In an unexpected move, Halmar Friesen Racing announced Tuesday that the team will switch to Toyota as they prepare for another season of NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series competition.
Since their inception in the NASCAR Truck Series, Friesen has driven Chevrolets’ including an alliance with GMS Racing that began halfway through the 2017 season, but as the team moves into a new Statesville, N.C. shop the team will have the manufacturer support of Toyota Racing Development in their third full-time season of competition.
“We were all very impressed after spending time with Toyota,” Friesen said. “TRD has been welcoming to our organization. With their support, knowledge and technology, we hope to bring our team to another level.
“Through this transition, we’ve been able to retain several members of our team from last season. They’ve remained loyal to us and have new energy going into 2020.”
The team will purchase its trucks from Kyle Busch Motorsports and is expected to continue to adorn the No. 52 number.
Tripp Bruce returns to lead the team as crew chief, while Gene Nead has joined the operation as the organization’s competition director.
Friesen, 36, a native of Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario Canada had a breakout year in 2019. Earning his first career Truck Series win on the dirt at Eldora Speedway, he earned a pavement win in the penultimate race of the season at ISM (Ariz.) Raceway which propelled the Halmar Friesen Racing team into the Championship 4.
While the team came up short of the championship with an 11th place finish at Homestead-Miami Speedway and fourth overall in the championship, the team ended the year with two wins, one pole, 12 top-five, 16 top-10 finishes and an average finish of 8.5 across 23 races.
HFR team principal Chris Larsen said following the success in 2019, “The championship is our goal.”
“Making it to the ‘final four’ was an accomplishment, but we’re all competitive. You want to be sitting at the head table at the series banquet,” he said. “We’re working to be that team.”
The 2020 NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series season begins at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway on Fri., Feb. 14, 2020.
Follow Chris Knight on Twitter @Knighter01.
