Tony Stewart might have taken an exit route from team ownership, but his partner Gene Haas certainly had a different idea. With SHR deciding to end its NASCAR story after the 2024 season, it felt like Gene was also done with stock car racing. However, his surprise announcement caught everyone off-guard, stating he would retain one charter under the name of the Haas Factory team. This move does make sense for Gene to promote his business. But what about competitiveness?

If you think about it, success in NASCAR will automatically help promote Gene Haas’ business. They go hand in hand. However, as far as competitiveness goes, it will be hard for HFT to go up against their rivals, according to NASCAR insider Brett Griffin. He also highlighted the drawbacks and financial constraints his new team will have to undergo when fielding a single-car team in the Cup Series, outlining that…

There’s more to running a successful race team than just owning a charter

There were rumors about Gene deciding to stick around in the NASCAR Cup Series with a potential partnership or merger. However, he made his intentions clear by announcing his own program and retaining a charter. “My commitment to motorsports hasn’t changed, just the scope of my involvement,” he said. But owning a charter is just not enough to run a race team. It has to be noted that they are without a driver, an OEM partner, and sponsors that can aid their new project.

This is exactly what Griffin was trying to explain while speaking on the Door Bumper Clear podcast. “I’m surprised at this one-car team because it is really difficult to be successful. It changes the economics of it greatly. So the expense of owning a one-car team per car costs more money.” That’s when he highlighted what could potentially be HFT’s most significant roadblock: “No factory support is probably my biggest concern here for them going out and being competitive, which has been a few years since they won anyway.”

Since its inception, Stewart-Haas Racing has won 69 Cup Series races and 2 championships (2011 and 2014). However, for the first time since Haas and Stewart’s partnership began in 2009, the team didn’t win a Cup race over the course of a season (2023). Things aren’t looking much better this year, with the team’s last win coming at Richmond Raceway in August 2022 at the hands of SHR’s winningest driver, Kevin Harvick.

Griffin further opined that this charter moving to a tier-one team like RFK Racing or RCR would’ve made sense. “When we were talking about this fourth charter, you know RFK was in talks potentially picking it up. Richard Childress Racing was in talks of picking it up. For me, those are the tier-one OEM teams. So clearly, I think that charter is more competitive if it is farmed out of these teams, but obviously, that’s not happening.” 

With SHR ceasing its racing operation, Tony Stewart can now focus on his NHRA racing. Meanwhile, Gene Haas will have to return to the drawing board to develop his new team. One of the key components for the Haas Factory Team in building up their program will be the addition of a talented driver to their line-up. That’s where SHR’s Xfinity team could come into play. While Gene Haas is retaining just one charter in the Cup Series, both cars in the Xfinity Series will stay in commission.

Commenting on that situation, Griffin said, “We know Joe [Custer, team president] is already doing a lot of stuff for the Xfinity team. So it makes business sense for that operation to carry on. I hear Ryan Preece’s name as a potential driver there.” So, if Ryan Preece looks like he’s headed back to the Xfinity Series, who could potentially drive Haas’ Cup charter in 2025?

Haas Factory Team has multiple options in terms of driver choice

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There is no shortage of talent as far as silly season drama goes. Excluding Chase Briscoe, all three SHR drivers are still searching for a new ride, and this news would’ve rekindled their hopes of continuing with the same team. Josh Berry has been linked to a move to FRM, which has not one but two empty seats, so it will be tough for HFT to attract new talents to a team that essentially hasn’t got their house in order.

Noah Gragson is an option they could look to add, as he brings sponsorship, which solves one of their big problems. But again, if RCR or another major team acquires an extra charter and tries to get hold of the driver, it will be hard for HFT to compete against them. This is where their Xfinity team comes into the picture. Cole Custer has proven his mettle by winning the 2023 championship, and he is already sponsored by the Haas group. So it wouldn’t be a surprise to see Custer return to Cup racing.

For 3 seasons, from 2020 to 2022, Custer drove for Stewart-Haas Racing. Although his career there didn’t turn out how he wanted, Custer managed a win in his first season. Seeing as the 26-year-old has honed his skills after returning to the Xfinity Series, even NASCAR content creator Eric Estepp said, “I think Cole Custer will drive for Haas Factory Team in Cup.”

For the time being, it is still early to say what the Haas Factory team will look like rolling into the 2025 season. Apart from just owning a charter, they have to develop a race team from the ground up, which will be a mighty big challenge for them.