Stewart-Haas Racing is officially no longer part of NASCAR.
The team owned by three-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Tony Stewart and motorsports mogul Gene Haas announced in May a cease in operations at the end of the NASCAR Cup Series season, which ended Sunday with the NASCAR Cup Series Championship Race at Phoenix Raceway.
Stewart and Haas said in the joint statement in May that the decision was “difficult” and one “that did not come easily, nor was it made quickly.”
“Racing is a labor-intensive, humbling sport,” Stewart and Haas said in the statement. “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.”
SHR was founded in 2002 as Haas CNC Racing and worked with Hendrick Motorsports before Stewart elected to take ownership of the team in 2009.
SHR ended with two NASCAR Cup Series championships. The first was in 2011 when Stewart beat Carl Edwards for the title, and in 2014 when Harvick won his first championship. The team also finishes with one Xfinity Series championship when Cole Custer won the title in 2023.
Haas will remain in NASCAR with the Haas Factory Team in the NASCAR Xfinity Series with Sheldon Creed and Sam Mayer driving for the team. Custer will drive the Cup Series entry in 2025.
Chase Briscoe made the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs after a dramatic win in the regular season finale at Darlington Raceway but was eliminated in the Round of 12.
Stewart-Haas Racing in its final iteration won 69 NASCAR Cup Series races and 28 NASCAR Xfinity Series races, including Riley Herbst winning the 2024 NASCAR Xfinity Series Championship Race at Phoenix Raceway to end the season.
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Kevin Harvick had the most Cup Series wins for the team with 37, Tony Stewart had the second-most with 16.
Kurt Busch won the 2017 Daytona 500 for the team and Ryan Newman won the 2013 Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway for SHR.
Hendersonville’s Josh Berry, Chase Briscoe, Noah Gragson and Ryan Preece were the final Cup Series drivers for the team.
Berry will move to Wood Brothers Racing in 2025, Briscoe goes to Joe Gibbs Racing to replace Martin Truex Jr. and Gragson will move to Spire Motorsports in 2025. Preece is rumored to be moving to Roush Fenway-Keselowski Racing in 2025.
Follow sports writer Austin Chastain on X, formerly known as Twitter, at @ChastainAJ or reach him via email at [email protected].
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Stewart-Haas Racing completes 2024 NASCAR season, final before team shutdown
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