When Haas Factory Team shifted from Ford to Chevrolet ahead of the 2026 NASCAR season, that move included not only their one-car Cup Series team but also their two-car O'Reilly Auto Parts Series team.
RSS Racing, which continued their technical alliance with Haas Factory Team, predictably made the same move, confirming a switch from Ford to Chevrolet.
That left Ford with just two O'Reilly Series teams, and just one with a full-time driver. But that one, AM Racing, shockingly withdrew from the early April race at Rockingham Speedway, and they have not entered the No. 25 Ford for Nick Sanchez since.
Their absence left Hettinger Racing, which had never competed in a single O'Reilly Series race before the 2026 season and had made just three total NASCAR national series starts up until that time, as the only Ford team left in the series.
Now just four races later, Hettinger Racing is out.
The No. 5 Ford, which was just driven to a season-high 11th place finish by J.J. Yeley at Talladega Superspeedway this past weekend, is not on the entry list for Saturday's race at Texas Motor Speedway.
And as a result, there are no Fords on the entry list for this race, something that had not been true since the 1991 season finale of what was then known as the Busch Grand National Series at Martinsville Speedway. The entry list for Saturday's Andy's Frozen Custard 340 consists of 32 Chevrolets and six Toyotas.
Five drivers had spent time behind the wheel of the No. 5 Ford through the 2026 season's first 11 races. Yeley led the way with four starts. Luke Fenhaus, Chandler Smith, and Luke Baldwin each made two, while Tyler Gonzalez failed to qualify for his lone appearance.
There is no timetable regarding if or when AM Racing or Hettinger Racing will be back in 2026, which could very well mean that Ford's time in the series this season, or possibly longer, wrapped up a week ago.
The Andy's Frozen Custard 340 is set to be shown live on the CW Network from Texas Motor Speedway starting at 3:30 p.m. ET this Saturday, May 2. Begin a free trial of FuboTV today and catch all of the action!
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