RPW Exclusive: Tanner Holmes To Pilot Buch Motorsports #13 at World Finals; Planning Full-Time High Limit Run in 26′

Exclusive By: DYLAN TERRY / RPW – WATERTOWN, NY – In announcement posted on social media this evening, Tanner Holmes and the Buch Motorsports #13 sprint car team based out of Central PA will be teaming up for the upcoming World of Outlaws World Finals at The Dirt Track at Charlotte. The fun doesn’t stop there however, as an entire High Limit Racing campaign in 2026 is also expected for the duo.

Holmes takes over the seat of the iconic #13 after this year’s High Limit Rayce Rudeen Rookie of The Year Award winner Daison Pursley announced his departure from the team last week to replace the retiring Brad Sweet as the full-time driver at Kasey Kahne Racing.

While Buch had many driver options to choose from with the seemingly non-stop sprint car silly season, Tanner seems like a great fit for the Tom Buch owned team. Tanner showed great strides this year behind the wheel of the Tommy Tarlton owned #21, as well as in his family owned #18T operation as he continued to gain experience against the best in the business.

In 19 races against High Limit in 2025, Holmes tallied four top fives and six top ten finishes. He also participated in a few races with the World of Outlaws Sprint Cars, where he posted two top ten finishes in 8 starts.

He perhaps shined the brightest in the appearances he had in the King of the West NARC 410 Sprint Car Series this season. In 16 appearances with NARC, he scored two victories, nine top fives and six top ten finishes. This is very impressive, as numerous high quality regional drivers make scattered starts with NARC throughout a season. Some of these drivers include Dominic Scelzi, Shane Golobic, Tanner Carrick, Trey Starks and more.

Prior to last season, Holmes also already has previous experience on the road. Not long ago, he filled in for Shark Racing during the second half of the 2023 World of Outlaws campaign, piloting the #1A while Jacob Allen had taken some time off from the sport. He had a few solid runs with the “Greatest Show on Dirt” during that stint also. In his career with both national touring series’ combined, he has a total of 90 starts, with eight top fives and sixteen top tens.

There will be a little pressure on Holmes however, as a long list of successful wheelmen have had the opportunity to drive the legendary #13 machine. Names like Kyle Larson, Paul McMahan, Danny Dietrich, and Justin Peck have all been behind the wheel of the Buch owned entry at one point. Peck and the aforementioned Pursley both were blossoming into their sprint car careers when they jumped into the #13 car, similar to Holmes’ current situation. They both went on to show flashes of potential, which enabled them both to earn the opportunities to branch out and become household names on the national stage. If Tanner can jump in and show speed immediately, it may even catapult his career forward at an even faster rate than this past season.

Sean Strausbaugh will return for another year on the wrenches, and is one of the most underrated crew chiefs in the entire pit area. He proves to be a veteran leader for the young Holmes, and has a ton of experience about life on the road after working with Peck and Pursley throughout the past few seasons. He has been to many racetracks that Holmes has limited experience at, and I feel that this could pay dividends for Tanner as he logs more laps at those places. I personally could see this duo gelling very quickly, and I think they might be able to surprise some people by making some noise right out of the box.

Holmes looks to be a prime candidate to follow in Pursley’s footsteps and win the Rayce Rudeen Rookie of The Year Award next season with High Limit, which will be his highly anticipated first season full-time on a National Tour.

Stay tuned for one of the most intriguing new combinations in recent memory to make their first appearance together at next week’s World Finals at Charlotte, and keep an eye out for them to be a darkhorse next season at every track they show up to.