“Charter truth is going to be out there now…no one actually wants to hear what they’re really worth.” An anonymous NASCAR team executive uttered these words soon after Tony Stewart announced his team’s untimely demise in May. Stewart-Haas Racing’s downfall set off a new conversation about how charters can hurt race teams. It was one reason that eventually led to the NASCAR lawsuit filed by Michael Jordan and Co.

NASCAR may be in a revolutionary stage at present, with 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports breathing down its neck. Even amidst doubts about whether the charter system will stay, Tony Stewart still hopes to profit from his crumbling team. Especially because his team’s spin-off is looking to expand its footing.

NASCAR hindering Tony Stewart’s dollar quest

After SHR announced its exit at the end of 2024, it signaled the end of a 70-time Cup race-winning era. But it also offered hope for others’ expansion plans. 23XI Racing planned to expand into a two-car team, while Front Row Motorsports already bought a charter for a rumored $25 million. Gene Haas, planning to continue his racing ventures with the Haas Factory Team, also offered an avenue of profit. However, Tony Stewart’s dollar quest has hit a roadblock. With both Denny Hamlin’s team and FRM battling NASCAR in court, intense doubt rises about the sanctioning body’s willingness to grant the charters to these teams—provided they win the court case, of course.

This situation is more concerning given that the Haas Factory Team has planned for further expansion. NASCAR journalist Bob Pockrass updated this jittery situation for Tony Stewart on X. “Haas signed the extension for four charters. Both FRM and SHR plan to purchase one and it is up to NASCAR to approve the transfer of those charters. Nothing in the filing shows whether NASCAR would approve it or not (obviously SHR would want sale to go through for the $$).”

This presents immense irony, as Tony Stewart‘s team may have fallen through due to NASCAR’s unstable racing policy in the first place. Based on the idea of independent contractors since 1949, NASCAR operated under year-to-year contracts that provided no long-term viability to any team. The 2016 charter system guarantees a team a seat in the Cup Series, but dwindling performance can easily strip it of sponsorship and future growth.

Chasing sponsorship often ate up most of the teams’ time, and they found themselves competing with NASCAR itself. This “constant state of financial vulnerability” may be what drove Tony Stewart to shutter his Cup Series championship-winning team.

Even amidst this volatile state of affairs, Gene Haas is determined to carve something valuable out of SHR’s new version.

Haas’ new team is planning to score big

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Gene Haas entered the NASCAR scene in 2002 with the Haas CNC Racing team. But he did not taste true success until Tony Stewart joined hands with him in 2008. The NASCAR Hall of Famer immediately led Stewart-Haas Racing to success in the 2009 Pocono race. Then a championship followed in 2011.

SHR went on to achieve further glory and success until NASCAR’s inequitable racing system toppled it. However, Haas has resolved to take the Haas Factory Team to similar glory. The team has entered into a technical alliance in 2025 with RFK Racing. The latter is a stellar Ford team boasting 324 Cup Series wins. Under Brad Keselowski’s tutelage, it has attained new heights of success recently.

Cole Custer, holding wins across three NASCAR national series, will drive the No. 41 Ford for HFT in the 2025 Cup Series season. He expressed confidence in the team’s prospects. “Taking all the resources that we bring to the table and combining it with their success and the resources they have, we look forward to RFK and Haas Factory Team competing for wins and championships shoulder to shoulder. Along with Ford as a partner, we’re lacking no resources going into next year. People-wise, human capital, I’m happy to say we’re well on the way there to putting together the team capable of competing for wins.”

However, the NASCAR-Michael Jordan stalemate may end up affecting the Cup Series garage. Let us see how far the lawsuit rolls and if Tony Stewart can scrape together some gains from his 16-year-old legacy team.