McAnally-Hilgemann Racing filled out their 2026 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series lineup with the expected return of Daniel Hemric and the surprise signing of Kris Wright. 

Photo: Dominic Aragon/TRE

Wright will join MHR’s No. 81 team on a full-time basis in 2026, replacing Connor Mosack who wheeled the truck full-time last season. This comes after Wright had a disastrous 2025 season with Our Motorsports but wrapped up the year with some solid starts at MHR.

Since making his national series debut in 2020, Wright has had an average finish of 25.3 in the NCTS and 27.7 in the NOAPS. In those series, he has led one lap – a lap under caution in an NCTS race at EchoPark Atlanta in 2023 – and earned one top-10 finish – ninth at Martinsville in March of 2025. 

Stats aside, Wright has drawn ire for incidents throughout his career, including during his full-time NOAPS tenure in 2025.

In February at Daytona International Speedway, Wright lost control of his car and spun into multiple other cars coming on to pit road under green.  That ended his day and other drivers’ days.

Then, as leader Justin Allgaier tried lapping him at Texas Motor Speedway in May, Wright lost control and caused a crash that took him and Allgaier out of the race. 

Wright’s season came to an end after the July race at Sonoma Raceway, a week after missing the Chicago Street Race for Our. The organization raced one more time without Wright – at Dover Motor Speedway with Kaz Grala – before shutting down.

Wright is hoping to reclaim some glory he found early on in his career when he helped secured a second-place LMP2 class finish for Performance Tech Motorsports in the 2019 Rolex 24 at Daytona.

Meanwhile, Hemric is returning to the organization after a solid first season that saw him win at Martinsville in the spring to get into the playoffs. In 2025, he was one of just three full-time drivers to earn double-digit top-five finishes (10), one of five not named Corey Heim to earn a non-superspeedway win (1 win) and one of six overall to earn an average finish better than 12th (11.9).

After cycling through rides at Richard Childress Racing, then JR Motorsports, then Joe Gibbs Racing where he won the 2021 NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series championship and Kaulig Racing where he spent three seasons before joining MHR, Hemric has found his footing in the No. 19 Chevrolet Silverado – and new teammate Kris Wright is hoping he can do the same.

Hemric and Wright will have Christian Eckes and Tyler Ankrum as his MHR teammates for the 2026 NCTS season. 

Jonathan Fjeld is the co-owner of the The Racing Experts, LLC. He has been with TRE since 2010.

A Twin Valley, MN, native, Fjeld became a motorsports fan at just three years old (first race was the 2002 Pennsylvania 500). He worked as a contributor and writer for TRE from 2010-18. Since then, he has stepped up and covered 24 NASCAR race weekends and taken on a larger role with TRE. He became the co-owner and managing editor in 2023 and has guided the site to massive growth in that time.

Fjeld has covered a wide array of stories and moments over the years, including Kevin Harvick’s final Cup Series season, the first NASCAR national series disqualification in over 50 years, Shane van Gisbergen’s stunning win in Chicago and the first Cup Series race at Road America in 66 years – as well as up-and-coming drivers’ stories and stories from inside the sport, like the tech it takes for Hendrick Motorsports to remain a top-tier team.

Currently, he resides in Albuquerque, N.M., where he works for KOB 4, an NBC station. He works as a digital producer and does on-air reports. He loves spending time with friends and family, playing and listening to music, exploring new places, being outdoors, reading books and writing among other activities. You can email him at fjeldjonathan@gmail.com