Born in “The Heart of it All,” Gene Haas lived up to his birthplace’s name. The wealthy machine-tool businessman was the best support that Stewart-Haas Racing had right from its inception, keeping the team’s veins pumping. This is a privilege not every NASCAR franchise can claim! Take Furniture Row Motorsports for example, which had to drop its shutters down in 2018, after losing investors.

Gene Haas guided the Stewart-Haas Racing to a glittering race legacy. However, SHR will bid an untimely farewell at the end of this season, owing to many problems. The main issue that crippled the team is sponsorship. The lack of adequate funds pushed Tony Stewart and Haas to let the axe fall, although desperate measures were available.

A big revelation on the fateful decision

Stewart-Haas Racing has seen its glory days flourish through 16 years. And Tony Stewart and Gene Haas’ unusual pairing buoyed the team to 69 Cup victories and 2 championships. On one hand, Stewart’s hard-nosed driving style and IndyCar’s success helped attract sponsors and some of the best talent in the NASCAR garage; On the other hand, Haas was willing to invest the money—both in people and equipment—to win. The two complemented each other Just like peanut butter and jelly!

But in its 15th year, SHR faced its first winless season. This, paired with veterans Kevin Harvick and Aric Almirola leaving to be replaced by rookies, started the domino effect. Their major sponsors left with them, including, Busch Light, Gearwrench, Go Bowling, Hunt Brothers Pizza, Magical Vacation Planner, Pristine Auction, Rheem, and Smithfield. Eventually, SHR decided to shut the shop and sold three of its four charters.

In an episode of Query & Company on Thursday, Tony Stewart shared the real reason behind the difficult decision. He said, “Well, when you make big decisions like that, it’s never easy. But, you know, the situation we were in, we just really didn’t have a choice.”

Yet an escape route did exist—having a millionaire investor as a race team co-partner is no mean thing. However, Tony Stewart let his humble ideals occupy the greater position. “Gene was going to have to write a check. But I wasn’t willing to ask him to write, honestly.” So SHR’s decline was unstoppable. “The amount that we were behind in budget for next year with some of our deals changing and losing a couple of our partners…it financially just put us in the wrong spot, and it continued. So both Gene’s group and our group decided to shut it down at the end of the year.”

It had been a difficult few seasons for SHR, with only four wins since 2021. The eventual departures of Harvick and Almirola left the team in a tough spot, with new drivers unable to hit the ground running. Apart from sponsorship troubles, its deal with Ford was also coming to an end this season, with no talks of a renewal.

Thus, in May this year, Haas and Stewart released a joint statement to announce that it will sell its Cup Series charters and all of its drivers and crew members will become free agents.

Haas started full-time in the Cup Series in 2003 as Haas CNC Racing. However, it was Tony Stewart’s inclusion as a driver and co-owner that turned around the team’s fortunes. SHR would go on to win two Cup championships – one with Stewart in 2011 and another with Kevin Harvick in 2014. The team recorded 69 wins, including crown-jewel events such as the Daytona 500, Brickyard 400 and Southern 500. But now the team’s legacy ends.

Out of its three charters, Front Row Sports brought one for $20-$25 million on 6 June. 23XI Racing and Trackhouse have been reported to be interested in the other two charters. As far as its drivers go, Chase Briscoe will be behind the wheel for Joe Gibbs Racing come 2025, while Noah Gragson joined Front Row Sports for the next season in a multi-year deal. Meanwhile, Josh Berry  has agreed to join Wood Brothers Racing Ford for the coming season.

SHR’s sponsorship decline closely echoed Gene Haas’ Formula 1 team. Last year, for the second time in its existence, the Haas F1 team finished last among all teams in Formula 1. The team principal, Guenther Steiner, who has led the team since 2016, was released. This led to some speculation that Haas may consider selling off the F1 team, closely akin to SHR’s future. Yet Haas had rejected these rumors early this year.

Despite the abounding failure in both his Cup Series and F1 ventures, Gene Haas has one team to applaud.

The Xfinity stars are leading the show

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While 2023 proved to be a dry desert for Tony Stewart’s Cup Series team, it was a completely different story for the Xfinity Series. Cole Custer notched a spectacular tally of 3 wins and even clinched the Xfinity championship. Similarly, this year as well, the No. 00 driver is leading the points chart with 9 top-fives and one win. His teammate, Riley Herbst, is excelling as well. Recently at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Herbst edged past SHR driver Aric Almirola to clinch the trophy, stamping his second career win.

Gene Haas’ new race team, Haas Factory, has already offered Herbst a seat for 2025. Although rumors are afoot about his foray into Joe Gibbs Racing in the Cup Series, Herbst clearly expressed his gratitude to his SHR benefactors. “Truthfully, I didn’t want to go anywhere. Stewart-Haas racing was a home to me. They took me up when I got pushed out of my other place (Joe Gibbs Racing). (Stewart-Haas competition director) Greg Zipadelli, Tony Stewart — they truly built me up when I was very, very down and I thought I saw myself at Stuart-Haas racing for as long as my racing career was.”

Evidently, despite SHR’s untimely demise, its owners reign in the respect of their star drivers. We can only wait to see if Gene Haas can continue to be a successful team owner.