Sam Hunt Racing is an American professional stock car racing team that currently competes in the

NASCAR Xfinity Series The NASCAR Xfinity Series (NXS) is a stock car racing series organized by NASCAR. It is promoted as NASCAR's second-tier circuit to the organization's top level Cup Series. NXS events are frequently held as a support race on the day prior to ...

, fielding the No. 24

Toyota Supra is a sports car and grand tourer manufactured by the Toyota Motor Corporation beginning in 1978. The name " supra" is derived from the Latin prefix, meaning "above", "to surpass" or "go beyond". The initial four generations of the Supra were p ...

primarily for Connor Mosack and the No. 26

full-time for

Kaz Grala Kaz Edward Grala ( ; born December 29, 1998) is an American professional stock car racing driver. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, driving the No. 26 Toyota Supra for Sam Hunt Racing. The Boston native is the youngest NASCAR ...

. The team is currently based in

Mooresville, North Carolina Mooresville is a large town located in the southwestern section of Iredell County, North Carolina, United States, and is a part of the fast-growing Charlotte metropolitan area. The population was 50,193 at the 2020 United States Census making it ...

, although they have

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the East Coast of the United States, Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography an ...

roots and their original shop was located in

Chester, Virginia Chester is a census-designated place (CDP) in Chesterfield County, Virginia, United States. Per the 2020 census, the population was 23,414. History Chester's original "downtown" was a stop which was an intersection of the Richmond and Petersb ...

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 Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR) is an American professional stock car racing organization owned and operated by former Washington Redskins (today the Washington Commanders) coach Joe Gibbs, which first started racing on the NASCAR circuit in 1991. His ...

NASCAR K&N Pro Series East The ARCA Menards Series East (formerly Busch East Series, Busch North Series, Camping World East Series, and NASCAR K&N Pro Series East) is a regional stock car racing series owned and operated by the Automobile Racing Club of America (ARCA) and ...

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. At the end of

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

Hunt announced the team would move up to the

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

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 Toyota Racing Development (also known by its abbreviation TRD) is the in-house tuning shop for all Toyota, Lexus and formerly Scion cars. ''TRD'' is responsible both for improving street cars for more performance and supporting Toyota's racin ...

in continuation with their partnership on engines with Joe Gibbs Engines. 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 Rette Jones Racing is an American professional stock car racing team that currently competes in the ARCA Menards Series. The team is owned by Terry Jones and friend Mark Rette and currently fields the No. 30 Ford for Frankie Muniz in the ARCA M ...

from

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global social and economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, worldwide lockdowns and the largest economic recession since the Great Depression in ...

2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October 2021 coup in Sudan; Crowd shortly after t ...

as well as forming a larger partnership with TRD on the technical side.

Car No. 24 history

2021

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.

2022

Jeffrey Earnhardt Jeffrey Lynn Earnhardt (born June 22, 1989) is an American professional stock car racing driver who competes full-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, driving the No. 44 Chevrolet Camaro for Alpha Prime Racing. He is the son of Kerry Earnhardt, g ...

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

Joe Nemechek Joseph Frank Nemechek III (born September 26, 1963) is an American professional stock car racing driver who last competed part-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, driving the No. 24 Toyota Supra for Sam Hunt Racing. Nemechek has made the second ...

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.

Car No. 24 results

Car No. 26 history

2019

On October 28, 2019, the team announced that they would field an Xfinity team for the first time in 2020, the No. 26

Toyota is a Japanese multinational automotive manufacturer headquartered in Toyota City, Aichi, Japan. It was founded by Kiichiro Toyoda and incorporated on . Toyota is one of the largest automobile manufacturers in the world, producing about 10 ...

, with Garrett driving. Brian Keselowski became the team's crew chief, moving over from the

Brandonbilt Motorsports Brandonbilt Motorsports was an American professional stock car racing team that competed in the NASCAR Xfinity Series. The team was owned by Jerry Brown, who is Southern National Motorsports Park's co-owner. The team fielded the No. 68 Chevrolet ...

No. 68 car. 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.

2020

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

for the final two races of the 2020 season at Martinsville and Phoenix.

2021

In 2021 the team ran the full schedule with a huge rotation of drivers Brandon Gdovic, Kris Wright,

Santino Ferrucci Santino Michael Ferrucci (born May 31, 1998) is an American professional racing driver. He competes in the IndyCar Series, driving the No 14 Chevrolet for A.J. Foyt Racing. He has also previously raced in the FIA Formula 2 Championship. Caree ...

, Colin Garrett, John Hunter Nemechek. Grant Enfinger, Will Rodgers, and

Dylan Lupton Dylan Jarin Lupton (born December 7, 1993) is an American professional stock car racing driver who last competed part-time in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, driving the No. 7 Chevrolet Silverado for Spire Motorsports. He has also competed ...

splitting the seat. The team recorded their first ever top 10 with Brandon Gdovic at the season opener at Daytona. In September at Richmond Raceway 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 Noah Quinn Gragson (born July 15, 1998) is an American professional stock car racing driver. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 42 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 for Petty GMS Motorsports. He previously drove full-time in the ...

going on to score a 3rd-place finish.

2022

On January 13, 2022

Ryan Truex Ryan M. Truex (born March 18, 1992) is an American professional stock car racing driver. He currently competes part-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, driving the No. 19 Toyota Supra for Joe Gibbs Racing. Truex's older brother Martin was the 2017 ...

was announced to drive the No. 26 at Daytona as well as several other races throughout the season and the next day

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 Las Vegas (; Spanish language, Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the List of United States cities by population, 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the U.S. state, state of Neva ...

in the season with sponsorship from Berry's Bullets. Other drivers such as

Parker Chase Parker B. Chase (born February 22, 2001) is an American professional racing driver who competes full-time in the International Motor Sports Association (IMSA) Michelin Pilot Challenge and driving the No. 98 Hyundai Veloster N TCR for Bryan Herta A ...

, Derek Griffith, and Chandler Smith would also drive the No. 26. On October 27, 2022, it was announced that

would drive the car in the season finale at

Phoenix Raceway Phoenix Raceway is a 1-mile, low-banked tri-oval race track located in Avondale, Arizona, near Phoenix. The motorsport track opened in 1964 and currently hosts two NASCAR race weekends annually including the final championship race since 2020. ...

on November 5, 2022, marking Grala's Toyota Racing debut.

Car No. 26 results

K&N Pro Series

Car No. 18 history

2013

In 2013

Sam Hunt Sam Lowry Hunt (born December 8, 1984) is an American singer and songwriter. Born in Cedartown, Georgia, Hunt played American football, football in his high school and college years and once attempted to pursue a professional sports career befor ...

along with former-driver turned crew chief Shayne Lockhart formed DRIVE Technology after they had acquired assets from

No. 18 team, which was closing down after the 2012 season. Sam Hunt, ran the full season, moving over from

Precision Performance Motorsports Precision Performance Motorsports (PPM) is an American professional sports car racing and former stock car racing team that currently competes full-time in the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship using a GT Daytona-class Lamborghini Huracán GT3 ...

. They kept using the No. 18. The team picked up sponsorship from the Denny Hamlin Foundation for most of the races. The team later ended up running only part-time, skipping the races at Five Flags,

Winston-Salem Winston-Salem is a city and the county seat of Forsyth County, North Carolina, United States. In the 2020 census, the population was 249,545, making it the second-largest municipality in the Piedmont Triad region, the 5th most populous city in N ...

, both

Iowa Iowa () is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wiscon ...

races, and

New Hampshire New Hampshire is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Gulf of Maine to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec to the nor ...

. Also, Sergio Peña drove the car at the season-finale at

Road Atlanta Road Atlanta (known for sponsorship reasons as Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta) is a road course located just north of Braselton, Georgia, United States. The facility is utilized for a wide variety of events, including professional and amateur spo ...

instead of Hunt.

2014

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

, 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 Turner Scott Motorsports (TSM), formerly Turner Motorsports was an American professional stock car racing team that last competed in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, the Nationwide Series, the Camping World Truck Series, the NASCAR K&N Pro Serie ...

, 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 Columbus is a Latinized version of the Italian surname "''Colombo''". It most commonly refers to: * Christopher Columbus (1451-1506), the Italian explorer * Columbus, Ohio, capital of the U.S. state of Ohio Columbus may also refer to: Places ...

Speedways. Venezuelan female driver

Milka Duno Milka Duno (born April 22, 1972) is a Venezuelan race car driver who competed in the IndyCar Series and ARCA Racing Series. She is best known for holding the record of highest finish for a female driver in the 24 Hours of Daytona. She entered ...

drove the No. 18 at the season-finale, now at

Dover Dover () is a town and major ferry port in Kent, South East England. It faces France across the Strait of Dover, the narrowest part of the English Channel at from Cap Gris Nez in France. It lies south-east of Canterbury and east of Maidstone ...

as a result of Road Atlanta being taken off the schedule.

2015

The team attempted fewer races in

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the April ...

. Peyton Sellers drove two races at

Greenville-Pickens Speedway Greenville-Pickens Speedway is a race track located in Easley, South Carolina, just west of Greenville, South Carolina. The track hosted Whelen All-American Series, weekly NASCAR sanctioned races. Several NASCAR touring series have raced at the tr ...

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. 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 Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, Virginia, the capital of Virginia, United States * Richmond, London, a part of London * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town in England * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, a ...

2016

The team continued to scale back in 2016, with Peña returning to DRIVE Technology for the first time in three years after he was released from

Rev Racing Rev or Rév may refer to: Abbreviations Rev. * Rev., an abbreviation for revolution, as in Revolutions per minute * Rev., an abbreviation for the religious style The Reverend * Rev., the abbreviation for Runtime Revolution, a development environ ...

. He ran the road course race at

Virginia International Raceway Virginia International Raceway (commonly known as "VIR") is a race track located in Alton, Virginia, near Danville. It is less than a half-mile from the North Carolina/Virginia border just outside Milton, North Carolina, on the banks of the ...

, 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.

2017

Hunt became the sole owner of the team in

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a ser ...

. He and Peyton Sellers ran two races apiece that year. The new team name was Hunt-Sellers Racing.

2018

HSR ran nearly the full season in

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...

, 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. He finished tenth in points. His best finish was a third at the first of the doubleheader races at

South Boston South Boston is a densely populated neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts, located south and east of the Fort Point Channel and abutting Dorchester Bay. South Boston, colloquially known as Southie, has undergone several demographic transformati ...

, his only top-5 of the year. Garrett did score four top-10's as well. Clinton Cram served as crew chief in 2018.

2019

The team announced on January 17, 2019, that Garrett would return to Sam Hunt Racing to run the full season with them in

. In addition, the team switched from Toyota to Chevrolet that year.

References

External links

Drive Technology USA
* {{Toyota in NASCAR NASCAR teams ARCA Menards Series teams Auto racing teams established in 2013