Sam Hunt Racing

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Sam Hunt Racing

Owner(s)	Sam Hunt
Principal(s)	Allen Hart (Technical dir.)
Base	Mooresville, North Carolina
Series	NASCAR Xfinity Series
Race drivers	Xfinity Series: 24. Ed Jones (part–time) 26. Sage Karam, Jeffrey Earnhardt, Corey Heim, John Hunter Nemechek, Dean Thompson, Ed Jones, Tyler Reddick, Conor Daly, Ryan Truex Bubba Pollard
Sponsors	Xfinity Series: 24. CRC Industries, Synergy Modular 26. CRC Industries, ForeverLawn, GearWrench, Toyota, Synergy Modular, MCM Transportation, Yahoo!, Colture Sports,[1] Lehigh Valley Phantoms, Polkadot, Endava, Thompson Pipe Group, Sany
Manufacturer	Toyota
Opened	2013
Career
Debut	NASCAR Xfinity Series: 2019 Ford EcoBoost 300 (Homestead-Miami) K&N Pro Series East: 2013 DRIVE4COPD 150 (Bristol)
Latest race	NASCAR Xfinity Series: 2024 NASCAR Xfinity Series Championship Race (Phoenix) K&N Pro Series East: 2019 General Tire 125 (Dover)
Races competed	199
Drivers' Championships	0
Race victories	0
Pole positions	0

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

The team is currently based in Mooresville, North Carolina, although they have Virginia roots and their original shop was located in Chester, Virginia.^[2]

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.^[2]

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.

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.^[3]

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.

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 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.

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.^[4]

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
2024	Ed Jones			DAY	ATL	LVS	PHO	COA 35	RCH	MAR	TEX	TAL	DOV	DAR	CLT	PIR 5	SON	IOW	NHA	NSH	CSC	POC	IND	MCH	DAY	DAR	ATL	GLN	BRI	KAN	TAL	ROV	LVS	HOM	MAR	PHO

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.^[5] 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.^[6]

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^[7] on November 5, 2022, marking Grala's Toyota Racing debut.^[8] On December 8, the team announced that Grala would drive the No. 26 full-time for the 2023 season.

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 be returning to the No. 26 Supra in 2024. No replacement driver(s) were announced at that point.^[9]

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.^[10][11][12]

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.^[13]

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
2024	Sage Karam			DAY 28				COA 17								PIR 34					CSC 33
	Jeffrey Earnhardt				ATL 8							TAL 37												MCH 21	DAY 28				BRI 35							PHO 35
	Corey Heim					LVS 13	PHO 22		RCH 4	MAR 35	TEX 17		DOV 35					IOW 3	NHA 10			POC 16				DAR 25	ATL 5			KAN 31			LVS 11
	John Hunter Nemechek													DAR 23
	Dean Thompson														CLT 34																TAL 20
	Ed Jones																SON 15											GLN 24				ROV 37
	Tyler Reddick																			NSH 14
	Conor Daly																						IND 14
	Ryan Truex																																	HOM 21
	Bubba Pollard																																		MAR 31

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.^[2] 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.

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.

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.^[14][15] 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.

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.

Sam Hunt and Peyton Sellers ran two races apiece that year.

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.^[16] 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.^[16]

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.^[17]

• Drive Technology USA Archived March 8, 2020, at the Wayback Machine
• Sam Hunt Racing owner statistics at Racing-Reference