With Stewart Haas Racing shutting down its racing operations in NASCAR, it felt like something was amiss. Gene Haas had been associated with NASCAR well before he forged a partnership with Smoke in 2009. Therefore, it was expected that he would remain in the NASCAR scene in some capacity.

Well, he did make his move clear, announcing that he would retain a charter for himself and run a single-car team. The new entity was named Haas Factory Team. However, the job wasn’t done yet for Gene, as he needed to land a driver who could lead the charge for his new brainchild from 2025 onwards. With good options, such as Chase Briscoe, Noah Gragson, and Josh Berry, all finding seats with different teams, it was going to be a tough ask to find a good pick.

However, the rumor mills did suggest that Xfinity Series driver Cole Custer is the front-runner to bag a seat at HFT. This speculation was further confirmed by NASCAR Insider Bob Pockrass, who shared an update regarding this situation. “Cole Custer will announce his 2025 plans Saturday morning in Indianapolis. The media alert has a Haas logo on it. He is the favorite to land the Cup ride with the Haas Factory Team,” he shared via his X account.

The fans have been contemplating and predicting the driver that could find a seat at Haas Factory Team. However, now that Bob Pockrass has spilled the beans on the identity of the driver, they were quick to share their thoughts on this development.

Fans react to Cole Custer’s return to Cup Series racing

Custer had previously competed in the Cup Series under the SHR banner, driving the No. 41 car. Although he got off to a good start by winning a race in his first season with the team, but a winless 2022–23 campaign got him demoted to the Xfinity level. He did prove his worth and talent by winning the championship in 2023.

This frustrated fan was quick to land the blame on Stewart for not backing Custer’s talent at SHR. “Unbelievable that he ever lost his ride. Tony had no idea what he was doing as a race team owner.”

Single-car teams aren’t the most competitive in the Cup Series. JTG Daugherty Racing and the Wood Brothers are examples of that. Therefore, this fan was concerned that Cole Custer’s recent run of form might take a hit after leveling up to the Cup Series. “That’s gonna be hard for Cole to be a single car team in this world.”

Although Gene Haas solved the puzzle of finding the right driver to lead his race team. But he will need to have the backing of one of the three manufacturers. 2024 is the last year Ford was signed with SHR, and since then there has been no announcement. This led some curious fans to question HFT’s next move, “With Haas losing favor with ford any chance they may look to another manufacturer.”

Just like Briscoe’s move to JGR was the worst-kept secret, Custer’s move to HFT was certainly not a big surprise or shocker. Taking a sarcastic dig at Bob for this confirmation, a fan wrote, “Never seen this coming.”

However, some fans were predicting more drama, despite Cole Custer’s move to HFT being all but confirmed; “imagine he goes somewhere else and continues the silly season drama (i know not probable but imagine).”

Custer is one of the bright talents out there, and it’s certainly a good step up for him to prove himself against the big dogs once again. However, we will have to wait for the official announcement to know more about this update.