TALLADEGA, Ala. — Dean Thompson and crew chief Kris Bowen have the same belief in the potential of the No. 26 team at Sam Hunt Racing, but they don't see eye-to-eye on one item.
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Bowen has a lot of faith in Thompson as a driver, especially as he gains experience in the O'Reilly Auto Parts Series. Yet, the young driver is quick to downplay his involvement in the team's progress, even after a career-best sixth-place finish at Talladega Superspeedway.
"I feel like I'm just a monkey holding a steering wheel (laughs)," Thompson told FanBuzz when asked about his superspeedway progression.
"I've been here (at Talladega) when I've been wide-open for 10 laps and I couldn't get to the guy ahead of me, and now jumping out of the gas and not crush the guys ahead of me. Credit to those guys (at the shop) and the effort they've put into this car."
#NASCAR - Dean Thompson scored his second top-10 finish of the season and the 10th of his career on Saturday.
This marked an important moment for the Sam Hunt Racing driver as he gained some crucial points. pic.twitter.com/VBIhor4MJ3— John Newby (@JohnNewby_) April 25, 2026
Bowen sees the situation differently. Yes, the veteran crew chief knows that he and the No. 26 team haven't always brought the fastest Toyota GR Supras to the track. This is an ongoing pursuit of speed, especially at superspeedways. These have been the team's weak point since he joined Sam Hunt Racing.
He also sees the work that Thompson puts in behind the scenes, and he sees how the second-year driver has delivered some strong finishes in these chaotic races.
After all, Thompson has two top-10 finishes at Daytona International Speedway and one at Talladega Superspeedway since 2025. He has finished 11th in the last two races at EchoPark Speedway (Atlanta).
"Dean does an amazing job. I think he's, I would say, he's one of the top 10 speedway racers in the field," Bowen told FanBuzz in the garage area. "So he does a really good job, and then you pair that with Freddie (Kraft, spotter) and the experience he has, just a good combination.
"...He does a good job staying calm speedway racing, and that's hard to do. Running 190 miles an hour, middle of four wide, he just doesn't seem to get rattled. And for some reason, some guys just have a nose for the front, and he makes the right moves. A lot of that is Freddie helping him too, but he just does a really good job."
Thompson ran inside the top 10 throughout the race while making use of a fast car. He scored 13 stage points and then finished sixth overall. He left Talladega Superspeedway with the third-most points in the field (44).
The No. 26 team still has work to do after an early stretch of the season featuring one DNF at Daytona and five other finishes of 24th or worse. Thompson ranks 18th in the O'Reilly Auto Parts Series standings, and he is 72 points out of a spot in The Chase.
This is not a small hill to climb, but he and Bowen believe they can conquer it. They just have to keep building momentum, bringing fast cars, and capitalizing when points are available.
And if Thompson continues making progress behind the wheel while continuing to work with Kraft and Bowen behind the scenes, he will have far more opportunities to work his way up the leaderboard.
"When he came to us, his race craft needed work, and we've polished on it," Bowen added. "He's done a really good job of studying — studying film, studying SMT — and just taking what we tell him more as constructive criticism and less as us being hard on him.
"So he's done a good job of it. Like I said, at times, we've brought him cars that wouldn't get to the front. So a lot of that's on us, but he's coming around. We got on a little hot streak last year about the middle of the season. I hope this is the start of one."
