Jimmie Johnson won’t the only stock car champion doing the Mint 400. In fact, the #1045 Class 10 has two of them with about as many titles in their respective series as he does in his.

The #1045 will be split between Brian Hoar and Jean-Paul Cyr, who have a combined 15 championships in the American Canadian Tour.

As its name suggests, the ACT is a regional stock car championship primarily based in the northeastern United States and eastern Canada. Hoar has won the series’ title a record eight times (1993, 1997–2000, 2009–2011) while Cyr has seven (1994, 1996, 2003–2007).

Although he retired from full-time racing after 2015 to focus on his family’s careers, Hoar has occasionally returned to the driver’s seat in ACT since 2023. He’s also a former race winner and 2001 Rookie of the Year in the NASCAR Busch North Series. On the other hand, he’s basically brand new to the desert racing world with “zero experience”.

Cyr, in contrast, has been doing the occasional desert race for over six years. He competed in the 2019 Baja 1000 as an ironman bike rider but retired, then placed sixth for Class 1/2-1600 cars at the 2025 edition. At his Mint 400 debut in 2024, Cyr was runner-up in 1/2-1600. His stock car résumé also includes starts in Busch North and the Whelen Modified Tour.

Unlike Johnson, a seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champ, the Hoar–Cyr tandem is competing in Friday’s Limited Race. Jake Kennedy will serve as co-driver of their Jake’s Fabworks buggy.

Featured image credit: American Canadian Tour