Many questions were raised regarding AM Racing and its future in the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series after they pulled out from the Rockingham race earlier this year, leaving Nick Sanchez in a confusing state. However, it has now been confirmed that the team will no longer be returning to the field as they have formally ceased operations.
“VP/comp Matthew Lucas told employees that he made efforts to stabilize AMR but the inability to continue normal business activity eventually resulted in its closure,” insider Matt Weaver reported via his social media.
Founded by Tim Self in December 2015, AM Racing has been in the field for the past decade, beginning in the Truck Series in 2016, where Austin Wayne Self became the team’s familiar face across several seasons. Then the organization stepped up to the NOAPS in 2023. And while never a strong title contender, the team did manage to pull out some impressive results.
One recent highlight came in 2025, when Harrison Burton delivered the team’s first-ever NOAPS playoff appearance, finishing 12th in driver points with two top-fives and ten top-tens. For a small operation like AM, it represented a genuine hope. The team also gained wider attention after giving Hailie Deegan a Truck Series seat. However, she was replaced mid-run due to below-par performances. After all, maintaining a team in NASCAR’s second-tier series can be a bit too difficult.
Still, the signs had been there for a while.
In November 2025, AM Racing announced it had agreed to be acquired by Sigma Performance Services, an ARCA and late model operation, which would have folded AM’s NOAPS assets into a larger structure and provided much-needed financial footing. The deal was supposed to close before Daytona; however, it collapsed in January, 2026, leaving the team with no safety net.
Now, Nick Sanchez finds himself amidst much uncertainty. He had been a strong prospect coming from the Truck Series, and earned a full-time seat with Big Machine Racing in the 2025 O’Reilly Auto Parts (then the Xfinity) Series season. He then earned his first career NOAPS win at Atlanta and finished 11th in the standings, only to be released at the end of the season without warning.
AM Racing stepped in as a last-minute landing spot, and Sanchez managed to take the #25 Ford to third place at Atlanta in 2026, the team’s best result of the season, but the rest of the campaign had been a struggle, with finishes deep in the field. And while, after AM’s withdrawal from Rockingham, Sanchez met with individuals from Team Penske, nothing happened on that front either.
HAMPTON, GA – FEBRUARY 20: Nick Sanchez 25 AM Racing Paynuity / Travel Curious Ford during qualifying for the NASCAR, Motorsport, USA OÕReilly Auto Parts Series Bennett Transportation & Logistics 250 race on February 20, 2026 at EchoPark Speedway in Hampton, GA. Photo by David J. Griffin/Icon Sportswire AUTO: FEB 20 NASCAR OÕReilly Auto Parts Series Bennett Transportation & Logistics 250 EDITORIAL USE ONLY Icon953260220004
AM Racing had also entered a second Ford with Daniel Dye in a handful of races, though without any formal full-season plan behind it. Dye had recently been released from the Kaulig Racing Truck team and was looking for mileage wherever he could find it. AM gave him that briefly and took it away just as fast.
Another thing to note about AM Racing’s exit is that it now leaves Ford without a single independent mid-tier NOAPS operation. AM’s withdrawal from Rockingham left Hettinger Racing, a team that entered 2026 with zero all-time O’Reilly Series starts and just three all-time starts in any NASCAR national series, as the lone remaining Ford team, before Hettinger itself also went quiet after just 11 events.
Clearly, it has never been easy for smaller teams like AM to have strong runs in the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series, and this is partially because of the massive running costs and few rewards.
Why is it so difficult to run a team in NASCAR’s O’Reilly Auto Parts Series?
NASCAR has become somewhat of a business in recent years. The running costs for teams have been extremely high, and the revenue has been too low. Most rely on sponsor money to keep things flowing smoothly, and hence, some of them end up signing drivers with better sponsor backing instead of a stronger skillset.
While that works in the Cup Series, the disparity of pay between that and the NOAPS is far too great. This year’s Darlington race, for example, had a whopping $11,233,037 purse for the Cup Race. But for the O’Reilly Auto Parts race, it was just $1,653,590. Considering that, and the fact that running each race in the NOAPS can cost between $130,000 to $160,000, it is quite understandable why each one of them is facing a huge financial crunch.
Moreover, Cup Series teams have better, high-paying sponsors, the media revenue share, and overall better and standardized operating teams. The massive disparity in the payout difference is largely because of the revenue that both series generate, with the Cup Series taking the lead there.
The gap in infrastructure is another factor to consider. Modern equipment, like simulators, updated parts, engineering depth, and travel, costs nearly as much at the NOAPS level as it does in Cup. The car underneath the driver is nearly identical. The difference is that Cup teams have the revenue to absorb those costs, while NOAPS teams are running the same race on a fraction of the budget.
If teams have strong backing or institutional history, like JR Motorsports or Richard Childress Racing, they can absorb the volatility. Even Cup-level operations sometimes subsidize NOAPS entries: Hendrick Motorsports backed Rajah Caruth’s development for years through HendrickCars.com sponsorship. But not every promising driver has that kind of patron, and not every team has that kind of floor.
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