Sam Hunt Racing
Owner(s)Sam Hunt
Principal(s)Allen Hart (Technical dir.)
BaseMooresville, North Carolina
SeriesNASCAR Xfinity Series
Race driversXfinity Series:
24. TBA
26. Corey Heim, TBA
SponsorsXfinity Series:
24. Ontivity, Gearwrench
26. Island Brands USA, Island Coastal Lager, CRUSH, Fire Department Coffee, Toyota
ManufacturerToyota
Opened2013
Career
DebutNASCAR Xfinity Series:
2019 Ford EcoBoost 300 (Homestead-Miami)
K&N Pro Series East:
2013 DRIVE4COPD 150 (Bristol)
Latest raceNASCAR Xfinity Series:
2023 NASCAR Xfinity Series Championship Race (Phoenix)
K&N Pro Series East:
2019 General Tire 125 (Dover)
Races competed169
Drivers' Championships0
Race victories0
Pole positions0

Sam Hunt Racing is an American professional stock car racing team that currently competes in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, fielding the No. 24 Toyota Supra and the No. 26 Toyota Supra full-time.

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.

Xfinity 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 2nd entry in the No. 24 for Will Rodgers with continued Partnership from GoodRx where he finished 28th after starting in 9th.

Jeffrey Earnhardt would drive the No. 24 at Daytona and would finish 15th. 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.

Car No. 24 results

Year Driver No. Make 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 NXSC Pts
2021 Will Rodgers 24 Toyota DAY DAY HOM LVS PHO ATL MAR TAL DAR DOV COA CLT MOH TEX NSH POC ROA ATL NHA GLN IND
28		 MCH DAY DAR RCH BRI LVS TAL CLT TEX KAN MAR PHO 47th 9
2022 Jeffrey Earnhardt DAY
15		 CAL LVS PHO ATL COA RCH MAR TAL DOV DAR TEX CLT PIR NSH ROA ATL NHA POC IND MCH GLN 47th 22
Joe Nemechek DAY
DNQ		 DAR KAN BRI TEX TAL CLT LVS HOM MAR PHO
2023 Parker Chase DAY
16		 TAL
38		 ATL
27		 TEX
16		 25th 447
Tyler Reddick CAL
36		 LVS
13
Connor Mosack PHO
24		 ATL
30		 COA
19		 RCH
28		 MAR
33		 CLT
23		 PIR
8		 SON
32		 NSH
35		 CSC
35		 NHA
26		 MCH
36		 IRC
26		 GLN
5		 DAY
37		 KAN
14		 BRI
14		 ROV
24		 LVS
19		 HOM
31		 MAR
31		 PHO
34
Corey Heim DOV
35		 DAR
10		 POC
37		 DAR
15
Sage Karam ROA
4

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.[3] They later attempted the season finale at Homestead in 2019, where they qualified 15th and finished 20th in preparation for their 2020 schedule of races.

In 2020 Colin Garrett ran select races for the team with a best finish of 14th at Homestead-Miami in June of that year.

Brandon Gdovic would join the team for 2 races at the Indianapolis Road Course and Daytona Road Course finishing 12th 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.[4]

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 10 with Brandon Gdovic at the season opener at Daytona.

In September at Richmond the team scored their first ever top 5 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 7 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[5] on November 5, 2022, marking Grala's Toyota Racing debut.[6] 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-5 finishes at Richmond and the Charlotte Roval, as well as nine top-10 finishes during the season. Grala finished the season seventeenth in points. In late November, SHR announced that Grala wouldn't bd returning to the No. 26 Supra in 2024. No replacement driver(s) were announced at that point.[7]

Car No. 26 results

Year Driver No. Make 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 NXSC Pts
2019 Colin Garrett 26 Toyota DAY ATL LVS PHO CAL TEX BRI RCH TAL DOV CLT POC MCH IOW CHI DAY KEN NHA IOW GLN MOH BRI ROA DAR IND LVS RCH CLT DOV KAN TEX PHO HOM
21		 47th 16
2020 DAY
DNQ		 LVS CAL PHO DAR
37		 CLT BRI ATL HOM
21		 HOM
14		 TAL
35		 POC KAN
16		 ROA 38th 127
Brandon Gdovic IND
12		 KEN KEN TEX DAY
28		 DOV DOV DAY DAR RCH RCH BRI LVS TAL CLT KAN TEX
Mason Diaz MAR
20		 PHO
24
2021 Brandon Gdovic DAY
8		 MAR
17		 DAR
36		 TEX
23		 NHA
16		 BRI
21		 23rd 485
Kris Wright DAY
18		 COA
32		 MOH
32		 ROA
25		 GLN
17		 IND
30
Santino Ferrucci HOM
30		 LVS
13		 PHO
15		 ATL
15		 POC
14		 ATL
33		 TAL
17
Colin Garrett TAL
15		 MCH
20		 DAY
37		 DAR
17		 MAR
14
John Hunter Nemechek DOV
32		 RCH
3
Grant Enfinger CLT
36
Will Rodgers NSH
14		 CLT
29
Dylan Lupton LVS
35		 TEX
38		 KAN
27		 PHO
15
2022 Ryan Truex DAY
12		 18th 624
Jeffrey Earnhardt CAL
29		 ATL
13		 TEX
19		 CLT
37		 NSH
7		 ATL
19		 BRI
12		 TEX
38
John Hunter Nemechek LVS
12		 PHO
5		 DAR
4		 ROA
18		 MCH
19		 DAY
35		 DAR
9		 LVS
16
Parker Chase COA
19		 PIR
27
Derek Griffith RCH
26		 MAR
21		 NHA
18		 KAN
27		 TAL
23		 MAR
15
Chandler Smith TAL
38		 DOV
21		 HOM
7
Santino Ferrucci POC
35		 IND
17
Connor Mosack GLN
15
Daniil Kvyat CLT
15
Kaz Grala PHO
23
2023 DAY
32		 CAL
13		 LVS
23		 PHO
34		 ATL
35		 COA
18		 RCH
4		 MAR
23		 TAL
24		 DOV
12		 DAR
9		 CLT
16		 PIR
26		 SON
20		 NSH
16		 CSC
10		 ATL
14		 NHA
13		 POC
25		 ROA
7		 MCH
21		 IRC
9		 GLN
28		 DAY
20		 DAR
28		 KAN
10		 BRI
10		 TEX
29		 ROV
5		 LVS
35		 HOM
30		 MAR
28		 PHO
10		 19th 617

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.[8][9] Justin LaDuke made his only start of the year and to-date of his career at Winston-Salem. 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

Sam 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.[10] He finished tenth in points. His best finish was a third at the first of the doubleheader races at South Boston, his only top-5 of the year. Garrett did score four top-10's as well. Clinton Cram served as crew chief in 2018.[10]

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.[11]

References

  1. 1 2 3 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. ↑ Kristl, Mark (October 28, 2019). "Sam Hunt Racing, Colin Garrett Attempting Move To Xfinity Series". Frontstretch. Retrieved January 14, 2020.
  4. ↑ "Mason Diaz Joining Sam Hunt Racing for Final 2 Races of Season". Frontstretch. October 26, 2020. Retrieved October 27, 2020.
  5. ↑ Sam Hunt Racing [@Team_SHR26] (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" (Tweet). Archived from the original on October 28, 2022. Retrieved December 4, 2022 – via Twitter.
  6. ↑ Grala, Kaz [@KazGrala] (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" (Tweet). Retrieved December 4, 2022 – via Twitter.
  7. ↑ Srigley, Joseph (November 27, 2023). "Kaz Grala Not Returning to Sam Hunt Racing in 2024". TobyChristie.com. Retrieved November 27, 2023.
  8. ↑ "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.
  9. ↑ Donnelly, Doug (April 17, 2015). "On off ARCA weekend, Cornett-Ching, others take talents to Bristol". ARCARacing.com. Retrieved January 15, 2020.
  10. 1 2 Segal, Davey (September 6, 2019). "Behind Sam Hunt's resilient NASCAR journey to stay on track". Autoweek. Retrieved May 11, 2020.
  11. ↑ "Speed51.com". January 17, 2019. Retrieved January 14, 2020.
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