Breaking hearts and shattering dreams! The news of Stewart-Haas Racing’s demise in 2025 hit the community like a thunderbolt. Most team members believed that SHR was just selling a couple of their charters. However, what they didn’t know was about their impending unemployment possibilities by the end of the year. For a team with such big names involved like Tony Stewart as an owner, such a dive down is definitely surprising.

But not for Brett Griffin though!

Brett Griffin saw the beginning of the end for SHR coming!

SHR disbanding had everyone in the flips. Even Kevin Harvick, seemed taken aback, saying “It’s unbelievable to me that we went from 4Ever to 4Ward to 4Sale in 6 months”. However, according to Brett Griffin, having anticipated the team’s closure already, seemed more surprised by Harvick’s reaction! 

The spotter, in the recent episode of the Door Bumper Clear podcast, went down memory lane to talk about SHR’s beginnings to find the root cause of the issues. Mentioning how Gene Haas lacked any OEM support when he first joined the sport, Griffin said it was Tony Stewart’s inclusion into the team that made it possible. Notably, at this time, Tony had moved from Chevrolet to Toyota while racing with Joe Gibbs. But he preferred Chevrolet, and was reportedly unhappy with the change. Soon after, the former Cup racer left JGR and opted to drive for SHR.

However, the team switched to Ford later in 2o17 and reportedly that’s where the problems started, according to Griffin. “They switched over to the Ford brand. They got a big money deal. I mean, we remember hearing and I don’t know how many years this term was, but we remember hearing a $60 million deal and it’s like ‘Holy cow, this is an, obviously Ford wants Stewart-Haas racing badly’. Well, obviously Ford elected not to continue their OEM relationship with Gene Haas, Tony Stewart, Stewart Haas racing. That’s when the end started coming.”

This decision was the nail in the coffin for the team, that was already facing various issues, including a dearth of Victory Lane visits dating back to 2022. And while that’s a clear indication of why things went haywire, this brings us to the question: 

Why did Ford leave SHR? 

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Stewart-Haas Racing is one of the biggest names in NASCAR and no one can deny that. However, ever since the Next-Gen era rolled over, they have been struggling. SHR’s performance has declined considerably, and perhaps that strained their relationship with Ford. The OEM has also faced a similar fate in the last three years, finishing last in the manufacturers’ standings.

Interestingly, though, despite their overall performance, the team managed to pick up the championship with Team Penske for two consecutive years. So maybe SHR’s individual performance forced the manufacturer to take such a drastic step? 

On the other hand, it could simply be a case of disinterest. While other Ford teams like Front Row Motorsports and RFK seem to be more devoted to the sport, the same cannot be said about the team owners. Gene Haas, who owns the Haas F1 team and Tony Stewart’s recent interest in NHRA, alongside his wife Leah Pruett, has evidently kept them away from their NASCAR commitments. Just last year, Stewart was heavily criticized when he failed to turn up for a photo session honoring Kevin Harvick, with some fans even demanding he sell his team.   

Speaking of Kevin Harvick, his retirement last year also stood out like a sore thumb. Adding to that misery, eight Cup series sponsors, namely Busch Light, Gearwrench, Go Bowling, Hunt Brothers Pizza, Magical Vacation Planner, Pristine Auction, Rheem, and Smithfield, left the team, too. Major sponsor Anheuser-Busch went to Ross Chastain at Trackhouse Racing. However, not just that, 2023 was the team’s worst season, as they went winless in NASCAR’s top tourney, since Tony Stewart joined in 2009.

It seems the team was slowly inching toward its end with multiple factors playing the role of a catalyst.