Sheldon Haudenschild Provides Update On 2026 Sprint Car Plans

When will Sheldon Haudenschild's news for 2026 be announced? Which tour will he race, High Limit or World of Outlaws?

Nov 14, 2025 by Kyle McFadden

With the World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series season now in the books, Sheldon Haudenschild’s focus shifts to finalizing his plans for 2026.

Like Donny Schatz and Gio Scelzi, the Wooster, Ohio, native has yet to formally announce who he’ll race for next season. The 32-year-old is widely speculated to join the KCP Racing No. 18 team, as interim driver Cory Eliason isn’t expected to sign a full-time deal with the Granger, Iowa-based operation. But nothing has been officially confirmed.

So when might Haudenschild have news to share?

“No real timeline. I’d say hopefully before Christmas — just kind of getting the pen to paper on some things, getting it all worked out before we say anything,” Haudenschild said last Saturday at The Dirt Track at Charlotte’s World Finals, where he wrapped an eight-year tenure with Stenhouse Jr.-Marshall Racing. “All I can say is I’m excited, man. I think we’re putting together a great package and a great group of people. The people — especially the crew you put together at the track — that’s step one and the most important step.

“Then you move on to engines and race cars and shock packages and things like that. There’s a lot of pieces to put together to make it perfect. That’s what I’m striving for in my next eight- or 10-year venture here. Just really looking toward the future and the goals I want to accomplish.”

Haudenschild’s name has also surfaced as a high-profile driver considering a jump from the World of Outlaws tour to Kubota High Limit Racing, which is perhaps why his 2026 plans haven’t yet been released. On Thursday, the second-year national series co-owned by Brad Sweet and Kyle Larson formalized its High Roller Club — a program that offers up to five additional teams a final opportunity to secure High Limit membership. The initiative is designed around a more sustainable business model for teams, with performance-based criteria spanning the 2026 and 2027 seasons.

So does Haudenschild plan to transition to High Limit? Or will he return to the World of Outlaws for the ninth consecutive season?

“Yup, with the Outlaws, that’s where I wanna be,” Haudenschild said, confirming he’ll be back on the WoO tour, where he’s competed full-time since 2017. He added that he has “Outlaw goals that I want to reach,” and the deal he’s putting together for 2026 “is the step in that direction.”

This past year, Haudenschild placed inside the top five in WoO points for the third time in his eight seasons on tour, finishing fifth behind series champion David Gravel, Buddy Kofoid, Carson Macedo and Logan Schuchart. His four wins were fourth-most on tour, though down from his eight-win 2024 campaign.

He did, however, capture his first Crown Jewel victory at the 63rd annual Williams Grove National Open on Oct. 4 at Pennsylvania’s Williams Grove Speedway. While the event doesn’t match the prestige of the Knoxville Nationals or Kings Royal, it’s still very much a Crown Jewel in Haudenschild’s eyes.

“Yeah, for sure, just the history on it. It still pays well, and probably one of the hardest tracks to win at, getting your position set up for the night — that’s only half the battle,” Haudenschild said of Williams Grove. “To win a race there is extremely hard, especially the National Open. Everybody is on it. Super proud of that win. For me, it’s nice to get one of them checked off the list and kind of be able to focus on the next one.

“I think we’ve been close at the Kings Royal. We have work to do at Knoxville. We’ve won the Iron-Man 55 at Pevely, Mo., and some other bigger races, but yeah, I think checking one off is a step in the right direction for my career.”

All of Haudenschild’s 46 WoO victories came with the SJMR No. 17 team, which made it especially important to him to finish the season with the operation co-owned by Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Richard Marshall — even after longtime crew chief Kyle Ripper was released from the operation and the rest of his race-day crew departed in the days following the National Open.

Either way, Haudenschild is onto new beginnings in 2026, with an announcement likely coming within the next month.

“It was super important. I let these guys know in August that was the goal — to finish this year strong,” Haudenschild said. “Obviously it wasn’t finished how I wanted without Ripper, Luke (Vaughn) and Jayce (Warrick). I really wanted to end the year at the banquet with my guys. But yeah, just finish it out. I didn’t wanna end an eight-year run how we were, but I was gonna stick it out. Like I said, very thankful — and I was just excited to get Charlotte over with and move on.”