 | |
| Owner(s) | Chris Larsen Stewart Friesen |
|---|---|
| Base | Statesville, North Carolina |
| Series | NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series |
| Race drivers | 52. Stewart Friesen, Christopher Bell, Kaden Honeycutt 62. Wesley Slimp, Cole Butcher (part-time) |
| Manufacturer | Toyota |
| Opened | 2016 |
| Career | |
| Debut | 2016 Aspen Dental Eldora Dirt Derby (Eldora) |
| Latest race | 2025 eero 250 (Richmond) |
| Races competed | Total: 207 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series: 207 |
| Drivers' Championships | Total: 0 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series: 0 |
| Race victories | Total: 4 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series: 4 |
| Pole positions | Total: 3 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series: 3 |
Halmar Friesen Racing, also known as Halmar Racing Team, is an American professional stock car racing and dirt track racing team that currently competes in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, fielding the No. 52 Toyota Tundra full-time for mostly Stewart Friesen and part-time fielding the No. 62 Toyota for Wesley Slimp and Cole Butcher.
The team also fields modified racing cars for several drivers around the Northeastern United States, including for Stewart and his wife Jessica.
Craftsman Truck Series
[edit]
Truck No. 16 history
[edit]
- Stewart Friesen (2016)
The team ran part-time in 2016, using the No. 16 and entering the short track races with Friesen as driver.[1] For the team's debut race at Eldora, the truck had a body from Kyle Busch Motorsports and an engine from Richard Childress Racing.[2]
Truck No. 16 results
[edit]| Year | Driver | No. | Make | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | NCTC | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | Stewart Friesen | 16 | Chevy | DAY | ATL | MAR | KAN | DOV | CLT | TEX | IOW | GTW | KEN | ELD 28 |
POC | BRI 22 |
MCH | MSP | CHI | NHA 13 |
LVS 19 |
TAL | MAR | TEX | PHO 18 |
HOM 29 |
33rd | 69 |
Truck No. 52 history
[edit]
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- Stewart Friesen (2017–present)
In 2017, the team announced plans to run the full Truck Series schedule as Halmar Friesen Racing with Friesen driving the renumbered No. 52 truck.[3] HFR hired Cup Series team owner Tommy Baldwin Jr. of Tommy Baldwin Racing (which reduced from a full-time to a part-time Cup Series schedule in 2017) to serve as team manager.[4] After the June Texas race, the team announced a two-race hiatus and that they would return in Kentucky in July.[5] Friesen captured the pole for the 2017 Eldora Dirt Derby and finished second to Matt Crafton in the race after leading over half of the laps.[6] On August 23, HFR announced the end of its partnership with Baldwin and the start of a new technical alliance with GMS Racing.[7] The same day the team announce that Tommy Baldwin's brother in law, longtime NASCAR crew chief, Trip Bruce would take over running the team and has remained a staple at HFR from 2018 to 2021 as Stewart's Crew Chief and in 2022 moved into the role of Director of Competition.
For 2018, HFR continued the alliance with GMS, so much so that GMS driver Johnny Sauter referenced Friesen as a teammate. After advancing to the playoffs and a best finish of second on three occasions throughout the year, he finished seventh in the final points standings after being eliminated in the Round of 8.
On July 11, 2019, NASCAR confiscated the No. 52 truck before the Kentucky race after discovering an issue with the firewall during pre-race inspection. The team was able to use their backup truck, which finished second in the race.[8] On August 1, 2019, Friesen finally broke through to win his first career NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series race at Eldora.[9] Friesen would also go onto win at Phoenix Raceway later that year.
On December 3, 2019, it was announced that the team would switch from Chevrolet to Toyota in an alliance with Kyle Busch Motorsports starting in 2020, thus ending their previous alliance with GMS Racing.[10] In 2020, after Friesen missed the playoffs, he decided to skip the race at Kansas Speedway in October in order to compete in a dirt race on the same day. Timothy Peters would fill in for Friesen in the No. 52 in the Truck Series race.[11] Friesen would run his fourth full season in the Truck Series in 2021 and would make the playoffs again despite not winning any races that year.
On May 20, 2022, Friesen broke a 54-race winless streak in the Truck Series by scoring his third career victory at Texas Motor Speedway after passing Christian Eckes for the lead in overtime. Friesen returned to the Truck Series in 2023. He scored five top-fives and seven top-tens, but went winless and missed the playoffs. He finished twelfth in the final standings. The 2024 season would follow a similar trend, with Friesen scoring seven top-ten finishes and one top-five, as well as a pole at Nashville. He would again finish twelfth in the standings.
Friesen started the 2025 season with a 23rd-place finish at Daytona. Friesen broke a 72-race drought with a win at Michigan in triple-overtime.[12] In late July, Friesen was involved in a high-speed accident while competing in a Super DIRTcar Series event at Autodrome Drummond. Friesen sustained fractures to his pelvis and right leg.[13] Christopher Bell substituted for Friesen at Watkins Glen, while Kaden Honeycutt substituted for Friesen for the final eight races, starting at Richmond.[14][15]
Truck No. 52 results
[edit]Truck No. 62 history
[edit]
- Jessica Friesen (2021)
On March 11, 2021, Jessica Friesen announced that she would make her Truck Series debut in the Bristol dirt race, driving the No. 62 and competing alongside her husband.[16] However, she failed to qualify after rain washed out the heat races.[17] Instead, she would make her debut in the other dirt race for the Truck Series at Knoxville Raceway, the Corn Belt 150.[18] Jessica finished 26th, one position better than Stewart.[19]
- Multiple drivers (2022)
After having not driven in NASCAR for five years, Todd Bodine returned to the Truck Series to drive for Halmar Friesen Racing in the No. 62 at Las Vegas.[20] The CEO of series title sponsor Camping World, Marcus Lemonis, stated that Camping World would sponsor Bodine for six races to get him to 800 overall starts in NASCAR.[21] Bodine would compete in the 6 races during which he would finish five races, lead three laps, and score a top-ten finish at Darlington.[22] In his 800th and final overall NASCAR race at Pocono, Bodine would finish 36th after he crashed twelve laps into the race.[23]
On March 28, 2022, the team announced that Jessica Friesen would return to drive the No. 62 in the two dirt races again.[24] She would fail to qualify at Bristol for the second consecutive year.[25] She would go onto to race at Knoxville where she had a rollover crash on lap 58 after hitting the tracks berm. The accident was not shown in the Fox Sports broadcast of the race.[26] Jessica would remain in the race after the accident, finishing 34th.[27]
In July 2022, it was announced that NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series driver Layne Riggs would make his Truck Series debut, driving the No. 62 truck at IRP, and would finish seventh.[28][29] The next race at Richmond, Riggs would qualify 4th, but would finish the race two laps down in ninteenth place.[30] Riggs would make his final start of the year at the season finale at Phoenix where he would qualify second and lead five laps early in the race, but he would later drop back and finish thirteenth.[31]
- Jessica Friesen (2023)
In 2023, Jessica would return to the series but would fail to qualify for the Bristol dirt race.[32][33]
- Multiple drivers (2025)
On June 23, 2025, it was announced that Wesley Slimp would make his Truck Series debut at Lime Rock Park, with Slimp competing at all three road course races as part of the deal.[34][35] On August 10, it was announced that Super Late Model standout Cole Butcher would make his Truck Series debut at Bristol.[36]
Truck No. 62 results
[edit]| Year | Driver | No. | Make | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | NCTC | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | Jessica Friesen | 62 | Toyota | DAY | DRC | LVS | ATL | BRD DNQ |
RCH | KAN | DAR | COA | CLT | TEX | NSH | POC | KNX 26 |
GLN | GTW | DAR | BRI | LVS | TAL | MAR | PHO | 78th | 11 | |||
| 2022 | Todd Bodine | DAY | LVS 21 |
ATL | COA | MAR | DAR 10 |
KAN | TEX 13 |
CLT | GTW | SON 20 |
NSH 27 |
MOH | POC 36 |
|||||||||||||||
| Jessica Friesen | BRD DNQ |
KNX 34 |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Layne Riggs | IRP 7 |
RCH 19 |
KAN | BRI | TAL | HOM | PHO 13 |
|||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2023 | Jessica Friesen | DAY | LVS | ATL | COA | TEX | BRD DNQ |
MAR | KAN | DAR | NWS | CLT | GTW | NSH | MOH | POC | RCH | IRP | MLW | KAN | BRI | TAL | HOM | PHO | ||||||
| 2025 | Wesley Slimp | DAY | ATL | LVS | HOM | MAR | BRI | CAR | TEX | KAN | NWS | CLT | NSH | MCH | POC | LRP 33 |
IRP | GLN 12 |
RCH | DAR | ROV | TAL | MAR | PHO | ||||||
| Cole Butcher | BRI | NHA | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
References
[edit]- ^ "Camping World Truck Statistics: Stewart Friesen - 2016 [DriverAverages.com]". www.driveraverages.com. Retrieved May 4, 2017.
- ^ "Stewart Friesen: The Eyes of the Northeast Were on You – DTD Exclusive". Dirt Track Digest. July 22, 2016. Retrieved May 4, 2017.
- ^ "Halmar Friesen Racing Announces NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Debut - NASCAR Camping World Truck Series News - MRN.com". www.mrn.com. Retrieved May 4, 2017.
- ^ McFadin, Daniel (January 9, 2017). "Halmar Friesen Racing enters Truck Series under leadership of Tommy Baldwin". NBC Sports. Retrieved January 7, 2016.
- ^ "Halmar Friesen Racing taking two-week hiatus from Truck competition". Jayski's Silly Season Site. ESPN. June 13, 2017. Retrieved June 13, 2017.
- ^ "Stewart Friesen finishes 2nd in NASCAR Trucks race at Eldora Speedway". syracuse.com. July 20, 2017. Retrieved August 23, 2017.
- ^ Bonkowski, Jerry (August 23, 2017). "Halmar Friesen Racing Truck team splits with Tommy Baldwin Jr., forms alliance with GMS Racing". NBC Sports. Retrieved August 23, 2017.
- ^ "NASCAR confiscates No. 52 truck from Halmar Racing". NASCAR.com. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. July 11, 2019. Retrieved July 12, 2019.
- ^ "Stewart Friesen scores first Gander Trucks victory, wins at Eldora". NASCAR.com. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. August 1, 2019. Retrieved August 2, 2019.
- ^ Rutherford, Kevin (December 3, 2020). "Stewart Friesen Remaining in Truck Series, Moving to Toyota in 2020". Frontstretch. Retrieved December 3, 2019.
- ^ Gillispie, Zach (October 9, 2020). "Timothy Peters Replacing Stewart Friesen at Kansas". Frontstretch. Retrieved October 9, 2020.
- ^ "Stewart Friesen wins thrilling triple-overtime NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series race at Michigan". Jayski's Silly Season Site. NASCAR Digital Media. June 7, 2025. Retrieved June 8, 2025.
- ^ Taranto, Steven (July 29, 2025). "NASCAR Truck Series driver Stewart Friesen in serious but stable condition after scary dirt modified crash". CBS Sports. Retrieved August 2, 2025.
- ^ Howard, Jonathan (August 2, 2025). "Christopher Bell to replace Stewart Friesen for Watkins Glen NASCAR Truck Series race". On3.com. Retrieved August 2, 2025.
- ^ "Kaden Honeycutt named driver of Halmar Friesen Racing Truck Series entry". Jayski's Silly Season Site. NASCAR Digital Media. August 5, 2025. Retrieved August 5, 2025.
- ^ Kristl, Mark (March 11, 2021). "Jessica Friesen Running Bristol Dirt Truck Race". Frontstretch. Retrieved August 7, 2025.
- ^ Spencer, Reid (March 21, 2025). "Rain postpones NASCAR Truck race on Bristol dirt". AccessWDUN. Archived from the original on April 10, 2021. Retrieved August 7, 2025.
- ^ Glover, Luken (March 29, 2025). "Jessica Friesen Attempting Knoxville Truck Race". Frontstretch. Retrieved August 7, 2025.
- ^ "NASCAR: Austin Hill wins Knoxville Truck Race". AutoRacing1. July 10, 2021. Retrieved August 8, 2025.
- ^ DeGroot, Nick (December 14, 2021). "Todd Bodine to make NASCAR Truck return in 2022". Motorsport.com. Motorsport Network. Retrieved August 8, 2025.
- ^ "Todd Bodine hopes to hit 800 career starts in 2022 thanks to Camping World CEO: UPDATE". Jayski's Silly Season Site. NASCAR Digital Media. December 13, 2021. Retrieved August 8, 2025.
- ^ Srigley, Joseph (May 6, 2022). "John Hunter Nemechek Survives NASCAR Overtime for First Victory of 2022". TobyChristie.com. Retrieved August 8, 2025.
- ^ Tomlinson, Joy (July 23, 2022). "Chandler Smith Holds Off Ryan Preece at Pocono, Wins 2nd Truck Race of 2022". Frontstretch. Retrieved August 8, 2025.
- ^ "Jessica Friesen Returning to Truck Racing at Bristol, Knoxville Dirt Races". Jayski's Silly Season Site. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. March 29, 2022.
- ^ Nebbia, Michael (April 16, 2022). "NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Heat Races Set Field at Bristol Dirt". Frontstretch. Retrieved August 8, 2025.
- ^ Srigley, Joseph (June 18, 2022). "Video: Jessica Friesen Takes Quick Tumble on Turn Three Berm at Knoxville and Continues On". TobyChristie.com. Retrieved August 8, 2025.
- ^ Pearce, Al (June 19, 2022). "NASCAR Truck Results: Cup Regular Todd Gilliland Gets Dirty at Knoxville". Autoweek. Retrieved August 8, 2025.
- ^ "Layne Riggs to Make Truck Debut at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park". Jayski's Silly Season Site. NASCAR Digital Media. July 19, 2022. Retrieved July 19, 2022.
- ^ Swansey, Jack (April 29, 2022). "Grant Enfinger Back in Victory Lane in Truck Return to IRP". Frontstretch. Retrieved August 8, 2025.
- ^ "Race Results: 2022 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Worldwide Express 250". TobyChristie.com. August 13, 2022. Retrieved August 8, 2025.
- ^ "2022 NASCAR Truck Results, Standings, Rankings and Statistics". Motorsport.com. Motorsport Network. Retrieved November 11, 2022.
- ^ Nguyen, Justin (April 3, 2023). "Jessica Friesen making Truck return for Bristol Dirt". The Checkered Flag. Retrieved August 8, 2025.
- ^ Kim, Andrew (April 9, 2023). "Logano masters Bristol Dirt Course for second Truck career victory". Speedway Media. Retrieved August 8, 2025.
- ^ Christie, Toby (June 24, 2025). "Wesley Slimp to Make NASCAR Truck Debut for Halmar Friesen at Lime Rock". TobyChristie.com. Retrieved August 8, 2025.
- ^ Relkin, Adam (June 25, 2025). "Wesley Slimp Joining Halmar Friesen Racing for Three Race Deal". SeriouslyFastMotorsports.com. Retrieved August 8, 2025.
- ^ "Cole Butcher to drive No. 62 truck for Halmar Friesen at Bristol". Jayski's Silly Season Site. NASCAR Digital Media. August 10, 2025. Retrieved August 10, 2025.
