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What’s Happening? A recent podcast episode led to speculation from fans that one of the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series’ newest…
Hettinger Racing, the final remaining Ford entry to start every NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series race this season, is not entered for this weekend’s race at Texas Motor Speedway, confirming rumors of such plans from earlier this month.
Hettinger Racing, which has a history of racing on the grassroots level and in NASCAR, announced its debut in the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series this past off-season.
The team planned to run full-time, with technical support to come from Ford. This came after an off-season in which Ford lost four entries across two teams, with the Haas Factory Team and RSS Racing moving to Chevrolet.
However, last month, after AM Racing withdrew from the NASCAR OAP Series race at Rockingham, rumors spread that Hettinger could do so in the coming weekend.
Despite these rumors, the team continued to race, fielding Luke Baldwin and J.J. Yeley in the three races since then. But now, the team is taking their rumored break from the track.
Per the preliminary entry list for this weekend’s race at Texas Motor Speedway, Hettinger is nowhere to be found.
To add to this storyline even further, despite rumors that AM could return in the weeks after that race at Rockingham to kick off April, the team has yet to return and is not featured on this weekend’s entry list.
This means that Ford will not have any entries for this weekend’s race at Texas Motor Speedway, a note that has made many fans upset, with several calling out Ford for a lack of work in the series.
Hettinger missing this weekend’s race is a disappointment, as, after weeks of feuding, a rotating door of drivers, including Yeley, Baldwin, Luke Fenhaus, and Chandler Smith, the team has seemingly found its groove as of late.
After an early exit at Kansas for Bladwin, Yeley drove the car to its best finish to date and first top-15 with an 11th place run this past weekend at Talladega.
While it is unknown the exact reason why Hettinger is missing this weekend’s race, Baldwin mentioned a lack of funding for teams in the series during the initial discussion on Door Bumper Clear earlier this month.
What’s Happening? A recent podcast episode led to speculation from fans that one of the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series’ newest…
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