Stewart-Haas Racing ceases Cup operations after 2024, sells four charters

Stewart-Haas Racing, which has won two Cup titles and 69 victories since its inception in 2009, will close its doors after the 2024 season, ending a four-car Cup operation.

Co-owners Gene Haas and Tony Stewart appear to be focusing on other aspects of their business in recent years. Haas has a Formula One team that has struggled and Stewart, a three-time Cup champion, started an NHRA drag racing team a few years ago that his wife drove for last year and Stewart is driving this year.

SHR has struggled in recent years and its heavy support from Ford is expected to end after this season. It also lost two major sponsors, Smithfield and Anheuser-Busch, before this year. Without Ford’s continued support, it would therefore have been difficult to maintain a four-car operation.

“We have made the difficult decision to close Stewart-Haas Racing at the end of the 2024 season,” Stewart and Haas said in a joint statement. “It’s a decision that was not made easily and was not made quickly.

“Running is a hard-working and humbling sport. It requires unwavering commitment and vast resources, with a 365-day mindset to be better than everyone else. That’s part of what makes success so rewarding, but the commitment required to extract maximum performance while ensuring sustainability is incredibly demanding, and we have reached a point in our respective personal and professional lives where it is time to pass the torch.

The organization has four charters it can sell, and sources have indicated that at least three of them will go to existing Cup organizations – one to Front Row Motorsports, one to 23XI Racing and one to Trackhouse Racing . All three organizations said they had no comment on the charter acquisitions today. The destination of the fourth charter is unclear.

Not having SHR on the Cup grid will be telling next season. SHR started at Haas operating Haas CNC Racing in 2002. Haas gave Stewart half the team in 2009 to come drive and help run the organization. They won championships in 2011 with Stewart and in 2014 with Kevin Harvick.

The organization has 69 Cup victories, the last coming in 2022 with Harvick, who retired after the 2023 season.

“We are proud of all the victories and championships we have achieved since we joined forces in 2009, but what is even more special is the culture we have built and the friendships we have forged while committing to a common cause: winning races and collecting trophies.” Stewart and Haas said in their statement.

“It’s the same commitment we made to our staff, our partners and our fans this year, and that commitment will remain until the season finale in Phoenix. We have immense respect and appreciation for all of our employees , and we will work diligently to assist them during this transition to find new opportunities beyond the 2024 racing season.”

The shutdown leaves Cup drivers Chase Briscoe, Noah Gragson, Josh Berry and Ryan Preece in transition, as well as Xfinity Series drivers Cole Custer and Riley Herbst.

Here’s a quick look at what could happen with these drivers:

Briscoe, who is 16th in the Cup standings, is the driver most often mentioned as a possibility to drive for Wood Brothers Racing next year with Harrison Burton in the hot seat as he contends for the third straight year. Briscoe was on an option year with SHR and can now begin to have more in-depth discussions with other teams.

Berry, 19th in the standings in his rookie season and who has moved up over the past month, was under contract with SHR for next year but is obviously looking for a ride. He doesn’t have many personal sponsors but will now talk a lot to sponsors and teams. It remains to be seen whether he will stay in the Cup.

Gragson’s impressive run in his first season at SHR as he sits 21st in the standings (he would be 19th without a 35-point penalty earlier this year and what appears to be support from Bass Pro Shops, could potentially giving him options for the Cup either at Front Row Motorsports or other teams.

Preece, 28th in the standings (he would be 22nd without a 35-point penalty earlier this year), was already looking for next year as his contract expired after this season. His future seems uncertain.

Custer, the former Cup driver and reigning Xfinity Series champion who is third in the Xfinity standings, will drive a car next year but it has yet to be determined whether it will be an Xfinity or a Cup. SHR’s Xfinity programs – they not only field two cars but also provide cars to other Ford teams – could be diverted to a new team. Additionally, if Haas wishes to continue involvement in NASCAR, Custer would be the natural fit for his company Haas Automation to sponsor, as it has sponsored Custer for several years and Custer’s father, Joe, is an SHR executive who worked on Haas motorsport programs for decades.

Herbst, seventh in the Xfintiy standings, has sponsorship from Monster Energy, and that should give him options, potentially on the Cup side.

FRM (which would have two seats available) and 23XI will be looking for drivers if they get charters and would also need sponsorship for them, making them possible landing spots for Herbst.

Trackhouse already has a logjam of drivers with Ross Chastain, Shane van Gisbergen and Zane Smith currently under contract and Daniel Suarez expecting to sign an extension soon. It’s possible the new charter system could limit organizations to three charters, and if that happens, Trackhouse would have to form an alliance with another team, keep van Gisbergen in Xfinity next year or release one of its drivers.

Legacy Motor Club, RFK Racing and JTG Daugherty Racing have all considered expansion but are not expected to participate in any of the SHR charters. Dale Earnhardt Jr. confirmed to FOX Sports last week that JR Motorsports was not part of those conversations either.

Bob Pockrass covers NASCAR for FOX Sports. He spent decades covering motorsports, including more than 30 Daytona 500s, with stints at ESPN, Sporting News, NASCAR Scene magazine and The (Daytona Beach) News-Journal. Follow him on Twitter @bobpockrass.