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Since entering the NASCAR Cup Series in 2009, when then-driver Tony Stewart agreed to a partnership with team owner Gene Haas, Stewart-Haas Racing has been nothing short of immensely successful.
SHR has 69 wins in NASCAR’s top flight and won series championships in 2011 and 2014.
But recent years have been lean, and now Adam Stern of Sports Business Journal reports that the future of the team is in doubt.
Stewart-Haas currently fields four cars in the NASCAR Cup Series: the No. 4, No. 10, No. 14 and No. 41. But that may not be the case much longer.
“Industry executives across the sport have identified SHR as one of the teams, if not the team, most likely to sell a charter or multiple charters before 2025,” Stern writes. “It could not be confirmed whether SHR has already started exploring the possibility of selling charters, but the possibility of the team doing so has become a hot topic in the garage in recent weeks, according to more than half a dozen industry executives familiar with the matter. SHR declined comment.”
Three of Stewart-Haas Racing’s four teams missed the playoffs in 2023. The lone driver to make the playoffs, Kevin Harvick, retired following the 2023 season.
Stewart-Haas Racing Is Struggling Mightily In 2023
Now the team’s four drivers — Josh Berry, Noah Gragson, Chase Briscoe and Ryan Preece — have a combined total of one career win.
That win came courtesy of Briscoe in 2014.
Berry is a rookie in the series this season, while Gragson is in his second season after a highly controversial rookie year that saw him fired for racist social media activity.
All four drivers sit outside the playoff cut line Through seven races this season, . Briscoe is the highest-ranking driver in 18th. While Berry (23rd), Gragson (30th) and Preece (31st) have all struggled mightily in the early going.
So, what does that mean for the rest of the NASCAR garage?
“Teams that are thought to be interested in possible expansion include Trackhouse Racing, 23XI Racing and Legacy Motor Club,” Stern writes. “ Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s Xfinity Series team, JR Motorsports, has also been exploring the idea of buying a charter in recent years as it weighs joining NASCAR’s premier series.”
Regardless of what it chooses to do, something will have to change at Stewart-Haas Racing if it wants to get back on track.