On Tuesday, as expected, Stewart-Haas Racing announced it was closing shop at season’s end.
When Gene Haas and Tony Stewart say they no longer have “the commitment needed to extract maximum performance while providing sustainability” to maintain four competitive NASCAR Cup teams, believe them.
In a joint announcement, the co-owners cited the business “is incredibly demanding, and we’ve reached a point in our respective personal and business lives where it’s time to pass the torch.”
For fans, however, that torch has been extinguished. Gone are the Smoke glory days. Gone is a franchise driver such as Kevin Harvick or even a novelty like Danica Patrick. And gone are the seasons in which half of the roster or more would advance to the Playoffs.
After multi-tour champion Stewart joined forces with the owner of the previously named Haas CNC Racing in 2009, racing became the core of Stewart-Haas Racing’s DNA. SHR was an organization built by racers for racers.
Stewart brought a name, a reputation and plenty of sponsor support to launch a company that enjoyed instant success. Stewart had star power. But after the three-time champion was injured in 2013 and Haas expanded to add F1 to his portfolio one year later, the only constants over the last decade were Harvick and crew chief Rodney Childers.
Over 16 seasons, Stewart and Harvick combined for three Cup titles and 53 of the company’s 69 wins. Kurt Busch contributed six victories over five winning seasons, but Harvick established himself as the alpha driver after earning the championship in his first year with the company.
But in his final year, SHR’s performance had deteriorated to the point where even Harvick couldn’t win during his swan song. His 157 laps led were the fewest since joining the team and ranked third among the four drivers.
Harvick’s retirement from SHR left a gaping void when it came to team leadership. Stewart’s time was and still is split trying to establish a life and family with Leah Pruett—along with a new career in drag racing. Haas had businesses, F1 and his health to contend with.
In the offseason, Stewart had his own medical issue to address. He underwent shoulder surgery. Had he not, it’s unlikely whether Stewart could have competed in 2024.
Stewart recovered quickly. And prior to kicking off the 2024 season, he was optimistic regarding his young stable of drivers. Newcomers Noah Gragson and Josh Berry joined five-year SHR veteran Chase Briscoe and Ryan Preece.
For the first time in a long time, SHR had a full roster of racers behind the wheels of their cars.
“It’s been fun so far, but we’ve got to move the needle for sure,” Stewart said. “We’ve been at the shop and we’ve been talking to the guys…”
Stewart’s next statement, however, provided insight to the owner’s recent sentiment. He was tired of armchair quarterbacks criticizing the organization and blaming Stewart for the downturn.
“It absolutely blows my mind still that race fans can’t grasp the concept that I don’t set the cars up, I don’t decide what the set-ups are, I don’t make the changes,” Stewart added. “It’s fun to sit there and read some of the comments. It’s like, man, it makes me really feel a lot better about myself because people couldn’t figure this stuff out…but, man, we’ve been working hard.”
The introduction of the new Ford Mustang Dark Horse has been a struggle for all of the Blue Oval teams, including SHR. Brad Keselowski’s win two races ago at Darlington Raceway was the first for the new car—and it took 13 races to reach Victory Lane.
While the SHR drivers haven’t set the world afire, clearly there have been gains over the first 14 races. Although Briscoe and Gragson lead the club’s effort with five top 10s each, under Childers’ direction Berry has posted consecutive top 10s in the last two points races and finished third in the All-Star Open.
On the Xfinity Series side of SHR, defending champion Cole Custer is still seeking his first win of 2024. The 26-year-old racer is currently third in the standings and holding his own against the Joe Gibbs Racing Toyotas and JR Motorsports Chevrolets.
Still, it’s hard to fathom a perennial contender shuttering its doors at the end of 2024, particularly an organization with such a storied past.
“We’re proud of all the wins and championships we’ve earned since joining together in 2009, but even more special is the culture we built and the friendships we forged as we committed to a common cause – winning races and collecting trophies,” the statement read.
“That is the same commitment we made to our personnel, our partners and our fans coming into this year, and that commitment will remain through the season finale at Phoenix.”
After Phoenix, there will be no torch to be passed, just key cards, computer codes and four charters. If the tea leaves are correct, SHR signage at 6001 Haas Way in Kannapolis, N.C., will be replaced with Front Row Motorsports. FRM is expected to acquire at least one of the charters and possibly two of the SHR drivers.
Briscoe, who came through the Ford development program, could potentially be one of those drivers. He has also been rumored as a replacement for Harrison Burton in the No. 21 Wood Brothers Ford. After rehabilitating himself with SHR, Gragson is another hot commodity, particularly with support from Bass Pro Shops.
Two of the remaining charters appear headed for Trackhouse Racing and 23XI Racing. When 23XI co-owner Denny Hamlin was asked about procuring an SHR charter, he appeared lukewarm because NASCAR hasn’t yet solidified its new charter agreement.
“Not until we understand the NASCAR charter deal,” Hamlin said. “We still haven’t got anything back from them so it’s a sit-and-wait. We don’t have any charters now until we get a charter deal done. So, I can’t buy something that doesn’t exist.
“We just don’t know what the financials are going to be. Again, we need to see what the financials will be from NASCAR so we know whether expanding is a viable option for us or not.
“They said soon, but we’ve got to see it first.”
Another team owner who has been keen on expansion is Brad Keselowski. However, he too wants to see what the sanctioning body proposes before making the investment.
“We certainly always have our ear to the ground but I don’t think we have anything that we are in a position to talk about or I would consider to be close,” Keselowski said. “We’re always in the market until we get to what appears to be the new rule of three cars as the cap. I think we’ll always be in the market.”
One final scenario has SHR COO Joe Custer retaining the fourth charter. Custer could continue to operate the Xfinity Series teams which currently run out of the F1 shop in N.C. Ford has discussed expanding its NXS footprint in NASCAR.
SHR’s statement concluded by thanking its employees and offering “to assist them during this transition.” A 300-plus workforce could be difficult to place but providing a head start with six months remaining in the season is considerably more advantageous than receiving pink slips following the Phoenix finale in November.
Follow Lee Spencer on Twitter @CandiceSpencer or email her at: [email protected].
