ThorSport Racing: Six Truck Titles and the Longest Run in the Series

ThorSport Racing is an American stock car team in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series. Founded in 1996 as SealMaster Racing, it is based in Sandusky, Ohio, and owned by Duke Thorson and his wife, Rhonda. It has won six Truck Series championships and has run at least one truck in every season since 1996, which makes it the longest-running team in the series.

How did ThorSport and SealMaster Racing begin?

In 1998 the operation, still called SealMaster Racing, put the No. 8 truck on the grid at Mesa Marin with Jerry Cook at the wheel. Cook began 34th and quit early, ending 32nd. The team fielded the No. 8 again in 1999 at Phoenix with Joe Ruttman driving.

The No. 13 truck arrived in 2004 with Tina Gordon at the wheel, backed by Vassarette and Microtel. Gordon left after five races because of injuries from Atlanta. Lance Hooper and Paul White drove for several races, and Jimmy Spencer finished 18th at Loudon. Jason Small and Andy Houston closed out the season.

The Truck Series' longest-running team, with a truck in every season since 1996, six titles and a 2020 Richmond sweep of the top three.

Who drove the No. 13 in the mid-2000s?

In 2005 Tracy Hines drove the truck and finished fifth at Richmond with David Zoriki Motorsports sponsorship. Hines was released with two races left, and Chad Chaffin and Johnny Sauter finished the year.

In 2006 Kerry Earnhardt drove the No. 13, with his best finish of 11th twice, at Nashville and Las Vegas. He was not kept for 2007, when rookie Willie Allen took the seat. Allen recorded two top 10s and won Rookie of the Year.

In 2007 Shelby Howard replaced Allen. In 2008 Howard had two top-10 finishes with BobCat Company and FarmPaint.com sponsorship and ended the year 17th in points. The team also made its Nationwide debut that year, with Howard in the No. 13 Chevrolet at Indianapolis and Bristol.

How did Johnny Sauter's first stint go?

Johnny Sauter returned to the team as a full-time driver in 2009, with Fun Sand as sponsor. The team had entered a partnership with Mike Curb, and Sauter won at Las Vegas. That result gave ThorSport its first 1-2 finish, with teammate Matt Crafton second. Sauter finished sixth in points.

In 2010 Sauter won at Kansas after a late-race incident with Ron Hornaday and finished third in points, behind Todd Bodine. In 2011 Safe Auto Insurance sponsored the team, and Sauter won at Martinsville and Homestead to finish second in points to Austin Dillon.

When Safe Auto left after 2011, The Peanut Roaster became the sponsor for 2012. Sauter swept both Texas races late in that year and finished ninth in points.

What happened to the No. 13 in 2013 and 2014?

In 2013 Todd Bodine drove the No. 13 and finished 11th at Daytona, with Mattei Air Compressors as primary sponsor. Funding stayed scarce, and Bodine was let go after the seventh race. Brett Moffitt, Frank Kimmel and Tracy Hines each drove one race before the car was shut down, and Kimmel came back for the finale at Homestead-Miami.

In 2014 Jeb Burton drove the No. 13 race by race, with a full-season deal once Estes Express Lines signed on. The sponsorship was not renewed for 2015, and Burton was released. He later joined BK Racing in the Sprint Cup Series.

Who drove the No. 13 from 2015 to 2018?

In 2015 Cameron Hayley took over, with Cabinets by Hayley as sponsor. He returned in 2016 but failed to make the Chase and finished lower in the points than the year before. In 2017 Cody Coughlin replaced him and finished 14th in points before being released after the season.

In 2018 Myatt Snider took the seat. He had three top-five finishes and eight top-10s, and he finished ninth in points as a rookie.

What did Johnny Sauter achieve on his return in 2019?

Johnny Sauter returned to the team days before the 2019 season opener at Daytona. The season was difficult. At Las Vegas he finished 29th after an engine failure, which Ilmor traced to severe detonation in its NT1 engines under heavy loads and extreme weather. Ilmor took responsibility, but NASCAR refused to reinstate Sauter and Grant Enfinger into the playoffs.

In February 2020 the No. 13 team was penalised 10 points for an illegal engine oil reservoir tank, but Sauter still finished second at Las Vegas, behind Kyle Busch. He missed the playoffs for the first time in his career and finished 13th in points. In 2021 he earned his first top five in 20 races at the Fr8Auctions 200.

In 2022 ThorSport added a fourth team, and Sauter's schedule was cut to four races. He came close to winning at Martinsville and took another top five at Gateway.

How did the No. 13 change with Deegan, Garcia and Butcher?

On 15 December 2022 ThorSport announced that Hailie Deegan would drive the No. 13 full-time in 2023. The No. 98 team was renumbered to No. 13 and moved across to the new number.

On 15 November 2023 Jake Garcia was named to the No. 13 for 2024, replacing Deegan, who was moving to a full-time role in the Xfinity Series. Garcia had only two top 10s that year, with a best of sixth at Charlotte. In 2025 he started with a 12th at Daytona, won his first career pole at Rockingham and made the playoffs for the first time, where he was eliminated in the first round.

On 15 January 2026 the team announced that Cole Butcher would run the No. 13 Ford full-time.

How did Ben Rhodes build his record?

Ben Rhodes joined the team for 2016 in a new fourth truck, numbered 41, with Alpha Energy Solutions sponsoring. He had two top-five and five top-10 finishes that season. He had a chance to win at Kansas but was involved in a last-lap incident with Johnny Sauter that let William Byron take the win. In 2018 the No. 41 returned with Rhodes, and he won at Kentucky that summer.

In 2017 Rhodes had moved to the No. 27, running a full season with Safelite AutoGlass as the sponsor. He won at Las Vegas, holding off Christopher Bell, and finished fifth in points. In 2019 he drove the No. 99.

In 2021 Rhodes won the first two races of the season, at Daytona and on the Daytona road course, and went on to win the Truck championship. In 2022 he finished second in the standings after three consecutive top fives and a win at the Bristol dirt race. In 2023 he won at Charlotte and finished second at Homestead, then clinched his second title at Phoenix as the highest-finishing Championship 4 driver.

In 2024 Rhodes was winless but qualified for the playoffs, and he was eliminated in the Round of 10 at Kansas.

What did Matt Crafton accomplish with the No. 88?

Matt Crafton drove the No. 88 from 2001 onward and became the team's long-time driver. He recorded eleven top-10 finishes and a twelfth-place points finish in his rookie season in 2002. He returned to the No. 88 in 2005 and won his first career pole at New Hampshire, finishing ninth in points.

In 2008 Crafton won his first race at Charlotte and finished fifth in points. In 2009 the No. 88 team was runner-up in points to Ron Hornaday Jr. In 2010 he won a pole at Texas, had 10 top-five and twenty top-10 finishes, and finished fourth in points.

In 2011 Crafton won at Iowa, his second career win, and took poles at Michigan and Martinsville, where he set a qualifying record. Engine and mechanical trouble cost him four finishes, and he ended eighth in points. In 2012 he finished sixth.

In 2013 Crafton had the best season of his career. He won at Kansas in April and took the points lead, holding it for the rest of the year. He clinched his first Truck title at Homestead, and he became the first driver in Truck Series history to complete every lap of a season.

In 2014 Crafton won at Martinsville and at Texas, using a fuel strategy to win there. He became the first driver to win back-to-back Truck titles. In 2015 he won at Atlanta, Kansas, Texas, Kentucky, Martinsville and Homestead, finishing third in the standings.

He was runner-up in 2016 and fourth in 2017 under the playoff system. In 2018 he placed sixth in the standings, his first winless season since 2012. He won his third title in 2019. In 2020 he ended a winless streak at Kansas and finished fifth. In 2021 he made the Championship 4 and finished fourth in the standings. He made the playoffs again in 2022 and 2023.

Crafton retired from full-time racing after the 2025 season, and Ty Majeski took over the No. 88 for 2026.

How did the No. 98 and Grant Enfinger develop?

The No. 98 truck first ran in 2002 at the Chevy Silverado 150 with Cory Kruseman driving and Agromin sponsoring. It returned in 2003 as a sister truck to Crafton's No. 88 at the season-ending Ford 200. In 2009 Michael McDowell drove it at New Hampshire, and in 2010 Landon Cassill drove at Daytona.

Johnny Sauter moved to the No. 98 in 2013. He won at Daytona and Martinsville early in that season and at Talladega later, completing a sweep of the restrictor-plate events. In 2014 he won at Michigan and finished fourth in points, matching his 2013 result.

Grant Enfinger drove the No. 98 from 2017 to 2020. He finished 11th in points in his first season and fifth in 2018, when he won at Las Vegas to reach the Round of 6. On 10 September 2020 he won at Richmond, with Rhodes second and Crafton third. It was the first 1-2-3 finish in NASCAR Truck Series history.

Who has driven the No. 98 since Enfinger?

In 2021 Enfinger and Christian Eckes shared the No. 98. Eckes drove the full season in 2022, made the playoffs and fell seven points short of Rhodes at the Round of 8 cutoff. He left for McAnally-Hilgemann Racing, and the car was renumbered to No. 13 for 2023.

Ty Majeski drove the No. 66 full-time in 2022 and won at Bristol and Homestead, reaching the Championship 4. In 2023 the team moved him to the No. 98. He had seven top-five and eleven top-10 finishes and won at Indianapolis in the playoffs. In 2024 he won at Indianapolis and Richmond in the regular season, won the Championship 4 and clinched his first Truck title at Phoenix.

Majeski moved to the No. 88 for 2026. Jake Garcia took the No. 98 that year, and he won his first career race at Bristol night.

What did the team do in ARCA?

The team's ARCA Racing Series work was small. In 2014 Jeb Burton made his debut with the team in the No. 13 Toyota Camry at the Daytona opener, starting 21st and finishing 29th after an early crash. In 2012 nine-time ARCA champion Frank Kimmel joined the team in the No. 44 Toyota Camry. In 2013 he became the series' all-time wins leader with 80 victories and won his tenth championship. He then left for Win-Tron Racing, and the No. 44 team shut down.