Toyota GAZOO Racing – Sam Hunt, Dean Thompson, and Harrison Burton
NASCAR Xfinity Series Quotes
MARTINSVILLE, Va. (October 25, 2025) – Sam Hunt Racing (SHR) team owner Sam Hunt, along with drivers Harrison Burton and Dean Thompson, were made available to the media on Saturday prior to the NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Martinsville Speedway to unveil the SHR 2026 driver lineup.
SAM HUNT, Owner, Sam Hunt Racing
DEAN THOMPSON, No. 26 Toyota GR Supra, Sam Hunt Racing
HARRISON BURTON, No. 24 Toyota GR Supra, Sam Hunt Racing
What do you have planned for the Sam Hunt Racing Driver Lineup in 2026?
HUNT: “I thought this would be a fun way to officially announce Dean Thompson and Harrison Burton will be driving my No. 26 and No. 24 Toyota GR Supras in 2026. Really exciting day for us and an exciting day for our company. A lot of you guys know our story and our journey, so it’s a special day and excited to get to work.”
THOMPSON: “It’s a blessing and an honor to be on this team with Sam (Hunt). They welcomed me with open arms this year at a point in my career where I probably didn’t deserve to be welcomed with open arms. Just really excited to keep on growing with this team.”
BURTON: “For me, it’s just an alignment of beliefs with Sam and their group and Dean. What they believe in and how they race and the way they approach things, it’s just a great fit. I couldn’t be more excited to join this group for what feels like going back home with our friends with Toyota. Ford has been great for me in my career as well and have given me great opportunities and I’ll have great friendships there forever. It’s very sentimental for me to go back where it started with Toyota, guys like Jack (Irving) and Tyler (Gibbs) who have had my back even when I was racing with Ford. It’s really special and I couldn’t be more excited.”
Why do Dean and Harrison make sense for Sam Hunt Racing?
HUNT: “Like he mentioned, there was some risk bringing Dean in last year. Dean was not at his most confident point in his driving career. For me, my fulfillment this year has been watching Dean grow this year as a person. He’s grown to have this humility and this desire to be into the program. I think that has correlated completely into his on-track performance being as strong as its been. With Dean, being a first year Xfinity Series guy with a group like ours and making a legitimate run at the tail end of the playoffs this year was a really positive thing. I really thanked Dean for buying in at the level that he did. We are Xfinity racing so this is a development series and a lot of guys are hopefully going to come through Sam Hunt Racing and go on to race on Sunday’s. But really the size of our group and how we have to do it, it takes drivers buying in at a very high level and being involved in everything the team has going on. It was very important to me to share that. I feel like Dean has earned his seat at Sam Hunt Racing this year and I wanted him back. He’s just done a great job and there’s a lot of pressure on Dean next year to continue that upward trajectory and continue to grow as a driver. On the other hand, Harrison is something I’m thrilled to announce. I’ve known Harrison for years now at a bit of a distance, but I’ve always admired how he treats people and how he acts along with how hard he works along with being a very accomplished racecar driver. For me, this was just a very good human fit all the way around. These two guys I think a lot of and want to see succeed and make it to Sunday at some point. I just asked they buy in at the same level and be a part of this team’s growth and if they do then we will have a chance to get both cars in the playoffs.”
What kind of progress has the team made that has made you decide to go to two full-time cars next year?
HUNT: “It’s just our preparation level. Being able to bring the same caliber of racecars every single week and not feeling like we are sacrificing one week to help us out on another week. I think we’ve grown on the personnel side, we’ve had a lot of really solid hires that have helped out with that preparation. Being able to use the tools Toyota provides us and the tools they have and the simulator time we can offer these guys, that Toyota partnership is instrumental in our teams growth. I’ve always had the fear trying to run too fast too quickly and tripping because I think you see a lot of groups do this in this world. I think it’s really easy to do and it’s easy to get ahead of yourself. I felt like Harrison and where he is at in his career it’s just a perfect fit for where we are at and where we want to go. A lot of it is just trusting your gut.”
THOMPSON: “It’s a lot of confidence to go back next year to all the same tracks. I know the guys believe in me and they’ve given me good cars all year. They have helped me out a lot with tracks I haven’t been to, especially a new car I’ve never driven. I just go back to same race tracks is going to be a big confidence boost but also a big test for me to see how much I’ve improved since then.”
Sam, you talked about the organization and slow build with growth and adding manpower behind the scenes, how does that prepare you to grow next year to two full-time cars?
HUNT: “We carried a load this year with one and-a-half cars knowing we wanted to be prepared for when this situation arose. There are definitely a few positions that we are actively looking to hire. But we are also in a pretty good place. Growth always comes with challenges, I think for me it’s continuing to surround myself with the people I do, whether it be our management or Toyota and TRD and those folks there who have always looked out for me in this program. I’ve told you before, this place was built on good people and we are going to keep good people coming in.”
Harrison says he is sentimental coming back to Toyota. Now that you are going to have access to the Toyota Performance Center again, how will this help you improve?
BURTON: “I see Jack (Irving) fist pumping back there. First of all, my wife is excited because she will have me a little stronger, so she’s pumped about that. For me, having a support system around you where it’s really like being a professional athlete 24/7. I was there years ago and when it was originally the Toyota Performance Center, it was a storage unit and we were there with extremes in the middle of the summer and the middle of the winter and then all the sudden it grew into a massive multimillion dollar gym. What Toyota has put into that program to give their drivers the best physical training, the best mental training. It’s things you wouldn’t even think about. Sometimes as a driver you go through the motions, and that group is always asking ‘did you think about this or have you thought about that’. Just having you become a stronger person and driver when you show up at the racetrack and just having that confidence to dot all your i’s and cross your t’s. Racing is mental 99 percent of the time. When you show up with confidence and prepared compared to the rest of the field, that’s huge. The kitchen is also a great resource. They have a nutritionist on staff and things that make life easy for you as a driver, just knowing the things you put into your body and how it’s going to affect your body.”
Is there any possibility that Corey Heim will run some races at SHR in 2026”
HUNT: “I would say all of that is still to be determined. Corey Heim and I are very close, he’s like a little brother to me and obviously he’s a very talented racecar driver. He’s a Sunday guy in the making. As Sam Hunt and Sam Hunt Racing, I don’t control where Corey Heim goes. Obviously, he’s part of another development program. I’m open to the idea of working with Corey. He’s done a lot for this race team over the past few years. I do hope to continue to have him involved. For me, it’s just waiting for me to see other events play out that are out of my control. But I can tell you that we would welcome working with Corey in some capacity next year.”
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