How Tony Stewart & Gene Haas’ Hands-off Approach Lead to SHR’s Demise in Modern-Day NASCAR

14 Years Ago, Tony Stewart Began His Foray Into NASCAR Ownership

One of the key reasons that Tony Stewart and Gene Haas provided in their statement for shutting down Stewart-Haas Racing was the inability to provide the incredibly demanding commitment that racing required. Both the owners have interests elsewhere that don’t allow them to focus on the Cup Series full-time, while that is precisely what’s needed to be successful.

The team’s former star driver Kevin Harvick reiterated the same on his podcast saying, “It’s a full-time job. It’s a 24X7 job. It’s not a knock on the owners. Gene and Tony. They were great to me. But they’re kind of hands-off owners. They have people in place to do their jobs. In today’s day and age, you have to have people involved with the authority to do what they need to do to make it run properly.”

The major part of Haas’s focus goes towards his Formula 1 team which has been struggling in global circuits and Haas Automation, his CNC machine tools business. Stewart, on the other hand, started an NHRA drag racing team two years back and will be driving for it this season. With other such pursuits demanding the attention of the owners, they haven’t been able to be present for Stewart-Haas Racing.

The result of their absence was felt sorely on the grid. Since it began in 2009, the outfit has secured two Cup Series championships and 69 victories. It was the team to beat at many points in the past decade with names like Stewart, Harvick, Kurt Busch, Ryan Newman, and Clint Bowyer forming a formidable four-car force. However, since 2021, the team’s downfall began and it has secured just four wins.

The tragedy that struck Stewart-Haas Racing after the 2020 Cup Series season

For reasons more than just the lack of attention from the team owners, Stewart-Haas Racing began lacking in results after the 2020 season. Even Harvick wasn’t able to garner as many wins as he used to do and chose to retire at the end of the 2023 season. With his departure, hefty sponsors Smithfield and Anheuser Busch too left the team stranded.

Taking repeated hits, the hope was that the new roster consisting of Chase Briscoe, Josh Berry, and others would be the forces behind a resurgence. Though they’ve performed better than last year, their numbers are still nowhere close to being worthy of a four-car team. The inevitable closure has now left the drivers and team personnel in a tricky phase of transition.

Post Edited By: Srijan Mandal
Gene Haas Kevin Harvick Tony Stewart

About the author

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Gowtham Ramalingam

Gowtham is a NASCAR journalist at The SportsRush. Though his affinity for racing stems from Formula 1, he found himself drawn to NASCAR's unparalleled excitement over the years. As a result he has shared his insights and observations by authoring over 3000 articles on the sport. An avid fiction writer, you can find him lost in imaginary worlds when he is not immersed in racing. He hopes to continue savoring the thrill of every lap and race together with his readers for as long as he can.

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