16 years of hard work screeched to an untimely end at Phoenix last weekend. Gene Haas’ 2002 creation Haas CNC Racing bloomed into a thriving enterprise in 2008. Tony Stewart joined hands with Haas and kicked off Stewart-Haas Racing, a stellar team that clinched 70 Cup Series victories and two championships. But all the cheers in the grandstands and the victory confetti have died down. 2024 marked the team’s end – but former SHR driver Kevin Harvick cannot come to grips with this reality.

The former racer hung up his firesuit in 2023, taking up the microphone in Fox Sports’ broadcast booth. Despite spending almost a decade in SHR, he could not believe it when Stewart announced shuttering the team earlier in May. From a Stewart-Haas spat to a dwindling economic situation, several theories emerged. But what remained was the 300+ employees’ fates, forever marred by this unexpected change.

The people matter the most for Kevin Harvick

Granted, SHR holds an elite spot in the NASCAR Cup Series due to its achievements. Kevin Harvick was an intimate part of them – after moving into the team in 2014, he immediately oozed gold. Pairing with crew chief Rodney Childers, he won five races that year en route to the championship. The duo brought home 37 trophies for the organization by the time Harvick left in 2023. Despite these material accomplishments, the veteran racer chooses to focus more on the people of SHR. When Stewart dropped the news bomb in May, one thought predominated the team’s office – what next?

Most employees found jobs for the next season – Josh Berry, Chase Briscoe, and Noah Gragson have confirmed Cup rides – the atmosphere is different. In a recent Kevin Harvick’s Happy Hour episode, Harvick harped on being treated like strangers in a place where they once called home. “Those guys aren’t even allowed back in the shop. They had to drop their computers off, they took their company vehicles and they’ll never go back in the shop. Their offices have been cleaned out for a couple weeks and now they are in a weird circumstance like this, all those guys are starting at their new jobs tomorrow and Wednesday. It’s been hard to kind of take all that in and really realize that Stewart-Haas Racing is gone.”

SHR drivers in both Cup and Xfinity paid the last tributes. Chase Briscoe won the last regular season race in Darlington. Then Riley Herbst won in Phoenix last weekend, leading 167 of 213 laps. Kevin Harvick tipped his hat to these wins, and also to Stewart for ensuring the end is as less painful as possible. “I’m glad Tony was there to be able to talk to everybody and be a part of the last event. And also for Riley [Herbst] to go back to Victory Lane. What a way to end that, and now it transfers over to Haas Factory Team. We’ll see if it’s the same type of successful organization that is has been for so many years.”

Yet the sting may take a while to go away. SHR’s demise even got other teams shedding a tear or two.

A true loss for NASCAR

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Rodney Childers’ basement is filled with his old team’s memorabilia. They include trophies, die-cast cars, champagne bottles, firesuits, and more from Cup Series races that he won with Kevin Harvick. Although there is little room, Childers admitted, “I wish I had paid the extra money to get every trophy.” Harvick wishes that SHR be remembered for the culture that three-time Cup champion Tony Stewart brought there. The race shop had a blue-collar, racer’s attitude. If there was work to be done and ways to be faster, there were people who could make it happen. Harvick tearfully said, “It was a racer’s mentality in everything that we did. And allowed me to win a championship and work with a lot of great people for a decade. Hard to believe that it is gone today.”

And the SHR team members are not alone in their sadness. Hendrick Motorsports racer Chase Elliott sang praises for Stewart, who accomplished marvels in leading a glorious team. “I always thought it was really cool that he went out and did that and had success with it and made it work. You hate to see them go just because the overall health of our sport wants and needs healthy race teams, and they’ve been a healthy race team.”

2024 Cup champion Joey Logano said that SHR’s presence secured many people’s careers. “It’s sad to see it go, but they also should be proud of what they achieved with their championships and the impact they made in the sport for everybody. There were a lot of jobs there and in our industry. There’s a lot of people who have really benefited having them around.”

SHR’s demise clearly left a deep, bloody wound in the NASCAR community. The team’s legacy will live on for years and continue to influence future racers.