Dean Thompson will join Haas Factory Team’s NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series roster as the organization adds a third car next season, team president Joe Custer announced Saturday at Iowa Speedway.
“It’s a multi-year deal,” Custer said. “We’re super excited about Dean coming on board. We are expanding at Haas Factory Team to a three-car O’Reilly program. We love the O’Reilly Series.
“Regarding Dean, I’ve known Dean for a long time… He’s a Southern California kid. We’re from Southern California. Watched him grow. Watched him experience all different forms of racing. He comes from a family of racers—his grandfather, his father. His whole family supports racing.”
Thompson, 24, currently drives for Sam Hunt Racing. In his second full season with that organization, he has posted a pair of top-10 finishes with a best of sixth at Talladega in April. Last year, he scored his only career top five in the O’Reilly Series, a fifth-place finish at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
“I grew up racing around Cole (Custer, Joe Custer’s son),” Thompson said. “Joe’s been a big part in my growth as a driver. We’ve known Joe my whole life. Where to go, who to talk to, who we race for—he’s always led us in the right direction and given us good contacts.
“Finally, it all comes together full circle.”
Custer said the organization is still working through its O’Reilly Series plans for 2027. Current drivers are Sheldon Creed, who scored his first career victory this season at EchoPark Speedway (Atlanta), and Sam Mayer, who won back-to-back races at Iowa Speedway in 2024 and 2025.
As of yet, neither Mayer nor Creed has re-signed with the organization for next year.
Custer asserted the organization’s commitment to its single-car NASCAR Cup Series operation, with Cole Custer as the driver.
“We have unfinished business in the Cup Series as Haas Factory Team,” Joe Custer said. “We are dead committed. (Team owner) Gene Haas is an F1 owner, a NASCAR Cup owner and an O’Reilly owner, and we intend to keep it that way…
“We’re going to try to figure out Cup as a single-car team, and we have a ways to go. Stay tuned.”
