Sam Hunt Racing

Sam Hunt Racing in the NASCAR Xfinity Series and formerly known as Hunt-Sellers Racing in the 2018 NASCAR K&N Pro Series East) is an American professional stock car racing team that currently competes in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, fielding the No. 26 Toyota Supra part-time for Colin Garrett and Brandon Gdovic.

Sam Hunt Racing
Owner(s)Sam Hunt
BaseMooresville, North Carolina
SeriesNASCAR Xfinity Series
ARCA Menards Series East
Race driversXfinity Series:
26. Colin Garrett, Brandon Gdovic
SponsorsXfinity Series:
26. TBA
ManufacturerToyota
Chevrolet
Opened2013 (K&N East)
2019 (Xfinity)
Career
DebutK&N Pro Series East:
2013 DRIVE4COPD 150 (Bristol)
NASCAR Xfinity Series:
2019 Ford EcoBoost 300 (Homestead-Miami)

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. He acquired assets from Joe Gibbs Racing's NASCAR K&N Pro Series East No. 18 team, which was closing down after the 2012 season. His driver, Sam Hunt, also from Virginia, 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.

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.[2][3] 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 DRIVE Technology 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.

Hunt became the sole owner of the team in 2017. Him and Peyton Sellers ran two races apiece that year. The new team name was Hunt-Sellers Racing.

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.[4] 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.[4]

The team announced on January 17, 2019, that Garrett would return to Sam Hunt Racing to run the full season with them in 2019. In addition, the team switched from Toyota to Chevrolet that year.[5] SHR also moved into a shared shop space with Rette Jones Racing.[4]

They announced on October 28, 2019, 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.[6] 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.

For the 2020 season, SHR formed a partnership with Toyota Racing Development.[7] In only their first 6 Xfinity series starts, the team has highlights of a 12th place finish at Indianapolis with driver Brandon Gdovic, as well as a 14th place finish at Homestead Miami Speedway with Colin Garrett.

References
  1. McConnell, Jim (May 8, 2013). "James River grad at home with Drive Technology". Chesterfield Observer. Observer Inc. Retrieved January 15, 2020.
  2. "KNPSE: Sarah Cornett-Ching Set to Make Her K&N Pro Series Debut at Bristol This Weekend". Race Chaser Online. April 13, 2015. Retrieved January 6, 2020.
  3. Donnelly, Doug (April 17, 2015). "On off ARCA weekend, Cornett-Ching, others take talents to Bristol". ARCARacing.com. Retrieved January 15, 2020.
  4. Segal, Davey (September 6, 2019). "Behind Sam Hunt's resilient NASCAR journey to stay on track". Autoweek. Retrieved May 11, 2020.
  5. "Speed51.com". January 17, 2019. Retrieved January 14, 2020.
  6. Kristl, Mark (October 28, 2019). "Sam Hunt Racing, Colin Garrett Attempting Move To Xfinity Series". Frontstretch. Retrieved January 14, 2020.
  7. "Sam Hunt Racing announces partnership with TRD". Jayski's Silly Season Site. February 4, 2020. Retrieved February 4, 2020.
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