Haas Factory Team adds Dean Thompson to 2027 lineup, will expand O'Reilly Series program to three cars

EDDIE KALEGI - STAFF WRITER

Dean Thompson (left) and Joe Custer (right) make Haas Factory Team's 2027 announcement Saturday at Iowa Speedway (Photo Credit: NASCAR Media Group)

NEWTON, IA - Just two years after losing three NASCAR Cup Series charters and Tony Stewart from their ownership group, Haas Factory Team will be expanding its arsenal once again.

Joe Custer, the Chief Operating Officer of Haas's NASCAR efforts, announced Saturday in the Iowa Speedway media center that Dean Thompson will join the team as a full-time driver in their O'Reilly Auto Parts Series stable next season, as the team expands to three entries.

"Having people that can come in, and finish races and not tear stuff up, and compete for wins and championships is what I've got to have," Custer said, citing that he believes Thompson can do exactly that.

An Anaheim, California native, Dean Thompson is currently in his second season racing full-time in the series with Sam Hunt Racing and Toyota, placing 16th in the final standings last year and currently sits in 18th, with a pair of top tens in 22 starts.

As Stewart-Haas Racing, the organization's previous structure won a pair of NASCAR Cup Series championships with the aforementioned Stewart in 2011 and Kevin Harvick in 2014, while also developing several current Cup Series drivers in their secondary series program, including Chase Briscoe and Riley Herbst.

So, why expand now? "In racing, there's windows of opportunity, and either you grab them or you don't," Custer explained to our NASCAR reporter Tim Moore. "We would not have done this November, or even September really. We have a lot of stuff and a lot of capability, but I don't have a lot of people... So, we have to have a long runway to be able to keep it at the same level. So the reasoning was, we got enough commitment, and we were able to pull the trigger early enough, to ensure that our program will be at the same level, and quite frankly, above what it is this year."

Haas Factory Team currently fields Sam Mayer and Sheldon Creed in the NASCAR O'Reilly Auto Parts Series. Custer confirmed that the team will indeed boast a three-car lineup in 2027, but neither Mayer nor Creed are confirmed to return to their rides.