Brandon Gdovic, a 28-year old driver, who has made 10-career starts in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, will return to Sam Hunt Racing in 2021 for anywhere from five to 10 races this season, including the season-opening event at Daytona International Speedway.
Although Gdovic has never competed in a superspeedway event, he is ready for the challenges that the 2.5-mile speedway presents.
“I’m excited to be back racing this year with Sam and looking forward to my first Superspeedway race,” Gdovic said in a team release. “Everyone knows anything can happen at Daytona and that we need to survive the first two thirds of the race before getting too aggressive. I think it will be an interesting experience for me and hope I can bring home a strong result for the team. Hopefully this race will lead to more good runs throughout the season.”
Gdovic scored the team’s best finish last year with a 12th-place effort at the Indianapolis Road Course. The tenacity of which Gdovic chased down that finish is what led Hunt to selecting Gdovic as a valued member of the SHR team going forward in 2021.
“Brandon is a fierce competitor that accepts nothing but the best internally. He not only pushes himself; but pushes the team as a leader behind the wheel,” Hunt said. “He helped us tremendously in 2020, and the guys had a blast working with him. He is a team player, and I see Brandon as a staple to this organization moving forward. We’ve known each other since we were 18 years old racing the (former) K&N East series together. We’ve witnessed each other grow up. Not to mention, I now admit he’s three times the race car driver I ever was. It’s going to be a lot of fun continuing to grow this team with a familiar face I know I can trust.”
Gdovic’s schedule after Daytona will be announced at a later date, but he will have sponsorship from ComServe Wireless, WindStax Energy and Toyota Racing in 2021.
According to the SHR team release, Gdovic has entered the TRD driver development program.
It’s been a busy offseason for Sam Hunt Racing, which will field the No. 26 entry in the NASCAR Xfinity Series for the 2021 NASCAR Xfinity Series season.
The team has struck a deal to utilize Joe Gibbs Racing engines as well as Toyota Racing Development engineering support for the 2021 season and they also announced last week that 22-year old IndyCar standout Santino Ferrucci will join their team for what’s expected to be a 20-race schedule.