Associated Press
Jun 20, 2024, 08:18 PM ET
KANNAPOLIS, N.C. -- NASCAR team owner Gene Haas will remain in the Cup Series and field one car in 2025 in the wake of the decision to shutter the organization he owns with Tony Stewart at the end of the season.
Haas will keep one of the four charters that belong to Stewart-Haas Racing and will operate next season as the Haas Factory Team. He will also run a two-car NASCAR Xfinity Series team.
Haas did not name any drivers for next season.
"My commitment to motorsports hasn't changed, just the scope of my involvement," Haas said. "Operating a four-car Cup Series team has become too arduous but, at the same time, I still need a platform to promote Haas Automation and grow HaasTooling.com."
Stewart-Haas Racing is a two-time NASCAR championship team with 69 Cup Series victories since its 2009 formation. SHR this year fields Cup cars for Josh Berry, Chase Briscoe, Noah Gragson and Ryan Preece.
Front Row Motorsports said last month it purchased a charter that will expand the NASCAR team to three cars in the Cup Series in 2025. Front Row did not reveal the seller, but the announcement came one day after Stewart-Haas Racing said it was shuttering its four-car Cup team.
NASCAR's charter system guarantees entry into all 36 Cup races each season and thus guarantees revenue from the series' television package through participation.
Gene Haas founded Haas CNC Racing in 2002, and the California businessman lured Stewart in as a co-owner ahead of the 2009 season. Stewart had won two Cup championships for Joe Gibbs Racing at the time but couldn't turn down an equity stake and opportunity to help a small team contend for titles.
Stewart in his 2009 debut season gave the rebranded team its first Cup victory -- he won four races that year -- and its first Cup title in 2011. Kevin Harvick added a second championship in 2014.
Haas spends most of his time with his Formula 1 team and Stewart is driving a full NHRA schedule, making both absentee owners at NASCAR events. The 71-year-old Haas was also ill for much of last year.
The NASCAR team is primarily run by Joe Custer, the chief operating officer and longtime Gene Haas confidant. His son, Cole, won the Xfinity championship last year for SHR.
Custer will remain president of Haas Factory Team, which will operate out of the existing Stewart-Haas facility in Kannapolis, North Carolina.
