Sam Hunt Racing (SHR), established in 2019, recorded its highest ever finish during the NASCAR Xfinity Series Beef. It’s What’s for Dinner. 300 at Daytona International Speedway on Saturday night. Brandon Gdovic, part-time driver of the No. 26, piloted the Team Toyota / SnapMobile.Shop / WindStax Toyota Supra to an eighth-place finish without a scratch on the car.
“I am over-the-moon happy for our group and our guys,” said SHR team owner Sam Hunt. “You know, an eighth-place finish to start the year is better than we could have asked for. We have just worked so hard the past couple of months. It wouldn’t be possible without Toyota and TRD (Toyota Racing Development) and some other friends and family that just want to see this thing work.”
With qualifying canceled due to rain, the No. 26 machine started 39th in the field of 40. The Beef. It’s What’s For Dinner. 300 brought along a lot of action, but Gdovic was able to pull through with the team’s first top-10 finish by way of both strategy and hard racing. Throughout the duration of the first and second stages, the No. 26 team stayed in the back to avoid early wrecks. Additionally, Gdovic had never raced in the draft prior to Saturday night’s event, so the strategy call allowed him to sharpen techniques before moving toward the front of the field.
Those techniques would immediately be put to the test, as the third and final stage brought a lot of action. Gdovic was able to display his wreck-avoidance skills after maneuvering through not one, not two, but four crashes. Sam Hunt Racing spotter Chris Lambert calmly guided Gdovic through each of them.
“Some of it is luck,” Gdovic said. “One of the things I’ve always been good at is avoiding crashes and just predicting them before they happen. I just really focused on when they started spinning not be erratic, just try to hold my line, be hard on the brakes, grab gears, just try to woe it down as much as I can and maneuver through it.”
“I’m really proud of Brandon, how he drove tonight and how smart he was,” Hunt said. “Coming home not only inside the top-10, but also with an unscratched race car at Daytona is special. This puts us in a good place on points, so we will come back next week and see if we can improve.”
Sam Hunt Racing would like to thank its sponsors and partners. SHR wouldn’t operate without the help of Toyota Racing and Toyota Racing Development. The team cannot thank Toyota enough for their support throughout the offseason and into the 2021 race season. Additionally, without SnapMobile.Shop, WindStax, and Comserve Wireless, this race would not have been possible.
Next up on the schedule, the No. 26 Toyota Supra will be taking on the Daytona International Speedway Road Course in the Super Start Batteries 188 on Saturday, February 20th. Former IMSA Prototype Challenge LMP3 champion and current NASCAR Camping World Truck Series competitor Kris Wright will be taking the wheel during the event at 5pm ET on FS1.
SHR PR
