By John Sturbin, Raceday San Antonio
Stewart Haas-Racing is planning a NASCAR-style estate sale.
SHR, the Kannapolis, N.C.-based organization fronted by NASCAR Hall of Famer Tony Stewart, shocked the motorsports community earlier this week by confirming plans to shutter its Ford-backed NASCAR operation at the end of the 2024 season.
A three-time Cup Series champion, Stewart and co-owner/entrepreneur Gene Haas said in a statement the decision was neither easy nor made quickly.
“Racing is a labor-intensive, humbling sport,” the partners said. “It requires unwavering commitment and vast resources, with a 365-day mindset to be better than everyone else. It’s part of what makes success so rewarding.
“But the commitment needed to extract maximum performance while providing sustainability is incredibly demanding, and we’ve reached a point in our respective personal and business lives where it’s time to pass the torch.
“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. 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.
“We have tremendous respect and appreciation for all of our employees, and we will work diligently to assist them during this transition to find new opportunities beyond the 2024 race season.”
Stewart-Haas Racing’s four-car Cup roster fields the Nos. 4, 10, 14 and 41 Ford Mustangs for drivers Josh Berry, Noah Gragson, Chase Briscoe and Ryan Preece, respectively. Two Xfinity Series teams also carry the SHR banner with Cole Custer and Riley Herbst.
The team reportedly was set to lose some of its support from OEM Ford at season’s end, although Mark Rushbrook, global director of Ford Performance, told The Associated Press last week he had no idea what SHR was planning beyond this year.
SHR lost major sponsorship this season when Smithfield Foods exited NASCAR and Anheuser-Busch moved to rival Trackhouse Racing.
As the owner of fledgling Tony Stewart Racing, Stewart is deeply involved in the National Hot Rod Association. Stewart, 53, is in his first full season driving a nitromethane-powered Top Fuel car _ a ride previously assigned to his wife, Leah Pruett. TSR also fields a nitro Funny Car for four-time/reigning NHRA world champion Matt Hagan.
Like Stewart, Haas has become an absentee owner in NASCAR. Haas’ primary focus is Haas F1, a two-car team competing in the FIA’s Formula One World Championship. Haas, 71, also was ill for much of last year. Part of Haas’ F1 team is run from the Kannapolis shop. It is unclear if that arrangement will continue or if Haas has plans to also depart F1 and its demanding, globe-trotting grind.
Also to be determined is the fate of the four NASCAR charters SHR holds, guaranteeing entry into the starting field every race weekend. Last year Spire Motorsports purchased a charter for $40-million, but actual charter values fluctuate annually.
Haas has fielded Cup Series entries each season since 2002, originally under the banner of Haas CNC Racing. Stewart had won Cup championships with Joe Gibbs Racing in 2003 and 2005 before opting in 2008 to take an equity stake and opportunity to help Haas’ small, struggling team contend for wins and championships.
During its inaugural season in 2009, SHR fielded a two-car lineup featuring Stewart _ aka “Smoke Johnson” _ and 2008 Daytona 500 winner Ryan Newman, along with a technical alliance with Hendrick Motorsports and General Motors.
Stewart scored the organization’s first victory in the non-points 2009 NASCAR All-Star Race, then went to Victory Lane at Pocono Raceway to post the team’s first points-paying victory three weeks later. Stewart ultimately scored four wins in the team’s inaugural season in the No. 14 Chevrolet.
Success continued in 2011, when Stewart and crew chief Darian Grubb won a staggering five of 10 races in the NASCAR Playoffs _ including the season-finale _ to claim Stewart-Haas Racing’s first Cup Series championship. Stewart edged Roush Fenway Racing’s Carl Edwards, a Class of 2025 NASCAR Hall of Fame inductee, for the title in a rare tiebreaker.
Stewart-Haas Racing expanded to a three-car operation for the 2013 season with former INDYCAR headliner Danica Patrick in the No. 10 car before adding a fourth car in 2014. Kevin Harvick moved from Richard Childress Racing in Welcome, N.C., to SHR’s re-numbered No. 4 car with crew chief Rodney Childers, and 2004 Cup champion Kurt Busch, who slotted into the team’s new No. 41 car.
In their first year together, Harvick and Childers collaborated on a five-win campaign that resulted in a Cup championship. The pairing lasted a decade, culminating in 37 of “Happy” Harvick’s 60 career victories before his retirement after the 2023 season.
Busch added a milestone win to his resume _ as well as Stewart’s _ by winning the 2017 Daytona 500 with crew chief Tony Gibson calling strategy. Stewart never won the “Great American Race” as a driver but celebrated the victory as a team co-owner during his first season following his retirement from Cup in 2016.
Additional drivers during SHR’s Cup tenure included Clint Bowyer, Aric Almirola, Daniel Suárez and Cole Custer.
Stewart-Haas hasn’t won at the Cup level since August 2022, when Harvick scored consecutive victories at Michigan International Speedway and Richmond Raceway. Overall, the company has earned 69 wins, 339 top-fives and 695 top-10s through last Sunday’s Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway in Concord, N.C.
The team expanded in 2017 to the Xfinity Series, where SHR has accumulated 22 wins, 104 top-fives and 181 top-10s in a combined 294 starts through last weekend’s race at CMS. Custer, who drives SHR’s No. 00 Ford, won the Xfinity Series championship in 2023.
