Would Gene Haas succeed at the NASCAR Cup Series level without Tony Stewart’s help? This is the question that a hardcore SHR fan would ask themselves after the two veteran owners have parted ways after the conclusion of the 2024 season. Stewart has decided to shift his focus at NHRA and start a family with his wife Leah Pruett. Whereas, Gene Haas will stick around with a rebranded team, Haas Factory Team, a single-car team at the Cup level.

While the split between the partners looks bitter, the two have nothing but fond memories of the success they’ve achieved during their time together. Not only that, Gene Haas even went on to tip his hat to Smoke to change the fortunes of the team through race wins and championships, something he had struggled with his Haas CNC team.

Gene Haas would’ve liked to continue with Tony Stewart

Before Stewart Haas Racing started competing in the Cup Series in 2009, Gene Haas ran a single-car team. He entered the scene in 2002 as a part-time team with NASCAR Hall of Famer Jack Sprague. But, all these years, he wasn’t able to contest for a race win or come close to winning the championship. All of this changed when Tony Stewart boarded the ship and purchased a 50% stake in the team.

In the very first season driving as owner/driver, Smoke registered four wins. The 2011 season was perhaps the most memorable one for the team. This is the time when Stewart overturned the misfortunes of the regular season being winless to grab five wins in the Chase to win SHR’s first championship. It was the first time in NASCAR history that a tiebreaker decided the championship. Also, Kevin Harvick with the #4 team repeated the triumph in 2014 and became the most consistent team of that decade.

Now compare this to Gene Haas’ Formula 1 run; you see just how big of a difference it is. Although the team dominates the midfield cars on some occasions in F1, it struggles to put in consistent performances and rarely fights to compete for a chance at winning the race. This is why Haas is glad that Stewart joined him and turned the team into winners and championship contenders. “The fun of it is actually, you know, getting to be a winner. Because we were never a winner until Tony Stewart came on board. Now in Formula 1, all we want to do is get a podium, and you know winning is so far out that’s why we keep doing it. Maybe once we win we’ll probably look for something else to do.” Gene said this to SiriusXM NASCAR.

The Haas F1 team has been competing since 2014, when Gene Haas took over the team. But, unlike NASCAR, they haven’t come close to winning multiple races or winning titles. In fact, their focus remains to reach the podiums for the time being. So far, the closest they’ve come to Formula 1 glory is winning the pole position. So you see, Steward indeed was a difference-maker when it came to bringing in the winning mentality and taking Gene’s NASCAR program to new heights.

This message from Gene certainly will allow the fans to see the different side of Smoke’s story after he was criticized for leaving NASCAR for good.

Tony Stewart felt that this was the right time to exit NASCAR

Being the owner of a NASCAR Cup Series team is a different ballgame altogether. Although SHR was part of the Big 4 dynamics from 2011 to 2020 alongside Hendrick Motorsports, Team Penske, and JGR they weren’t able to transition well into the Next Gen era. Kevin Harvick, the team’s star driver, called it quits in 2023; major sponsors pulled their support, and there was no clarity on whether Ford would continue with the team as an OEM partner.

Without the support of sponsors and declining performance on the race track, the owners had to take the tough call of shutting down the team. And this decision comes at a time when there’s a lot of uncertainty about what could happen with the charter system. Both 23XI Racing and FRM have taken NASCAR to court over the charter deal dispute. For Stewart, this was enough for him to pull the plug on his involvement in the sport as an investor and team owner.

“NASCAR is not what it used to be; it is drastically different than what it used to be. And that’s okay for some people; for some people it’s not. I guess I’m one of those people. I have a lot of respect for the France family… But this is a time when things are drastically changing in the sport. You look at what’s going on with 23XI and Front Row Motorsports right now and the direction that things are going. It’s not a direction that I want to be a part of. This was never part of the master plan, but this is the right time for me to get out of the sport.” He said this on the Happy Hour podcast.

It will be fascinating to see how well Gene Haas’ single team does in its debut season and if Stewart’s decision to leave NASCAR was the correct one.