Ford’s absence from the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series has deepened again after NASCAR released the Dover entry list Monday evening and Hettinger Racing was not on it. That left Ford without a car in the series after the team also missed the last two NASCAR weekends, including a race at Texas last weekend with no Ford entries at all.
The empty roster matters because Hettinger had been the only Ford entry after AM Racing withdrew Nick Sanchez’s No. 25 car in early April, and AM Racing stopped showing up at the track soon after. AM Racing began the 2026 NASCAR season with Sanchez as its full-time driver, but its departure from the series has now stretched into a run of weekends with no Blue Oval representation.
The collapse of Ford’s presence in the O’Reilly Series has been building for months. The reduced lineup stems largely from manufacturing partners such as Haas Factory Team and RSS Racing shifting to Chevrolet, while Ford has redirected resources toward the Cup Series and Craftsman Truck Series. Ford Performance is prioritizing investment in those two national series, and there is no timeline for Ford’s return to the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series during the 2026 NASCAR season.
That leaves the brand in a position it likely did not expect when the year began. Toyota takes the edge in the Cup Series, and Chevrolet has the same in the O’Reilly Series, while Ford is searching for an entry path back into a middle tier it once treated as part of its broader pipeline. The brand’s reduced presence is not just a matter of numbers on an entry list; it is a sign that the support structure around the series has shifted away from Ford.
There is one possible route back, but it is not a quick one. Brad Keselowski expressed interest in expanding into the O’Reilly Series in March 2026, saying any move would depend on funding. He framed it as something that would have to add to the Cup effort rather than take away from it, which in practical terms means raising a large amount of money before the plan can move forward.
Keselowski has lived through the downside of that math before. Brad Keselowski Racing competed in the Craftsman Truck Series before shutting down in 2017, with financial constraints and long-term planning issues helping end that run. The track record explains why a return to the O’Reilly Series will not happen on intent alone.
For now, the immediate fact is simpler: Ford has zero cars in the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series, and neither AM Racing nor Hettinger Racing has said when it will be back. Until one of them returns, the series will continue without a Ford entry — a rare gap for a manufacturer that has chosen to put its next dollars elsewhere.
