NASCAR Wire Reports –
Stewart Friesen will return to the No. 52 Halmar Friesen Racing Toyota for the 2026 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series season, Friesen confirmed in a Thursday interview on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.
Friesen, a four-time winner in the Truck Series, was injured in a July 2025 crash while racing a dirt modified in Quebec, Canada, fracturing his pelvis and right leg in a crash that sent his No. 44 car flipping before catching fire in a Super DIRTcar Series event.
The crash sidelined him for the rest of the 2025 season, with Cup Series regular Christopher Bell filling in for Friesen at Watkins Glen International before Kaden Honeycutt substituted for the conclusion of the season, earning a Championship 4 berth in the process. On Dec. 5, Friesen posted a video to his X account showing his first steps without assistance since his accident, bouncing back from a reconstructed pelvis, right tibia and fibula, and recovering from a fractured C7 vertebra and fractured left hip.
Friesen told SiriusXM’s “The Morning Drive” that his recovery has gone well and that he’s ready to climb back behind the wheel of his No. 52 Toyota after multiple sessions on the manufacturer’s simulator as he prepares for competition.
“It’s going very well,” Friesen told SiriusXM of his recovery. “The last month, I’ve been making some leaps and bounds. No more crutches, no more cane, walking pretty normal and just trying to work out as much as I can. Still doing a lot of physical therapy and anticipating a return at Daytona here in just over a month.
“I feel great. I’ve done some sim over at TRD in Salisbury, (North Carolina) a few times. I had another session yesterday morning that went really well and really, really looking forward to getting back into action and getting back to normal and getting rolling here to start the season.”
Friesen said his time spent in recovery has allowed him time to reflect on making his dirt modified race cars safer, but the 42-year-old Canadian has no intentions of slowing down either.
“It’s been a long process, but at the end of the day, I’m a racer. It’s what I love to do,” Friesen said. “I’ve wanted to do this since I was probably 8, 9 years old, growing up around a racetrack and then racing my whole life. It’s just something that we do, and I don’t think I could go through life the same way not being in the seat or not wanting to be in the seat. I feel like I’ve still got a couple more decent years in my prime left before I gotta hang up the Simpsons (seat belts). But right now, that’s the goal — get back to what I love to do and what our family does and go back racing.”
Friesen anticipates getting back behind the wheel of a big-block dirt modified in early February at All-Tech Raceway as well as Volusia Speedway Park before climbing back into his No. 52 Toyota but admitted his prior commitment of 50 to 60 dirt races per year may be scaled back in 2026.
HFR will also field the No. 62 Toyota full time in the new year, Friesen said, with multiple drivers filling out the 25-race schedule.
The No. 52 truck finished third in the 2025 owners’ points standings, the team’s best result since going full time in 2018. Friesen credited Honeycutt for his professionalism and talent leading to a Championship 4 berth.
“What a great race car driver and great person, first off,” Friesen said. “Young racer, super passionate about racing. I mean, you see him run almost every division he could at the Snowball Derby. Comes from a dirt-racing background in East Texas. And I think the Toyota guys made a really, really good pick in Kaden to jump in and replace Corey (Heim, defending series champion) in the 11 truck over at Tricon. …
“It was cool for him to jump in my seat and work with him. I was logged into every sim session that he did, and all the races, obviously listening on the radio, and just a great race-car driver. And it really helped our team to develop and make a championship push. That was awesome. That was all we could ask for. He did a great job and got us another, maybe, rung up the ladder with the building of this race team.”
The 2026 Truck Series season begins with the Fresh from Florida 250 at Daytona International Speedway on Friday, Feb. 13 (7:30 p.m. ET, FS1, NRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).