By David Morgan, Associate Editor
Gene Haas is turning back the clock to 2008 for the future endeavors of his NASCAR Cup Series operation.
With Stewart-Haas Racing closing its doors as we know it at the end of the 2024 Cup Series season, the overarching opinion was that the entire operation was done for, but on Thursday, the future for the team became a bit clearer.
Haas, the co-owner of Stewart-Haas Racing, announced that instead of all four of the team’s Cup charters going up on the market, he would be keeping one of them for 2025 to keep a presence in NASCAR’s premier division, as well as keeping the team’s two-car NASCAR Xfinity Series operation going.
The team will be rebranded as the Haas Factory Team, with Joe Custer taking over the team president role for the newest iteration of the organization.
“My commitment to motorsports hasn’t changed, just the scope of my involvement,” Haas said. “Operating a four-car Cup Series team has become too arduous but, at the same time, I still need a platform to promote Haas Automation and grow HaasTooling.com.
“Maintaining my presence in Cup allows Haas Automation to compete at NASCAR’s highest level, which is important to our customers and distributors. The Xfinity Series program provides a full weekend experience for our guests, and it delivers added depth and scale to our overall operation.”
Currently, the team fields cars for Chase Briscoe, Josh Berry, Noah Gragson, and Ryan Preece in the Cup Series, along with rides for Cole Custer and Riley Herbst in the Xfinity Series.
Which, if any, of these drivers will stay on board in 2025 is still to be determined, with the driver lineup to be announced at a future date.
“I think for me, whenever I went back to the Xfinity Series, my goal was always to go back to Cup,” Custer said of his prospects of taking the Cup Series seat in 2025.
“So, I’ve been trying to work on what I can do to get myself better over the past year and a half. At the end of the day, you try and do as best you can and you hope it all sorts itself out. But I really don’t have much to say or anything right now that’s solidified or anything…
“At the end of the day, I think what Gene Haas has done in this sport, it would be a dream come true to get to run that Cup car. I’m focused on this weekend and trying to figure out how to win here. But obviously for me, I’ve tried to go back to the Xfinity series, prove what I can…
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