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 for Stewart Friesen full-time, the No. 62 Toyota full-time for multiple drivers, and the No. 72 Toyota part-time for Mike Christopher Jr.

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 Truck No. 16 history

The team ran part-time in 2016, using the No. 16 and entering the short track races with Friesen as driver. For the team's debut race at Eldora, the truck had a body from Kyle Busch Motorsports and an engine from Richard Childress Racing.

Truck No. 16 results 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 Pts 2016 Stewart Friesen 16 Chevy DAY ATL MAR KAN DOV CLT TEX IOW GTW KEN ELD28 POC BRI22 MCH MSP CHI NHA13 LVS19 TAL MAR TEX PHO18 HOM29 33rd 69

Truck No. 52 history 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 No. 52 truck. 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. After the June Texas race, the team announced a two-race hiatus and that they would return in Kentucky in July. 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. On August 23, HFR announced the end of its partnership with Baldwin and the start of a new technical alliance with GMS Racing. 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. On August 1, 2019, Friesen finally broke through to win his first career NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series race at Eldora. 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. 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. 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. 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. Christopher Bell substituted for Friesen at Watkins Glen, while Kaden Honeycutt substituted for Friesen for the final eight races, starting at Richmond.

Truck No. 52 results 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 Pts 2017 Stewart Friesen 52 Chevy DAY31 ATL19 MAR25 KAN32 CLT23 DOV28 TEX22 GTW IOW KEN12 ELD2* POC12 MCH13 BRI29 MSP CHI NHA5 LVS23 TAL17 MAR6 TEX14 PHO6 HOM7 14th 422 2018 DAY27 ATL6 LVS5 MAR20 DOV23 KAN3 CLT6 TEX2 IOW9 GTW13 CHI19 KEN2 ELD3 POC4 MCH8 BRI2 MSP7 LVS17 TAL6 MAR11 TEX8 PHO5 HOM4 7th 2265 2019 DAY10 ATL18 LVS4 MAR5 TEX2 DOV12 KAN15* CLT3 TEX20 IOW5 GTW3 CHI3 KEN2 POC32 ELD1 MCH8 BRI4 MSP7 LVS19 TAL5 MAR6 PHO1 HOM11 4th 4026 2020 Toyota DAY21 LVS9 CLT30 ATL10 HOM14 POC8 KEN15 TEX4 KAN27 KAN34 MCH39 DRC10 DOV9 GTW5 DAR8 RCH10 BRI32 LVS4 TAL17 TEX28 MAR6 PHO6 15th 504 Timothy Peters KAN 2021 Stewart Friesen DAY32 DRC11 LVS4 ATL10 BRD12 RCH13 KAN14 DAR25 COA17 CLT4 TEX34 NSH5 POC33 KNX27 GLN20 GTW4 DAR3 BRI4 LVS6 TAL22 MAR17 PHO2 6th 2275 2022 DAY16 LVS3 ATL6* COA9 MAR13 BRD11 DAR12 KAN14 TEX1* CLT9 GTW4 SON31 KNX5 NSH5 MOH4 POC14 IRP4 RCH11 KAN20 BRI7 TAL20 HOM3 PHO5 6th 2276 2023 DAY28 LVS14 ATL22 COA14 TEX3 BRD23 MAR31 KAN4 DAR2 NWS13 CLT22 GTW3 NSH18 MOH4 POC32 RCH27 IRP30 MLW30 KAN7 BRI14 TAL34 HOM6 PHO24 12th 537 2024 DAY14 ATL23 LVS18 BRI22 COA20 MAR19 TEX13 KAN25 DAR14 NWS10 CLT2 GTW8 NSH11 POC7 IRP33 RCH25 MLW20 BRI9 KAN24 TAL13 HOM6 MAR10 PHO18 12th 557 2025 DAY23 ATL2 LVS6 HOM16 MAR9 BRI27 CAR29 TEX24 KAN5 NWS14 CLT13 NSH21 MCH1 POC8 LRP23 IRP35 3rd 4034 Christopher Bell GLN4 Kaden Honeycutt RCH10 DAR18 BRI12 NHA7 ROV14 TAL10 MAR2 PHO3 2026 Stewart Friesen DAY10 ATL20 STP26 DAR25 ROC4 BRI16 TEX19 GLN18 DOV11 CLT26 NSH6 MCH22 COR33 LRP9 NWS8 IRP6 RCH36 NHA4 BRI3 KAN21 CLT PHO TAL MAR HOM

Truck No. 62 history 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. However, she failed to qualify after rain washed out the heat races. Instead, she would make her debut in the other dirt race for the Truck Series at Knoxville Raceway, the Corn Belt 150. Jessica finished 26th, one position better than Stewart.

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. 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. 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. In his 800th and final overall NASCAR race at Pocono, Bodine would finish 36th after he crashed twelve laps into the race.

On March 28, 2022, the team announced that Jessica Friesen would return to drive the No. 62 in the two dirt races again. She would fail to qualify at Bristol for the second consecutive year. 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. Jessica would remain in the race after the accident, finishing 34th.

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. The next race at Richmond, Riggs would qualify 4th, but would finish the race two laps down in nineteenth place. 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.

Jessica Friesen (2023) In 2023, Jessica would return to the series but would fail to qualify for the Bristol dirt race.

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. On August 10, it was announced that Super Late Model standout Cole Butcher would make his Truck Series debut at Bristol. On August 29, it was announced that Mike Christopher Jr. (nephew of the late Ted Christopher) will make his NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series debut at New Hampshire.

Full-time entry (2026-) Beginning in 2026, the No. 62 became the team’s second full-time entry. John Hunter Nemechek was announced as the first driver.

Truck No. 62 results 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 Pts 2021 Jessica Friesen 62 Toyota DAY DRC LVS ATL BRDDNQ RCH KAN DAR COA CLT TEX NSH POC KNX26 GLN GTW DAR BRI LVS TAL MAR PHO 78th 11 2022 Todd Bodine DAY LVS21 ATL COA MAR DAR10 KAN TEX13 CLT GTW SON20 NSH27 MOH POC36 34th 177 Jessica Friesen BRDDNQ KNX34 Layne Riggs IRP7 RCH19 KAN BRI TAL HOM PHO13 2023 Jessica Friesen DAY LVS ATL COA TEX BRDDNQ MAR KAN DAR NWS CLT GTW NSH MOH POC RCH IRP MLW KAN BRI TAL HOM PHO 56th 0 2025 Wesley Slimp DAY ATL LVS HOM MAR BRI CAR TEX KAN NWS CLT NSH MCH POC LRP33 IRP GLN12 RCH DAR ROV27 TAL MAR 36th 91 Cole Butcher BRI23 PHO23 Mike Christopher Jr. NHA13 2026 John Hunter Nemechek DAY5 ATL8 Wesley Slimp STP36 GLN34 LRP16 Christopher Bell DAR6 BRI1 DOV5 MCH6 NWS15 NHA7 Mike Christopher Jr. ROC23 IRP10 Cory Roper TEX34 Leland Honeyman CLT23 RCH17 KAN30 CLT Parker Retzlaff NSH11 Kaz Grala COR3 William Sawalich BRI7 PHO TAL Kasey Kleyn MAR HOM

Truck No. 72 history Mike Christopher Jr. (2026) On August 15, 2026, it was announced that Mike Christopher Jr. would compete in the Truck Series race at New Hampshire in a third entry for HFR.

Truck No. 72 results 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 Pts 2026 Mike Christopher Jr. 72 Toyota DAY ATL STP DAR CAR BRI TEX GLN DOV CLT NSH MCH COR LRP NWS IRP RCH NHA12 BRI KAN CLT PHO TAL MAR HOM -* -*

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