On Tuesday, team co-owners Gene Haas and Tony Stewart released a joint statement explaining their decision to shutter the organization after 15 years.
“We have made the difficult decision to close Stewart-Haas Racing at the conclusion of the 2024 season. It is a decision that did not come easily, nor was it made quickly. Racing is a labor-intensive, humbling sport. 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.
“We’re proud of all the wins and championships we’ve earned since joining together in 2009, but even more special is the culture we built and the friendships we forged as we committed to a common cause – winning races and collecting trophies. That is the same commitment we made to our personnel, our partners and our fans coming into this year, and that commitment will remain through the season finale at Phoenix.
“We have tremendous 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 race season.”
The charters?
Tuesday’s statement made no mention of the four charters Hass and Stewart currently hold in the Cup Series.
The charters, created with the start of the 2016 season, guarantees a team entry in all 36 points-paying races each year and sets a minimum guaranteed payout for each race. The payouts can change based on where the team ranks in owner points.
However, the current charter agreement expires at the conclusion of this year and there is yet no new deal. That means, in essence, there are no charters for SHR to sell until an agreement is reached.
Since the charters were introduced, they have increased more than 10 times in value. Spire Motorsports purchased Live Fast Motorsports’ charter reportedly for around $40 million last year.
There has been an air of uncertainty around SHR’s future for some time.
Once a dominant force in the Cup Series, the team has failed to win a Cup race in nearly two years. When Kevin Harvick and Aric Almirola retired from full-time competition at the end of last year, major backers Busch Beer and Smithfield left as…
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