Back in May, NASCAR Ford team Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR) announced that it would cease operations at the end of the 2024 racing season, closing the book of one of the most successful organizations in modern stock car racing. Cup Series Champion Tony Stewart, part-owner of SHR, finally explained the factors that ultimately led to SHR’s closure.
Stewart sat down with former SHR driver, Kevin Harvick, to discuss SHR on the Happy Hour podcast. Stewart likened the decision to pull the plug on SHR to the feeling he got when he found out Harvick was retiring, signaling the end of an era.
“I don’t know that it’s even bittersweet. It’s more bitter than sweet, I feel like,” Stewart said. “It’s a tough decision, but things in life change. Your priorities change, and variables outside of your control change as well.”
Stewart went on to explain that changes in the sport also drove his decision to shut down SHR.
“It’s a tough decision, but things in life change.” @TonyStewart talks with @KevinHarvick about the closing of Stewart-Haas Racing. pic.twitter.com/uUWp6DzKcU
— HarvickHappyHour (@HarvickHappyPod) October 24, 2024
“NASCAR… you and I have been around it for a long time,” Stewart told Harvick. “It is not what it used to be. It is drastically different than what it used to be. And that’s ok for some people, and for some people it’s not. I guess I’m one of those people.”
SHR is different than other, larger teams like Team Penske and Hendrick Motorsports. While they have businesses behind them, like Penske Truck Rentals and HendrickCars.com, SHR had to solely focus on third-party sponsors, which proved to be a hurdle for the team.
Stewart said that he still holds a lot of respect for the France family, which has owned NASCAR since its beginnings, and that he is thankful for the time he spent behind the wheel and as a team owner. However, he’s not quite sure that he’s happy with the direction it’s going, referencing the ongoing lawsuit involving NASCAR Ford team Front Row Motorsports and Toyota team 23XI Racing, which sued the sanctioning body over its charter system.
“Their battle with NASCAR, and the direction that things are going, it’s not a direction I want to be a part of,” Stewart said. “There’s things that I see that I definitely don’t like.”
Comments
Steward pretty perceptive. NASCAR is a dying business model. Attendance 50% from its peak, teams suing the Frances, GM having no platform to race with the Camaro going extinct, etc, etc.
Would you care to cite your source for attendance? Every race (save one) that I have attended over the last 5 years has been sold out. Also, GM is still running the Camaro and will for a while yet. It’s not going away as far as NASCAR goes.
The Camaro body will be retained but it won’t be called a Camaro per GM.
https://gmauthority.com/blog/2024/10/nascar-chevy-teams-to-race-zombie-camaro-in-2025/
You do realize I’m the author of both that article and this one?
Do you not see the empty seats during televised races? Or entire sections covered with advertising tarps? Phoenix sells out because they demolished a significant number of stands on the tracks old Turn 4 and the so-called track realignment.
Which televised race are you referencing? The only race I have noticed significant empty seats was at Las Vegas, which is understandable because of the racing product.
NASCAR isn’t going anywhere. Their TV deals pretty much mean that live attendance is not as important as it used to be. Has it changed? Yes, especially since David Hoots retired. Race direction has been an embarrassment ever since. But then again race direction at Formula One where Ford is headed has been even worse.