Kevin Harvick believes a feud between Tony Stewart and Gene Haas could have been the final nail in the coffin for Stewart-Haas Racing. It has been widely reported that SHR will close their doors after 2024, and many assumed this was a mutual choice, but Haas surprised the NASCAR world last week by announcing they will run a single-car Cup Series team in 2025, as well as a two-car Xfinity Series outfit. He isn’t leaving NASCAR like Stewart. Harvick, who competed for SHR, knows the tandem better than most. He believes their time together has just run its course, for a variety of reasons.
“I think I should just put my notes on the table, because I have no idea what is happening here,” Harvick joked on the newest episode of Harvick’s Happy Hour, in response to the announcement that Gene Haas will lead a single-car team in the Cup Series in 2025. “Now I’m perplexed. Is there a dispute? Is there anything that transpired between Gene and Tony? Was Tony just frustrated up with not being able to achieve what he needed to do due to competition? Because remember this. They attempted to hire Kyle Larson. I tried to hire Kyle Busch. Both of those were vetoed. One from Ford, and I don’t know what’s going on with Kyle Busch,
“I thought Front Row was going to move inside the Haas shop, but Haas will keep a charter and two Xfinity teams. So it’s interesting to me that Gene and Joe Custer will be running — what is it called, Factory Haas Racing? But, looking back, I believe this is how Haas got started. It was Gene Haas and Joe Custer, and they started Haas, but they couldn’t run well, so they came in Tony Stewart to bring in the notoriety, the people, and the things they needed to do to win a title. Well, they brought in Tony Stewart and won the championship.
And now it appears like, ‘Hey, we still want to race,’ and Tony says, ‘Screw it, I’m out of here. I’m not going to race this way, with whatever’s going on,” and they moved on with their lives, only to find themselves right back where they began. So, I believe it will be extremely tough for them to operate this team competitively. Unfortunately, Gene Haas will continue in NASCAR while Tony Stewart leaves the sport, but Kevin Harvick makes some compelling comments about how we got here. Regardless, Haas’ Cup Series team will face a challenge to remain competitive in 2025, but they may surprise some people even without Stewart’s assistance. However, it is unclear who their driver is.
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