Who Drives Sam Hunt Racing’s No. 26 in 2027?

What’s Happening?

Last weekend at Iowa Speedway, one of the first true dominoes of NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series Silly Season fell when Dean Thompson announced his impending departure from Sam Hunt Racing for the Haas Factory Team.

With Thompson now out of the picture, SHR is now left at an important juncture as a team.

Over the years, the team has built itself into a viable race-winning organization. Still, this season, the first in which it is fielding two full-time drivers, has seen a decline in performance for Thompson and a drastic fall from Burton’s performance with AM Racing in 2025.

Furthermore, Thompson is leaving as a valuable asset, having carried sponsorship from Thompson Pipe Group, meaning that there is more than just a seat to fill when it comes to finding a replacement for the No. 26 team.

What are some options for SHR’s No. 26 moving into 2027?

Toyota Prospects:

A clear direction that some fans might point to is the wealth of talent found in Toyota’s developmental pipeline, and specifically, Tricon Garage.

For example, the team could pursue recent signee Kaden Honeycutt, who has impressed in his first season behind the wheel of Tricon’s No. 11. Of course, Honeycutt has an impressive resume. At the same time, sponsorship could be a major factor in that decision.

Still, that is something his Tricon teammate, Gio Ruggiero, has no issue with, carrying frequent support from First Auto Group in ARCA, Trucks, and select OAP Series starts with Joe Gibbs Racing this season.

Both could serve as viable options for SHR, though it is worth noting that neither driver has extensive experience at the OAP level.

Name Value:

Speaking of sponsorship and experience, SHR could find a way to get the best of both worlds headed into 2027.

One name some fans suggested over the weekend was Parker Retzlaff. Retzlaff, who has consistent sponsorship, is on his third team in his fourth full-time season in the OAP Series.

So far, Retzlaff has impressed, taking the second-year team, Viking Motorsports, to competitive heights. This may have caught the attention of another Toyota team, as at Nashville Superspeedway, Retzlaff joined the Truck Series field with Halmar-Freisen Racing while wearing a Legacy Motor Club firesuit.

While Retzlaff has not confirmed any long-term plans with the team or Toyota as a whole, fans are keeping a close eye on this relationship in the future.

Another name worth considering is Jeffrey Earnhardt. Just last month, the fourth-generation driver announced he was still looking for opportunities.

Over the past few years, Earnhardt has made select starts with SHR, and who’s to say that couldn’t blossom into a full-time deal with the right sponsor?

If Earnhardt’s name were to enter the fold, some might ask, why not Ryan Truex? For one, he has an existing relationship with SHR and Toyota as a whole.

Adding to his resume, Truex is a two-time winner in the series and is often viewed as one of the most overlooked talents in the OAP garage, despite his struggle for sponsorship.

No One…

Still, SHR could scale back for 2027, returning to the one full-time car and one part-time car format that worked so well for them in 2025.

In doing so, it could allow the team to focus on Harrison Burton (or whoever may be in the No. 24 next season) while also fielding a mix of drivers that could include some of the names mentioned above.

While this seems like an unlikely option, the facts are clear: this offseason is another important moment during a crucial period of the team’s growth in NASCAR, and times like these are when an unlikely decision could be the best one for the team.

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