

Dean Thompson (2025–Present)

On January 7, 2025, SHR announced that Dean Thompson would drive their No. 26 car full time for the 2025 Xfinity Series season. Thompson started out his rookie season well, with an eighth place result at Daytona. After several average finishes, Thompson scored his second top-ten finish at Martinsville, finishing sixth. Two weeks later, a third top-ten finish was scored at Bristol with a tenth place finish. Then next week at Rockingham, Thompson scored SHR's first ever stage win by winning the second stage, which was also the first stage win of his own career.

Car No. 26 results

K&N Pro Series

Car No. 18 history

2013

In 2013, Sam Hunt along with former-driver turned crew chief Shayne Lockhart formed DRIVE Technology after they had acquired assets from Joe Gibbs Racing's NASCAR K&N Pro Series East No. 18 team, which was closing down after the 2012 season. Sam Hunt, ran the full season, moving over from Precision Performance Motorsports. They kept using the No. 18. The team picked up sponsorship from the Denny Hamlin Foundation for most of the races.^[1] The team later ended up running only part-time, skipping the races at Five Flags, Winston-Salem, both Iowa races, and New Hampshire. Also, Sergio Peña drove the car at the season-finale at Road Atlanta instead of Hunt.

2014

In 2014, Hunt ran another part-time schedule. One of his races was set to be Daytona, but after full-time driver Brandon Jones failed to qualify in his own No. 33 car for Turner Scott Motorsports, he replaced Hunt in the No. 18. Other drivers for the team that year were Mason Massey in two races at the Langley and Columbus Speedways. Venezuelan female driver Milka Duno drove the No. 18 at the season-finale, now at Dover as a result of Road Atlanta being taken off the schedule.

2015

The team attempted fewer races in 2015. Peyton Sellers drove two races at Greenville-Pickens Speedway and at Dover. Full-time ARCA Series driver Sarah Cornett-Ching drove the car at Bristol in a partnership between DRIVE Technology and her ARCA team, RACE 101.^[21][22] Justin LaDuke made his only start of the year at Bowman Gray Stadium. Hunt returned for two races at tracks in his home state of Virginia: Langley and Richmond.

2016

The team continued to scale back in 2016, with Peña returning to the team for the first time in three years after he was released from Rev Racing. He ran the road course race at Virginia International Raceway, and it is his last NASCAR start to date. The team withdrew with Hunt at the next race at Dominion Raceway, another track in Virginia. Lockhart left the team in the end of the 2015 and Peyton Sellers become the new co-owner, the new team name became Hunt-Sellers Racing.

2017

Hunt and Peyton Sellers ran two races apiece that year.

2018

HSR ran nearly the full season in 2018, with yet another driver from Virginia, rookie Colin Garrett, running all but the first two races of the season. Garrett originally signed on for four races but extended it to the remainder of the schedule after strong initial runs.^[23] He finished tenth in points. His best finish was a third at the first of the doubleheader races at South Boston, his only top-five of the year. Garrett did score four top-tens as well. Clinton Cram served as crew chief in 2018.^[23]

2019

The team announced on January 17, 2019, that Garrett would return to the team, (now renamed as Sam Hunt Racing after Sellers departure) to run the full season with them in 2019. In addition, the team switched from Toyota to Chevrolet that year.^[24]

Car No. 18 results

References

1. ^ McConnell, Jim (May 8, 2013). "James River grad at home with Drive Technology". Chesterfield Observer. Observer Inc. Retrieved January 15, 2020.
2. ^ "Sam Hunt Racing announces partnership with TRD". Jayski's Silly Season Site. February 4, 2020. Retrieved February 4, 2020.
3. ^ "Ed Jones joins Sam Hunt Racing for multiple races in 2024". Jayski's Silly Season Site. NASCAR Digital Media. March 6, 2024. Retrieved March 6, 2024.
4. ^ Christie, Toby (2025-01-27). "Ryan Truex Joins Sam Hunt Racing in No. 24 Entry at Daytona". TobyChristie.com. Retrieved 2025-01-27.
5. ^ "Corey Heim signs developmental deal with 23XI Racing". Jayski's Silly Season Site. NASCAR Digital Media. February 23, 2025. Retrieved February 26, 2025.
6. ^ Christie, Toby (March 19, 2025). "Patrick Staropoli to Make NASCAR Xfinity Debut at Martinsville with Sam Hunt Racing". TobyChristie.com. Retrieved June 18, 2025.
7. ^ "Patrick Staropoli running three additional races with Sam Hunt Racing". Jayski's Silly Season Site. NASCAR Digital Media LLC. June 11, 2025. Retrieved June 11, 2025.
8. ^ "Jeffrey Earnhardt running part-time Xfinity schedule with Sam Hunt Racing". Jayski's Silly Season Site. NASCAR Digital Media LLC. February 2, 2025. Retrieved June 18, 2025.
9. ^ "Christopher Bell driving for Sam Hunt Racing in Xfinity race at Mexico City". Jayski's Silly Season Site. NASCAR Digital Media LLC. May 13, 2025. Retrieved June 18, 2025.
10. ^ "Kaz Grala returns to Sam Hunt Racing partnered with Overplay for three NASCAR Xfinity Series road course races". Speedway Digest. June 18, 2025. Retrieved June 18, 2025.
11. ^ Albino, Dustin (2025-10-25). "Harrison Burton joining Sam Hunt Racing for 2026 O'Reilly Auto Parts season, Dean Thompson returning". Jayski's NASCAR Silly Season Site. Retrieved 2025-10-25.
12. ^ Kristl, Mark (October 28, 2019). "Sam Hunt Racing, Colin Garrett Attempting Move To Xfinity Series". Frontstretch. Retrieved January 14, 2020.
13. ^ "Mason Diaz Joining Sam Hunt Racing for Final 2 Races of Season". Frontstretch. October 26, 2020. Retrieved October 27, 2020.
14. ^ Sam Hunt Racing (October 27, 2022). "One last surprise to end the season 🥳 @KazGrala will pilot our No. 26 Toyota GR Supra in the @NASCAR_Xfinity season finale at @phoenixraceway next weekend! #TeamToyota | #NXS | #LetsGoPlaces https://t.co/6cEUdbuPCk". No. 1585753472418385922. Archived October 28, 2022 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved December 4, 2022.
15. ^ Grala, Kaz (November 1, 2022). "Last race of the season, and first race with @Team_SHR26! This will be my @ToyotaRacing debut, so I'm really looking forward to seeing what our Ruedebusch Toyota GR Supra can do on Saturday! 💪🏻 https://t.co/h882OK9Q7m". No. 1587555837735624704. Retrieved December 4, 2022.
16. ^ Srigley, Joseph (November 27, 2023). "Kaz Grala Not Returning to Sam Hunt Racing in 2024". TobyChristie.com. Retrieved November 27, 2023.
17. ^ "Corey Heim Set to Run Partial Schedule with Sam Hunt Racing in 2024 | Sam Hunt Racing". samhuntracing.com. Retrieved 2024-01-23.
18. ^ SHR Staff (January 16, 2024). "Jeffrey Earnhardt Returns to Sam Hunt Racing for Multi-Race Deal in 2024". Sam Hunt Racing. Retrieved January 23, 2024.
19. ^ Srigley, Joseph (2024-01-23). "Sage Karam, CRC Industries Join Sam Hunt Racing for Daytona". TobyChristie.com. Retrieved 2024-01-23.
20. ^ Srigley, Joseph (May 20, 2024). "Dean Thompson to Make Xfinity Debut for Sam Hunt Racing at Charlotte". TobyChristie.com. Retrieved May 20, 2024.
21. ^ "KNPSE: Sarah Cornett-Ching Set to Make Her K&N Pro Series Debut at Bristol This Weekend". Race Chaser Online. April 13, 2015. Archived from the original on September 30, 2022. Retrieved January 6, 2020.
22. ^ Donnelly, Doug (April 17, 2015). "On off ARCA weekend, Cornett-Ching, others take talents to Bristol". ARCARacing.com. Retrieved January 15, 2020.
23. ^ Segal, Davey (September 6, 2019). "Behind Sam Hunt's resilient NASCAR journey to stay on track". Autoweek. Retrieved May 11, 2020.
24. ^ "Speed51.com". January 17, 2019. Retrieved January 14, 2020.

External links

• Drive Technology USA Archived March 8, 2020 at the Wayback Machine