Gene Haas wants to stay in NASCAR with his own team even after the end of his collaboration with Tony Stewart
Stewart-Haas Racing is dead, long live the Haas Factory Team: In a surprising twist, Gene Haas announced on Thursday that he will remain a team owner in NASCAR in 2025. The US entrepreneur intends to continue his involvement with a new team, albeit on a much smaller scale than previously in the joint team with Tony Stewart.
“My involvement in motorsport has not changed, only the scope of my involvement,” Haas explained in a statement. “Running a four-car team in the Cup Series has become too costly, but at the same time I still need a platform to promote Haas Automation and grow HaasTooling.com.”
Instead of four, Haas plans to field only one car in the NASCAR Cup Series next year. In the Xfinity Series, two cars will be used as before under the Stewart-Haas promotion.
“The continued presence in the Cup Series will allow Haas Automation to compete at the highest level of NASCAR, which is important to our customers and distributors,” said Haas. “The Xfinity Series program provides a complete weekend experience for our customers and adds depth and scale to our overall business.”
Joe Custer, currently President of Stewart-Haas Racing, will also assume this role on the new Haas team. The team will operate out of the existing Stewart-Haas facility in Kannapolis, North Carolina.
Haas’ announcement means that only three of the current Stewart-Haas team’s charter seats will be vacant in the Cup Series after the 2024 season. Front Row Motorsports has already announced its intention to acquire one of those three charters.
Haas has been active in NASCAR as a team owner since 2002. In 2009, it joined forces with Stewart, who was still active as a driver at the time. In 2011, Stewart won the Cup Series championship for SHR, followed by a second title in 2014 with Kevin Harvick. To date, the team has won 69 Cup races.
At the end of May 2024, Haas and Stewart announced that the joint team would not continue beyond the 2024 season
