Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR) has announced that it will close its organization at the end of the 2024 season.
Stewart-Haas Racing has won the NASCAR championship twice and has 69 Cup Series victories since it formed in 2009.
The big picture: Co-owners Tony Stewart and Gene Haas made the decision after rumors had been circulating for nearly a year that the team was looking to sell its charters and possibly scale back or exit the stock car series.
- The move will affect both the Cup Series team and the SHR Xfinity Series team.
- Current Cup drivers for SHR include Josh Berry, Chase Briscoe, Noah Gragson, and Ryan Preece. Berry and Gragson are in their first seasons with the team, while Briscoe has mentioned that he will be seeking new opportunities in the Cup series.
- The closure of SHR will also impact Cole Custer and Riley Herbst, who drive for the SHR Xfinity Series team.
The backstory: Stewart-Haas Racing dates back to 2002 when Gene Haas founded Haas CNC Racing. Tony Stewart joined as a co-owner in 2009 and brought success to the team with multiple championship victories.
- The team has faced challenges in recent years, with retirements of key drivers such as Stewart, Kevin Harvick, and Clint Bowyer, and a rebuild process that hasn’t yielded recent Cup Series victories.
Go deeper: SHR will also lose support from Ford at the end of the season, and it has experienced major sponsorship changes with the exit of Smithfield Foods and Anheuser-Busch’s move to Trackhouse Racing.
- It is unclear what will happen to the four charters held by SHR, which guarantee entry into the field each week. There is speculation that other teams, such as Front Row Motorsports, 23XI Racing, and Trackhouse, may be interested in purchasing the charters.
- The future of SHR drivers is uncertain. Briscoe will be able to explore other options, and there are contract considerations for drivers like Berry, Gragson, and Preece.
What they’re saying: “It is a decision that did not come easily, nor was it made quickly,” SHR ownership said in a statement. “Racing is a labor-intensive, humbling sport. It requires unwavering commitment and vast resources, with a 365-day mindset to be better than everyone else. It’s part of what makes success so rewarding. But the commitment needed to extract maximum performance while providing sustainability is incredibly demanding, and we’ve reached a point in our respective personal and business lives where it’s time to pass the torch.”
