Santino Ferrucci is moving to NASCAR.
The now-former NTT IndyCar Series will race in the NASCAR Xfinity Series in a part-time schedule in 2021, he announced Jan. 8.
Ferrucci will drive for Sam Hunt Racing, which fields the No. 26.
“I’m incredibly proud to join Sam Hunt racing and TRD,” Ferrucci said in a release. “I think together we will have a ton of success. Working with Sam these past few weeks has been fantastic and his drive to put out a great race car and team is second to none. The transition to NASCAR will be tough especially with no practice, qualifying or testing, but I welcome the challenge.”
SHR has competed in the last two Xfinity seasons on a part-time basis. The team ran eight races in 2020 with Colin Garrett, Brandon Gdovic and Mason Diaz, with a best finish of 12th with Gdovic at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course.
In 35 IndyCar starts since 2018, Ferrucci has a best finish of fourth four times, most recently at the 2020 Indianapolis 500.
His first start of 2020 will come at Homestead-Miami Speedway, the season’s third race. Further starts have not yet been announced.
It’s unknown if any of SHR’s drivers from 2020 will return to the team.
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