A horde of shuffles is presently affecting NASCAR at the moment. This Silly Season’s biggest upheaval set off when Tony Stewart and Gene Haas rolled out a sad piece of news; Stewart-Haas Racing shutting operations after 15 years of stellar Cup Series racing. Some drivers have found tickets to the future, while others are still waiting. As for the team itself, a new story awaits.

And Brad Keselowski will be an integral part of this tale of resurgence. The reduced SHR team, now called the Haas Factory team, would harness the technical clout of Keselowski’s fold. And this may lay down a bright future for the crumbling team after all.

Brad Keselowski may pave SHR’s future

Revamping a team and harnessing its past glory is no mean thing. Kyle Busch has not been able to do that with Richard Childress Racing. However, when Brad Keselowski left Team Penske and joined RFK Racing in 2022, he had a goal in mind. Besides becoming a team owner, Keselowski also rehashed the work culture and business model of his new team. And the results were visible – Chris Buescher achieved his longest winning streak of three trophies under RFK.

Now Brad Keselowski is focused on bringing up other teams from the ashes, albeit more indirectly. Last year, he allied with Rick Ware Racing, giving Justin Haley the push for his Cup season. Haas Factory Team, the team that Gene Haas is carving out of SHR’s remaining charters, will align with RFK. They will strike a technical alliance with more help from Ford Performance. This distinctly resembles the relationship SHR had with Hendrick Motorsports from 2011 to 2016. However, Joe Custer, manager of the new Haas operation, begged to differ.

Custer talked to the press about this new dynamic, drawing a comparison with the Hendrick relationship. “There’s elements similar, but we don’t manufacture, you know, that much anymore, naturally…It’s an open book, 100%. We’re focused on software, Sim, and things of that nature with those folks for next year. There’s already a relationship on the aero side.”

He further detailed the areas where Brad Keselowski would help the Haas Factory team flourish. “What we plan on bringing to the table are the systems, the dinos…the capital investment that we have in our shop. And they’re looking at some of the human capital and engineering resources from them…The willingness and the open book is there. And again, Brad’s really stepped up, and we’re excited about that relationship.”

This relationship is bound to be bountiful, as Haas Factory Team would host a stellar Xfinity driver for the Cup Series next year, who has earned respect across NASCAR’s tiers with his remarkable runs.

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Haas’ star driver carries a lot of faith

Gene Haas is clearly intent on carrying forward the Stewart-Haas Racing winning tradition. After announcing his plans to formulate the Haas Factory team, he tapped into one of the biggest Xfinity talents. Cole Custer is the reigning series champion, with four victories since the start of 2023. Also, Custer leads the points with seven races left in the regular season, achieving his first victory at Pocono Raceway last weekend.

Hence, Haas is sure that Custer would score numbers for not only his race team but also his company, Haas Automation. “Cole has represented Haas Automation for more than half his life and he’s delivered results every step of the way, He just wins and he’s proven that repeatedly. On his way to winning the Xfinity Series championship last year, Cole really carved out an identity for himself, on the track and off. He brings home trophies and he races people clean. He’s earned a lot of respect from his peers, and he’s a genuine personality whose hard work resonates with our customers.”

Cole Custer owns just one Cup Series win, but that came in his rookie year of 2020 at Kentucky Speedway. So Haas is confident about his return to the Cup next year. “The NASCAR Cup Series is tough, but Cole is coming back wiser and tougher. We’re very happy to have him in our colors and in our race car.”

Under the guidance of Brad Keselowski and Gene Haas, Cole Custer will surely shine, and bring wiins as he takes the Cup Series stint next year.