Personally, I think it’s Leadership AFTER Ford said no to Larson. Had ford allowed Tony to get Larson, I think they would still be around after this year. Imo
@@dannyjohnson1287huh? Andretti has been denied by Haas trying to buy the F1 team from Gene and by F1 executives in trying to start up a brand new Andretti F1 team.
@@matt5721Gene Haas was never meant to be running the team, it was Tony Stewart’s (and Zippadelli’s) project. Tony became an absentee owner and the ship had nobody steering it for too long.
Because he has several hundred employees to care about too, it's not all about him and his issues with NASCAR or Ford or even Gene Haas. This is Tony Stewart giving up and running away from every problem he's ever had like the mental 12 year old he is.
@@TeamAbrams Perhaps Tony sees how far NASCAR has fallen and where it is headed and is getting out while the getting is good. Anyone who went to work for Stewart-Haas should have known Tony's personality, and been prepared for his tantrums.
It’s just weird that he and Gene tried to fix it this year. SHR was on an upswing this season up until this point. I don’t know why they got our (and the team’s) hopes up about trying to fix everything if this closure was inevitable.
@@TeamAbrams dude has been a giant crybaby for years and somehow didn’t get the hate Kyle Busch did. His dig at Darrell in 2004 while at Richmond tells you all you need to know about him as a person. I love when drivers have a personality but there is definitely a line.
They put all their eggs in a generational talent like Kevin Harvick while whiffing on big time free agents. And then ford said no to Larson and all of Smokes interests in NASCAR went away
Cause of death can honestly be a littany of issues: Tony's relationship with Gene, his relationship with NASCAR, Ford, Gene's ownership style, NASCAR picking on SHR, it's a little bit of everything.
The reason why Tony was so salty over the Cole Custer/Team orders penalty was because of how NASCAR reacted differently the year prior with Jones not passing Hamlin at Martinsville basically leading to them eliminating Harvick. That 2020 elimination was brutal, to have such a dominant season and to have so much go wrong in the round of 8 all out of their control really had to have a similar effect on Tony as 2016 Homestead had to Edwards. Working so hard and seemingly doing everything right just for a broken system and bad/inconsistent calls from NASCAR to take it all away has to be devastating.
The beginning of the end for SHR is when they weren't allowed to go for Larson and they couldn't get KFB. Harvick spinning out at Martinsville in 2020 was the end of competing for a cup title.
I'd argue The Dirty Air Race at Kansas as The Catalyst which is Ironic Considering that Joey Logano began his Cup Series Career Full Time wise by Occupying Tony Stewart's old ride at Joe Gibbs Racing at the same time Tony began Stewart Haas Racing in 2009
While losing people like Kurt Busch and Clint Bowyer has hurt the team, what killed SHR was Stewart not being allowed to pursue Larson. Had he been allowed to at least pursue him, regardless of whether he would have gotten him or not, his passion would have still been in NASCAR. Ford saying no to Kyle Larson simply put killed Stewart’s passion for NASCAR and the rest of the team suffered for it from 2021 until now.
I think the last straw that made Stewart's relationship with Nascar irreparable was doing the dirt at Bristol after he tried so damn hard to get the Cup series at Eldora, especially when the truck races were such a success
You’re forgetting two big things that happened within the last few years. 1.) Tony wanted NASCAR Cup to race at his dirt track, Eldora Speedway. NASCAR was not for it and decided to go dirt on Bristol for a few years. 2.) Tony and Gene had a huge disagreement at the end of 2022. Gene wanted to keep Cole Custer in the 41 for 2023, while Tony wanted Ryan Preece. Tony ended up winning that battle. There was clearly some issues within the two owners.
Also the Kyle Busch situation where SHR wanted Kyle but Kyle wanted Ford to back his Truck team so Ford declined that, which sucks for both SHR and Kyle because Kyle ended up shutting KBM down after only one year later. Also a lot of people don't know much about the Preece/Custer battle, I have a friend who works at SHR, he's actually one of the race engineers on a Cup car, but I went to lunch with him when I was in Charlotte and told me all sorts of the dirty details about that drama, it was more so Joe Custer vs. Tony Stewart, with Gene Haas taking Joe's side, I have no doubt that Tony wasn't getting along with Joe or Gene and since Tony and Gene was so absent, Joe is kinda the last guy left in the building to run the show.
If NASCAR wants to race dirt, they want to own the track. My guess is they wanted to buy it off him and host the race there as he requested, but he refused, thus Bristol was made dirt out of spite
Absolutely! Nascar used to at least run the truck series at Eldora. I think Tony was blindsided when they took that off the scedule. And Tony & Gene never saw eye to eye on drivers. Tony didn't want Kurt Busch or Cole Custer, but Gene funded them.
@@GrandpaShark Tony was fine with Kurt because Kurt was a world class driver, it would be like Gene Haas going behind your back to get Larson or Kyle Busch, like yeah he went behind your back, but he did get the team a good driver lol, but yeah Custer is just the team president's kid and no one cares about him.
@@Borchert97 Tony was more than fine with Kurt the problem was they did not the have sponsorship for another car and Gene Haas said F it I’m putting him in a car without Tony knowing so I get Tony not being happy there.
I think both Gene & Tony were just burnt out and wanted to focus more on other ventures (Gene with F1 & Tony with NHRA). I do find it surprising that they decided to just shut down the team rather than find a potential buyer first (but maybe they did try that).
I would not blame everything on Tony; remember that Gene also has it F1 team that it takes a lot of time and way more resources than Nascar, also, a couple of years ago his main company, machinery, was affected by the sanctions for "that one week special military operation" that now is like 2 years and still going, and some articles disclaiming that even under sanctions their machinery was still being sold where it should not. I guess it is like 50-50 between Gene and Tony.
I remember watching the 2018 Fall Talladega, and I was blown away with how fast all 4 cars were when they broke away from the pack, and most of the field were broken up into groups. It looked like a practice session going on.
I believe it's a combination of Ford not letting Tony Stewart get Kyle Larson along with the issues with the next gen car that him and Kevin harvick were pointing out and how from the look of it NASCAR retaliated against them which was obviously frustrating Tony Stewart..
I knew they'd fall apart after Harvick was gone. SHR really worked when they had veteran ecoerienced drivers like Tony, Harvick, Kurt, Newman, Bowyer etc
Imagine if Rodney and Kevin were in Hendrick equipment made under Hendrick roof. He would have way more than 60 wins. He overachieved in the equipment he was given most of his career besides when Hendrick was supplying the shr cars.
Yep. Him and Kurt Busch both actually got way more out of the equipment than many think. Harvick was with inconsistent RCR his first 13 years. The only year at shr I think all cars had it was in 2018
Overall I can understand where Tony is coming from but he is the reason why the team failed in the end. Also I feel bitter that the drivers that Tony hired kinda wasted their talents during the downfall years due to fact Tony is BARELY there for them which affected their MORAL
There’s just usually a key moment that puts you into a slump that you can’t ever get out of. Remember how Jimmie Johnson’s career ended? He won the 7th title in 2016, the next year comes along and it’s looking good for an 8th. 3 wins very early in the season, then he has a hard crash at pocono. Listen to the radio from that crash, it scared the shit out of him. From then on it was just never the same. The SHR key moment that started the downfall was harvick missing the championship 4 in 2020. Trying to wreck Kyle Busch out of desperation in martinsville, but mostly going from dominant to 5th in 3 races during the playoffs really hurts the morale of a team. And yes, not getting Larson, losing Busch, not getting the other Busch, losing Almirola, and Harvick retiring contributed as well.
I was already very skeptical when they signed Gragson for this year. I was like "this is a team that needs a veteran, not even necessarily a great one, Briscoe can't be that yet, at all", and they get a driver with half a season under his belt?
You nailed it in this video. Great history lesson here for those that might not know the origins of the team. Ownership is a big issue, but I think ultimately the move to Ford in general (not even counting the Larson deal) was the killer here. They just were never the same as they were with a Hendrick alliance.
Consider how lousy the Camero was from 2018-2020. Hendrick was struggling with that car. Imagine how bad it would be for second-on-the-totem-pole SHR? Probably one or two wins a year at best. Harvick probably retires earlier, Hendrick still takes Larson, and now Trackhouse challenges their #2 spot. I honestly doubt they'd still be around if they stayed at Chevy.
I think it’s a combination of true Tony not liking the decisions made by NASCAR and Ford rejecting SHR wanting to sign Larson and Busch. Everything else seems coincidental.
@@seannolan9857 Stremme never had Danica sponsor money. nor was he ever on any of the 1st tier Cup teams. . every year Danica was in Cup her team mates won races and usually 1 or 2 of them were in the Chase. Danica was lucky to finish top 20. and her team mates were lucky if she wasn't fighting them tooth and nail to keep one of them from putting her 4 laps down while they're leading the race. . Stremme had more cautions, sure. but he was trying to carry much weaker equipment.
@@odnamsrazor2364 He had Penske in '09, and while the car was blank because of Sprint's BS, it was sponsored by Verizon. Kurt was having his best season with Penske at the time, and would have won the championship under the current format. Ganassi wasn't great, but he still ran worse than Mears, Montoya and Sorenson. And he crashed way more with Penske than he did with Ganassi. I do think that Penske's cars were all set up extremely loose around that time, as Hornish and Kurt were both pretty high in accident totals as well. But Kurt and even Hornish were able to hang on to it often enough to get some good finishes to balance it out. Stremme didn't.
@@seannolan9857 most years, Penske isn't a 1st tier Nascar team. . and i'm not saying that Stremme was a "good" Cup driver. i'm just pointing out that he was trying to carry the equipment. and there have been a lot of drivers who got a lot better when they had confidence in their car. Ernie Irvan, for instance, got way better once he got on with Morgan-McClure and Yates.
Having not watched in 12 years, I didn’t know that about those tracks you mentioned not being used. My buddy still follows, so I still gotta hear news occasionally. That 2011 championship race was freaking awesome. So how NASCAR has regressed since then isn’t shocking. They are racing’s WWE. All the BS cautions got old and the gimmicks. In no certain order here, my bitches on the state of NASCAR: censoring drivers for minor language; Toyota coming into NASCAR; moving races from Darlington, Wilkesboro, rockingham pissed off core fans; debris cautions; the same 1.5 mile tracks that were similar in config; how some thought Michigan and California were better racing than the Rock, Darlington, or Wilkesboro; the chase for the cup; stage racing; COT car; the stupid looking cars they got now; messing with the schedule; the Bristol repave; crappy tv coverage; and drivers that are just not easy to like. But NASCAR or any sport pissing off the core fans would kill it eventually. Now, I didn’t add Sr dying, cause that’s a damn near lay up. But it’s also one reason the fans left. My opinion. Mark Martin was my guy growing up, Dale Jr, Stewart, Harvick I enjoyed watching race. I think Tony and SHR racing is raising the finger to NASCAR by shutting it down. They’re tired of the BS. So I love it.
@@operatingengineer520Michigan had been a part of the traditional NASCAR schedule. And both it and California were both two mile high banked super speedways. The “cookie cutter” problem was Texas/Kansas/Vegas/Kentucky, the Atlanta reconfiguration and Chicagoland replacing Chicago/Cicero. This created a glut of 1.5 mile tri-ovals that weren’t all that different from one another. Yes, some of the configurations and banking were different but they were all 1.5 mile tri ovals. I do agree with you that Rockingham and Wilkesboro should have kept one race and that the Labor Day race should have stayed in Darlington. But Kansas/Kentucky/Chicagoland don’t really need to exist and Atlanta was fine the way it was.
The end came because of Tony's personality. He was always at odds with someone, when he left Indy he was mad at John Menard, he was always fighting with Nascar, There was always someone to be mad at. He also was such a good driver he could do anything, if someone pissed him off he just went to the next style of racing. I think that on top of all that he was just driven to do it all.
I do agree he has that personality when he acts like someone is out to get him. Maybe at times but perhaps more often is yourself Tony causing unnecessary drama.
No Tony at all next season.. he was my favourite driver and I followed his team closely. In the fall of 2018 running 1-2-3-4 many of us knew it’d never get better, and it didn’t. Harv winning 9 races in a season and never again was odd. SHR was never going to be Hendrick or Roush but they won titles. I’m sorry it’s over but I’m happy to have lived it. Best of luck Smoke and Leah, I’ll be watching! As for cup, I’m here for Brad K and the future! Best wishes to Noah, Josh, Ryan, and Chase!
I would like to see a vid about how Tony’s drag racing journey has gone so far. Although his NASCAR team fell off hard, he’s found quick success, along with his funny car driver (and my favorite driver lol) Matt Hagan winning the 2023 title. His wife also almost won the dragster title but lost in a final round loss.
I agree, I think once Tony lost interest in SHR and in NASCAR, the team was on borrowed time and it was going to close down sooner or later. I don't know if Gene Haas was ever invested in SHR as he should've been, or if the millions of dollars he makes in CNC machinery was just burning a hole in his pocket. So he decided to get into NASCAR as well as F1.
I feel like the closest thing to this is DEI, went from being a championship contender with Dale Jr (Harvick in SHR’s case) and then they hit a downward spiral, then Dale Jr. left (Harvick retires) and then they last a little longer then close (Merge with DEI’s case)
I don't feel theres one major reason why their shutting down, more of a multitude of things. Veteran drivers leaving or retiring, major sponsors leaving, and both owners showing less and less interest in the team.
2018 was probably as good as it was for SHR due to their lawsuit with Natures Bakery in 2017. Unsure how much they got from the lawsuit but SHR saught 31 Million from them so whatever they got was certainly reinvested into the team for their 2018 season.
Stewart was my driver growing up, so seeing him leave is sad but expected. Not being allowed to sign Larson definitely hurt, but missing out on Kyle Busch is another. Had he signed Busch, it would’ve helped Ford’s development program. Calling out the fans for holding him accountable is another reason
Interesting that on Sunday, both Haas cars crash into each other at Monaco on lap 1. (That's a few million $). On Tuesday, the Nascar team & charters are for sale.
I completely agree. I think Gene Hass was always an absentee owner even before Stewart came along and that is what changed it when it became SHR. Everybody is saying Larson not getting hired killed it but honestly, I think it had more to do with penalties and rule changes that caused Tony to pitch a fit and take his toys and go home. The good news is with this team shutting down new teams will form from those charters and a lot of these people at SHR are too talented to get hired.
I think in addition to everything you mentioned, Gene Haas is probably sick of throwing away money on motorsports. His poor performance in F1 combined with sudden decline in NASCAR, loss of sponsors, etc all culminated with this decision. I wouldn’t be surprised if we see him sell the F1 team off to Andretti and just back out completely. They just had a terrible weekend at Monaco too….neither car made it to turn 2 lap 1. Getting rid of Guenther Steiner was a huge fumble.
All the little things mentioned over a long time and now NASCAR wanting to make charters worth nothing oddly enough because they were created by NASCAR to add resale value to a team. So if Smoke and Gene don't get out now thier investment will be worth only the price they get at auction for the equipment. Nascar is a dumpster fire
I think anybody who’s been following the story knew SHR was going to downsize. I don’t think anybody realized how drastic it was going to be including myself. To sell all four charters and the whole team organization is unprecedented. Definitely more stuff happened behind the scenes that the fans don’t know but only time will tell
I was surprised tony was at the xfinty championship last year. Im curious to see who becomes ford's top team in xfinity, currently the 2 options are RSS and AM Racing. Penske, RFK and FRM could start xfinity programs or ford could sign one of the many chevy teams.
The downfall began when SHR made the idiotic decision to switch from Chevy to Ford. The kingpin of their failure is Ford's veto of the signing of Larson.
Harvick got 46 or the 69 Wins and 1 of 2 Championships. All there Eggs were in 1 basket, and that could have continued if Ford let them grab Larson, but that to me was the final nail. As they NEEDED a driver of that Caliber to carry the torch after Harvick
1. Constant nerfs to the Fords in general and also penalties given to SHR by NASCAR 2. Never getting that XFINITY or Cup Eldora race. 3. Ford refusing to allow SHR to sign Larson for 2021. 4. Ford refusing to allow SHR to sign Kyle Busch for 2023. These are the four key pivotal moments that I think turned Stewart off of NASCAR. If he gets a hypothetical lineup of Larson/Busch/Briscoe/Preece I think he 100% stays, even despite those first two points. It was not landing one of these two generational talents that soured Tony's taste for NASCAR.
@@leedavid6543 NASCAR trying to push an OEM out would be a terrible look for them, especially in this day and age. NASCAR is trying to attract new OEMs, so oppressing an existing OEM would be 100% counterproductive.
@Trainlover1995 especially odd Ford would be the one since in the 90's Ford was the dominant manufacturer, Chevy wasn't the dominant manufacturer until common templates rules in 2003...before that they actually made rules during the 1995 season to slow the new Chevy Monte Carlo down!
The beginning of the end for SHR was when they tried to get Kyle Larson and it backfired. Plus Tony and Gene not being the owners that everyone thought they were.
Tony's downfall in NASCAR as a driver I think was the lower-horsepower cars the last couple years of his career. He'd been used to driving 900HP cars on dirt (sprints and late models) and Cup cars had that until 2014. He wasn't the same after that. And like others said in the comments, too many eggs in one basket (mainly Harvick) and not enough resources spread around the 4 teams. Hate to see them go, but Tony definitely has other interests being Leah and the NHRA team, hope all their drivers can find good rides next year.
@@camillaquelladegliaggettiv4303I would say FRM is the spot to go. It’s hard to tell if the 21 is a red headed step child or if Harrison Burton is just that awful.
I think Tony’s downfall as a driver started back in 2013 when he was injured in that accident that led him to miss the rest of the season. He was never the same driver after that. On top of that, you had the Ward controversy incident in 2014 and the broken back accident that led to him missing the first couple of races in his farewell season in 2016. Had those incidents not happened, Tony could have raced a least a few more years in the Cup Series.
I predicted the end of SHR around a year ago, when the rumors of switching manufacturers were swirling about. Upon hearing of Haas and Stewart essentially running SHR as two halves, instead of one team I felt it was almost over, then Tony's tweet about looking for a new hobby, not in the Southeast, confirmed my suspicions of the demise of SHR!!!🏁🏁✌️
For someone who watched from 2004-2009 and started watching from 2020 post pandemic onwards, why did Kurt Busch leave SHR? Was there a reason? No one talks about this
4 Ever + 4 Ward = 4 Sale! Harvick leaving Shr and so many sponsors leaving because they were tied to him 1. Busch Beer (Prime sponsor ) 2.Hunt Bros 3.Gear Wrench 4.Subway 5.Mobil-1 Part Time (Moved to Toyota) 6.RealTree 7.EZGO 8.Pristine Auctions 9.Rheem 10.Fields 11.UniBet 12. Bad Boy Buggies 13.Texron OffRoad Then losing Smithfield and GoBlowing with Aric leaving. Thats a lot of money gone.
Lack of hands-on owners I get that you want to let the people you hire and pay do their job, but sometimes you gotta jump in and be hands-on which neither owner was not showing up to the track like they used to, but like stated in the video, there was things that Tony didn’t like with NASCAR sohe met him and then I think the contract was. It was just the last clue that they could leave and it was probably the easiest way to get out and not have to worry about having to pay to get it out.
After Ford made the critical mistake of saying no the Larson. I think thts when Tony really stopped caring. Outside company telling him what to do with HIS team. Thts where it really fell off to me. My thought being if I can't do what I want with my team that I own, and its my money why the fuck am I here?
You say it’s nothing to do with Gene. But he was an owner and he seems to be much happier finishing 18th in a field of 20 compared to finishing 18th in a field of 40. His heart wasn’t in NASCAR anymore either, he could have bought Tony out of his share and downsized. It just sucks that this whole team is being dissolved instead of sold as a whole. Ford has been pretty ordinary this year until Kansas but SHR on the whole seems to be on an upswing. I feel for the drivers. And I really feel for the personnel behind the scenes.
They bit off more than they could chew. The only teams that could sustain 4 car megateams for long periods of time have been Hendrick and Gibbs. Roush did it for a while, but even they crumbled under the strain of foolishly trying to go at it with 5 cars. They should have sold one of their charters when things first started to go downhill. A 3 car team is much more manageable, and they could spread their resources out better taking the best people and getting rid of the rest. The people in charge are ultimately responsible, and Stewart's refusal to take any blame is proof he is not a leader. Zipadelli is a Stewart desciple, and shares a lot of the same deficiencies, like not being good at communicating or managing people.
You forgot to mention when NASCAR and Tony had their beef with his Eldora track and how angry Stewart was they gave Bristol a Cup dirt race instead of Eldora. That was right after the 2020 season, which might have also contributed to Stewart losing interest in NASCAR. I think overall the biggest mistake they made above all else was the decision to go to Ford. It helped them in the short term, but it absolutely hurt them in the long run. They wouldn’t let SHR get Larson, which was a major missed opportunity and one that will probably leave us wondering forever what could’ve been. I believe they also wouldn’t let SHR sign Kyle Busch, but I could be wrong. Not to mention they won two Cup championships with Chevy and zero with Ford. I also think letting Newman go and keeping Danica was a mistake not talked about as much. SHR could’ve had a 1-2 points finish the year after. Newman was a solid racer and usually won one race a year. They could’ve had Harvick, Stewart, Newman and Kurt on the same team from 2014-16. Another mistake that isn’t talked about as much either was them replacing Suarez with Custer. We’ve seen Suarez turn into a solid driver for Trackhouse and Custer came up to Cup and then went back to Xfinity. This, along with them not getting Kyle Busch and Larson means SHR could’ve had Larson, Harvick, Suarez and Kyle on the same team from 2021-now. Even replacing Custer with Preece was a mistake in itself. Has Preece really been any better? He’s never done anything at the Cup level. Custer won an Xfinity championship. They should’ve just left Custer there unless they found a truly better option. Preece wasn’t a better option. I think the ownership losing interest in NASCAR is the biggest reason why SHR faltered down the line, but I think horrific driver lineup decisions and them switching to Ford also hurt them in the long run. I get that some of it was out of their control, but most of it wasn’t.
They weren’t good at picking drivers. Stewart and Harvick were the only ones that had the talent to routinely win races. Not just run good and win once a year. Stewart isn’t good at picking talent. They had no chance of landing Larson with Hendrick. People just want someone to be the villain. They didn’t have the talent, and it wasn’t because of the equipment. It was the drivers they hired. When you’re not successful, you lose interest.
Tony and Kyle have a great relationship. There was definitely a fighting chance. It was the summer of 2020 when he found out bowyer was done and he literally presented a offer to Kyle and Kyle was interested and when he went to ford for the extra support to get the deal across the line they said absolutely not.
I don't know this but my guess is always been since this started, that NHRA is where he wants to be now and what he is focused on, and seeing how he is aligned with the Don, in my eyes that's a much better career choice and future.
Chase briscoe would have been able to carry the torch, but shr went down hill. 24 started decent until the drivers and teams found out it was shutting down. they have decent runs. Briscoe/Berry/gragson are all talented drivers. Harvick was shocked shr shut down. He didn't say it was gonna happen.
I don't think its a downfall at all, I think the new car and the massive fines for modifying it closed the chapter for Stewart-Haas Racing. Old school team that liked engineering and "cheating" the car better every weekend. With that gone, there was no ceiling to push, and no fun left. Both Gene and Tony aren't suit & tie guys like Hendrich.
SHR goin to Ford was one of the signs of death. Danica was a bust, Aric was a bust. Suarez and Custer were busts.... Bowyer and Newman were mid at best. Yes they were tier one but still second to Penske. The harvick dominance of 2018 was still a lost championship to Penske. 2020 the 4 team was waaaaay too inconsistent in the playoffs to earn the championship which was lost to Chase Elliott.
They weren't really inconsistent in the playoffs: Under the 2011-2013 Chase format, Harvick would have won the championship. It was just that one meh round, along with stage points favoring people who run sixth all day with no issues over people who have early trouble and then pass 25+ cars.
Sorry but you can’t blame the aero package at Kansas on the 4 losing to the 22. He was in a ford also. And for the rain in Texas yeah he was the first car through but the rest of the field was right behind him and didn’t even spin.
They are over NASCAR like the rest of us. The dude wants to start a family and go drag race and not worry about the stupidness and whining and crying and babies of NASCAR.
I predicted it like 3 years ago. Stewart would not have wanted to downsize and if you go back to his coffee with Kyle (Petty) interview he already disavowed nascar for its choice in who it let dictate the sport.
100% Tony's fault, Gene brought Tony in as an owner just to run the team. Tony decided drag racing and Leah were more important than NASCAR, that's when the team started crashing. Gene should have picked someone else to make a co-owner. Tony was given evening and once he got tired of it he threw it away. Now there are hundreds of people out of work because of him. Tony should be ashamed of himself, but he won't be because he's to stubborn to care.
What do you think the biggest reason is for the fall of SHR?
As a former intern
Absolutely leadership
And not just Tony and Gene
Lack of interest from Gene
I think it's because of all of the failed tests that didn't preform and finished lower than 20th in points
Personally, I think it’s Leadership AFTER Ford said no to Larson. Had ford allowed Tony to get Larson, I think they would still be around after this year. Imo
Kyle Larson choosing HMS
Don't forget Furniture Row wins championship and folds next year.
That was crazy
Yep, but SHR won’t sniff a championship this year
But that was mostly down to CGR upping their rates for technical support and stuff. Iirc they tripled, and Furniture Row couldn't afford that anymore
@@camillaquelladegliaggettiv4303 it was Gibbs not Ganassi. Ganassi never switched to Toyota
@@AnarRamazanov-po5le brainfarted and swapped out an initial. Obviously meant JGR
Gene focusing on being a backmarker in F1 and Tony going NHRA.
Harvick leaves and the cards fall.
A Ferrari Backmarker with 60 million every race
For the F1 part I believe andretti was a part of it as well
@@dannyjohnson1287huh? Andretti has been denied by Haas trying to buy the F1 team from Gene and by F1 executives in trying to start up a brand new Andretti F1 team.
As a former intern
Easily leadership but not only Tony and Gene
Greg Zipadelli should not have been in charge for as long as he was
Zippadelli is worse with people than Tony.
@@BwInNewJerseyI'd assume Gene is so checked out no one even had an opinion?
@@matt5721 Youre right. Makes you appreciate people who are more than the money they have.
@@matt5721Gene Haas was never meant to be running the team, it was Tony Stewart’s (and Zippadelli’s) project. Tony became an absentee owner and the ship had nobody steering it for too long.
Totally agree
Imagine you told someone in 2014 that in 10 years SHR would shut down
Why is anyone surprised at this move? For a few years now Stewart has said he is done with NASCAR! He showed it by getting into drag racing!
Because he has several hundred employees to care about too, it's not all about him and his issues with NASCAR or Ford or even Gene Haas. This is Tony Stewart giving up and running away from every problem he's ever had like the mental 12 year old he is.
@@TeamAbrams Perhaps Tony sees how far NASCAR has fallen and where it is headed and is getting out while the getting is good. Anyone who went to work for Stewart-Haas should have known Tony's personality, and been prepared for his tantrums.
It’s just weird that he and Gene tried to fix it this year. SHR was on an upswing this season up until this point. I don’t know why they got our (and the team’s) hopes up about trying to fix everything if this closure was inevitable.
@@TeamAbrams dude has been a giant crybaby for years and somehow didn’t get the hate Kyle Busch did. His dig at Darrell in 2004 while at Richmond tells you all you need to know about him as a person. I love when drivers have a personality but there is definitely a line.
He made no secret of his dislike for the way Nascar ran things. So he finally took his ball and went home. I don't blame him.
They put all their eggs in a generational talent like Kevin Harvick while whiffing on big time free agents. And then ford said no to Larson and all of Smokes interests in NASCAR went away
Anyone that lands a ride with Hendrick and Chevy will win,he owns nascar.
I have a feeling Chase Briscoe is an even better driver than we think, but he just struggled to develop in such an awful structure
Cause of death can honestly be a littany of issues: Tony's relationship with Gene, his relationship with NASCAR, Ford, Gene's ownership style, NASCAR picking on SHR, it's a little bit of everything.
The reason why Tony was so salty over the Cole Custer/Team orders penalty was because of how NASCAR reacted differently the year prior with Jones not passing Hamlin at Martinsville basically leading to them eliminating Harvick. That 2020 elimination was brutal, to have such a dominant season and to have so much go wrong in the round of 8 all out of their control really had to have a similar effect on Tony as 2016 Homestead had to Edwards. Working so hard and seemingly doing everything right just for a broken system and bad/inconsistent calls from NASCAR to take it all away has to be devastating.
Anheiser Busch and Smithfield leaving really killed their $$$ source.
The beginning of the end for SHR is when they weren't allowed to go for Larson and they couldn't get KFB. Harvick spinning out at Martinsville in 2020 was the end of competing for a cup title.
I'd argue The Dirty Air Race at Kansas as The Catalyst which is Ironic Considering that Joey Logano began his Cup Series Career Full Time wise by Occupying Tony Stewart's old ride at Joe Gibbs Racing at the same time Tony began Stewart Haas Racing in 2009
While losing people like Kurt Busch and Clint Bowyer has hurt the team, what killed SHR was Stewart not being allowed to pursue Larson. Had he been allowed to at least pursue him, regardless of whether he would have gotten him or not, his passion would have still been in NASCAR.
Ford saying no to Kyle Larson simply put killed Stewart’s passion for NASCAR and the rest of the team suffered for it from 2021 until now.
Or it could also be how you failed to finish the NASCAR romance novel haha
What killed the team was bad decisions and bad leadership.
Excellent post, and Stewart’s commitment once of the passion was gone because he could not pursue Kyle Larson
Ford not letting them hire Larson backfired
I agree 😊
Tbh it would be kinda weird to see Larson in a ford, But I don’t think he would’ve performed much better at SHR
@@BraydenBunch58 Larson made Chip Ganassi look good
And didn't get kyle busch
@@louislepage5111 Yeah at least he did lol
I think the last straw that made Stewart's relationship with Nascar irreparable was doing the dirt at Bristol after he tried so damn hard to get the Cup series at Eldora, especially when the truck races were such a success
You’re forgetting two big things that happened within the last few years.
1.) Tony wanted NASCAR Cup to race at his dirt track, Eldora Speedway. NASCAR was not for it and decided to go dirt on Bristol for a few years.
2.) Tony and Gene had a huge disagreement at the end of 2022. Gene wanted to keep Cole Custer in the 41 for 2023, while Tony wanted Ryan Preece. Tony ended up winning that battle. There was clearly some issues within the two owners.
Also the Kyle Busch situation where SHR wanted Kyle but Kyle wanted Ford to back his Truck team so Ford declined that, which sucks for both SHR and Kyle because Kyle ended up shutting KBM down after only one year later.
Also a lot of people don't know much about the Preece/Custer battle, I have a friend who works at SHR, he's actually one of the race engineers on a Cup car, but I went to lunch with him when I was in Charlotte and told me all sorts of the dirty details about that drama, it was more so Joe Custer vs. Tony Stewart, with Gene Haas taking Joe's side, I have no doubt that Tony wasn't getting along with Joe or Gene and since Tony and Gene was so absent, Joe is kinda the last guy left in the building to run the show.
If NASCAR wants to race dirt, they want to own the track. My guess is they wanted to buy it off him and host the race there as he requested, but he refused, thus Bristol was made dirt out of spite
Absolutely! Nascar used to at least run the truck series at Eldora. I think Tony was blindsided when they took that off the scedule. And Tony & Gene never saw eye to eye on drivers. Tony didn't want Kurt Busch or Cole Custer, but Gene funded them.
@@GrandpaShark Tony was fine with Kurt because Kurt was a world class driver, it would be like Gene Haas going behind your back to get Larson or Kyle Busch, like yeah he went behind your back, but he did get the team a good driver lol, but yeah Custer is just the team president's kid and no one cares about him.
@@Borchert97 Tony was more than fine with Kurt the problem was they did not the have sponsorship for another car and Gene Haas said F it I’m putting him in a car without Tony knowing so I get Tony not being happy there.
I think both Gene & Tony were just burnt out and wanted to focus more on other ventures (Gene with F1 & Tony with NHRA).
I do find it surprising that they decided to just shut down the team rather than find a potential buyer first (but maybe they did try that).
The other charters are going to other teams if I’ve heard correctly.
@@rexthewolf3149 They are. One of them already went to FRM.
In this case selling the charters is basically selling the team. Nobody’s going to buy a 4 car team right now, it doesn’t make any sense
I would not blame everything on Tony; remember that Gene also has it F1 team that it takes a lot of time and way more resources than Nascar, also, a couple of years ago his main company, machinery, was affected by the sanctions for "that one week special military operation" that now is like 2 years and still going, and some articles disclaiming that even under sanctions their machinery was still being sold where it should not.
I guess it is like 50-50 between Gene and Tony.
Almost certainly, neither Gene or Tony really cared about the teams last few years.
When SHR started, it was expected to be a powerhouse team, and it was! For a few years. And then the 2020 Playoffs happened.
I remember watching the 2018 Fall Talladega, and I was blown away with how fast all 4 cars were when they broke away from the pack, and most of the field were broken up into groups. It looked like a practice session going on.
I believe it's a combination of Ford not letting Tony Stewart get Kyle Larson along with the issues with the next gen car that him and Kevin harvick were pointing out and how from the look of it NASCAR retaliated against them which was obviously frustrating Tony Stewart..
Tony is completely focused on his Top Fuel Drag Racing team..
The death of SHR? Harvick retiring. Or at least the final nail in the coffin
I knew they'd fall apart after Harvick was gone. SHR really worked when they had veteran ecoerienced drivers like Tony, Harvick, Kurt, Newman, Bowyer etc
Imagine if Rodney and Kevin were in Hendrick equipment made under Hendrick roof. He would have way more than 60 wins.
He overachieved in the equipment he was given most of his career besides when Hendrick was supplying the shr cars.
Yep. Him and Kurt Busch both actually got way more out of the equipment than many think. Harvick was with inconsistent RCR his first 13 years. The only year at shr I think all cars had it was in 2018
Overall I can understand where Tony is coming from but he is the reason why the team failed in the end.
Also I feel bitter that the drivers that Tony hired kinda wasted their talents during the downfall years due to fact Tony is BARELY there for them which affected their MORAL
There’s just usually a key moment that puts you into a slump that you can’t ever get out of.
Remember how Jimmie Johnson’s career ended? He won the 7th title in 2016, the next year comes along and it’s looking good for an 8th. 3 wins very early in the season, then he has a hard crash at pocono. Listen to the radio from that crash, it scared the shit out of him. From then on it was just never the same. The SHR key moment that started the downfall was harvick missing the championship 4 in 2020. Trying to wreck Kyle Busch out of desperation in martinsville, but mostly going from dominant to 5th in 3 races during the playoffs really hurts the morale of a team. And yes, not getting Larson, losing Busch, not getting the other Busch, losing Almirola, and Harvick retiring contributed as well.
I was already very skeptical when they signed Gragson for this year. I was like "this is a team that needs a veteran, not even necessarily a great one, Briscoe can't be that yet, at all", and they get a driver with half a season under his belt?
Ironically it was Harvick in the Hendrick 5 car making comments about the lack of leadership at SHR
You nailed it in this video. Great history lesson here for those that might not know the origins of the team. Ownership is a big issue, but I think ultimately the move to Ford in general (not even counting the Larson deal) was the killer here. They just were never the same as they were with a Hendrick alliance.
Consider how lousy the Camero was from 2018-2020. Hendrick was struggling with that car. Imagine how bad it would be for second-on-the-totem-pole SHR? Probably one or two wins a year at best. Harvick probably retires earlier, Hendrick still takes Larson, and now Trackhouse challenges their #2 spot. I honestly doubt they'd still be around if they stayed at Chevy.
I think it’s a combination of true Tony not liking the decisions made by NASCAR and Ford rejecting SHR wanting to sign Larson and Busch. Everything else seems coincidental.
I don't blame him one bit. NASCAR hasn't made an intelligent decision in over two decades.
"Danica Patrick, the ultimate wreck magnet." 💀
Very honest analysis😁
David Stremme still has her beat for most cautions in a season, and he did it in three less races!
@@seannolan9857
Stremme never had Danica sponsor money. nor was he ever on any of the 1st tier Cup teams.
.
every year Danica was in Cup her team mates won races and usually 1 or 2 of them were in the Chase. Danica was lucky to finish top 20. and her team mates were lucky if she wasn't fighting them tooth and nail to keep one of them from putting her 4 laps down while they're leading the race.
.
Stremme had more cautions, sure. but he was trying to carry much weaker equipment.
@@odnamsrazor2364 He had Penske in '09, and while the car was blank because of Sprint's BS, it was sponsored by Verizon. Kurt was having his best season with Penske at the time, and would have won the championship under the current format. Ganassi wasn't great, but he still ran worse than Mears, Montoya and Sorenson. And he crashed way more with Penske than he did with Ganassi.
I do think that Penske's cars were all set up extremely loose around that time, as Hornish and Kurt were both pretty high in accident totals as well. But Kurt and even Hornish were able to hang on to it often enough to get some good finishes to balance it out. Stremme didn't.
@@seannolan9857
most years, Penske isn't a 1st tier Nascar team.
.
and i'm not saying that Stremme was a "good" Cup driver. i'm just pointing out that he was trying to carry the equipment. and there have been a lot of drivers who got a lot better when they had confidence in their car. Ernie Irvan, for instance, got way better once he got on with Morgan-McClure and Yates.
First Chicagoland, Auto Club, and now SHR ARE ALL GONE!!!!!! 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭
7:09 Nice try but u failed
Having not watched in 12 years, I didn’t know that about those tracks you mentioned not being used. My buddy still follows, so I still gotta hear news occasionally. That 2011 championship race was freaking awesome. So how NASCAR has regressed since then isn’t shocking. They are racing’s WWE. All the BS cautions got old and the gimmicks. In no certain order here, my bitches on the state of NASCAR: censoring drivers for minor language; Toyota coming into NASCAR; moving races from Darlington, Wilkesboro, rockingham pissed off core fans; debris cautions; the same 1.5 mile tracks that were similar in config; how some thought Michigan and California were better racing than the Rock, Darlington, or Wilkesboro; the chase for the cup; stage racing; COT car; the stupid looking cars they got now; messing with the schedule; the Bristol repave; crappy tv coverage; and drivers that are just not easy to like. But NASCAR or any sport pissing off the core fans would kill it eventually. Now, I didn’t add Sr dying, cause that’s a damn near lay up. But it’s also one reason the fans left. My opinion. Mark Martin was my guy growing up, Dale Jr, Stewart, Harvick I enjoyed watching race. I think Tony and SHR racing is raising the finger to NASCAR by shutting it down. They’re tired of the BS. So I love it.
@@operatingengineer520Michigan had been a part of the traditional NASCAR schedule. And both it and California were both two mile high banked super speedways. The “cookie cutter” problem was Texas/Kansas/Vegas/Kentucky, the Atlanta reconfiguration and Chicagoland replacing Chicago/Cicero. This created a glut of 1.5 mile tri-ovals that weren’t all that different from one another. Yes, some of the configurations and banking were different but they were all 1.5 mile tri ovals. I do agree with you that Rockingham and Wilkesboro should have kept one race and that the Labor Day race should have stayed in Darlington. But Kansas/Kentucky/Chicagoland don’t really need to exist and Atlanta was fine the way it was.
Sometimes SHR was fast, sometimes they were slow. In the end, they were Half-Fast.
4ever
4ward
4sale
In just 6 months
Shit did you make that up all by yourself
@@Just_a_beaverKevin Harvick said it on a podcast
I remember 2018 fall Talladega. I honestly thought they were cheating because of how much they were breaking away, but they weren’t
The end came because of Tony's personality. He was always at odds with someone, when he left Indy he was mad at John Menard, he was always fighting with Nascar, There was always someone to be mad at. He also was such a good driver he could do anything, if someone pissed him off he just went to the next style of racing. I think that on top of all that he was just driven to do it all.
I do agree he has that personality when he acts like someone is out to get him. Maybe at times but perhaps more often is yourself Tony causing unnecessary drama.
$20 million in lost sponsorship and 2 owners that have lost interest.
Ford won't miss them.
No Tony at all next season.. he was my favourite driver and I followed his team closely. In the fall of 2018 running 1-2-3-4 many of us knew it’d never get better, and it didn’t. Harv winning 9 races in a season and never again was odd. SHR was never going to be Hendrick or Roush but they won titles. I’m sorry it’s over but I’m happy to have lived it. Best of luck Smoke and Leah, I’ll be watching! As for cup, I’m here for Brad K and the future! Best wishes to Noah, Josh, Ryan, and Chase!
I would like to see a vid about how Tony’s drag racing journey has gone so far. Although his NASCAR team fell off hard, he’s found quick success, along with his funny car driver (and my favorite driver lol) Matt Hagan winning the 2023 title. His wife also almost won the dragster title but lost in a final round loss.
I agree, I think once Tony lost interest in SHR and in NASCAR, the team was on borrowed time and it was going to close down sooner or later. I don't know if Gene Haas was ever invested in SHR as he should've been, or if the millions of dollars he makes in CNC machinery was just burning a hole in his pocket. So he decided to get into NASCAR as well as F1.
I feel like the closest thing to this is DEI, went from being a championship contender with Dale Jr (Harvick in SHR’s case) and then they hit a downward spiral, then Dale Jr. left (Harvick retires) and then they last a little longer then close (Merge with DEI’s case)
I don't feel theres one major reason why their shutting down, more of a multitude of things. Veteran drivers leaving or retiring, major sponsors leaving, and both owners showing less and less interest in the team.
Them losing Busch and Smithfield (they're most consistent sponsors) hurt them the most
2018 was probably as good as it was for SHR due to their lawsuit with Natures Bakery in 2017. Unsure how much they got from the lawsuit but SHR saught 31 Million from them so whatever they got was certainly reinvested into the team for their 2018 season.
Stewart was my driver growing up, so seeing him leave is sad but expected. Not being allowed to sign Larson definitely hurt, but missing out on Kyle Busch is another. Had he signed Busch, it would’ve helped Ford’s development program. Calling out the fans for holding him accountable is another reason
Interesting that on Sunday, both Haas cars crash into each other at Monaco on lap 1. (That's a few million $). On Tuesday, the Nascar team & charters are for sale.
I completely agree. I think Gene Hass was always an absentee owner even before Stewart came along and that is what changed it when it became SHR. Everybody is saying Larson not getting hired killed it but honestly, I think it had more to do with penalties and rule changes that caused Tony to pitch a fit and take his toys and go home. The good news is with this team shutting down new teams will form from those charters and a lot of these people at SHR are too talented to get hired.
"No" on Larson was big. They should have sold 2 charters and went back with Chevy.
I think in addition to everything you mentioned, Gene Haas is probably sick of throwing away money on motorsports. His poor performance in F1 combined with sudden decline in NASCAR, loss of sponsors, etc all culminated with this decision. I wouldn’t be surprised if we see him sell the F1 team off to Andretti and just back out completely. They just had a terrible weekend at Monaco too….neither car made it to turn 2 lap 1. Getting rid of Guenther Steiner was a huge fumble.
All the little things mentioned over a long time and now NASCAR wanting to make charters worth nothing oddly enough because they were created by NASCAR to add resale value to a team. So if Smoke and Gene don't get out now thier investment will be worth only the price they get at auction for the equipment. Nascar is a dumpster fire
And they have turned it into a spec series. I put this closure 80% on Nascar.
I think anybody who’s been following the story knew SHR was going to downsize. I don’t think anybody realized how drastic it was going to be including myself. To sell all four charters and the whole team organization is unprecedented. Definitely
more stuff happened behind the scenes that the fans don’t know but only time will tell
I was surprised tony was at the xfinty championship last year. Im curious to see who becomes ford's top team in xfinity, currently the 2 options are RSS and AM Racing. Penske, RFK and FRM could start xfinity programs or ford could sign one of the many chevy teams.
The downfall began when SHR made the idiotic decision to switch from Chevy to Ford. The kingpin of their failure is Ford's veto of the signing of Larson.
Ford + the new car. Haas made his money in MANUFACTURING, not buying parts from authorized suppliers
Guess who is to blame for this tidbit on the nextgen that made costs high and killed competition?
Smoke will always be my favorite driver. It will always be painful to watch the sport, without one of the greatest in it.
Harvick got 46 or the 69 Wins and 1 of 2 Championships.
All there Eggs were in 1 basket, and that could have continued if Ford let them grab Larson, but that to me was the final nail. As they NEEDED a driver of that Caliber to carry the torch after Harvick
Because Tony and Gene have new hobbies.
1. Constant nerfs to the Fords in general and also penalties given to SHR by NASCAR
2. Never getting that XFINITY or Cup Eldora race.
3. Ford refusing to allow SHR to sign Larson for 2021.
4. Ford refusing to allow SHR to sign Kyle Busch for 2023.
These are the four key pivotal moments that I think turned Stewart off of NASCAR. If he gets a hypothetical lineup of Larson/Busch/Briscoe/Preece I think he 100% stays, even despite those first two points. It was not landing one of these two generational talents that soured Tony's taste for NASCAR.
Stewart was negotiating with Dodge before they chickened out of returning and went all-in on EVs.
Like Harvick said, just in a six month span, they went from 4ever to 4ward to 4sale.
In brief are NASCAR’s unfavorable rules and regulations responsible for Tony being thrown out of NASCAR?
Nascar wants ford out, 1 win all three divisions, sponsors will be gone by season end along with teams faster then ford fans leaving
@@leedavid6543 NASCAR trying to push an OEM out would be a terrible look for them, especially in this day and age. NASCAR is trying to attract new OEMs, so oppressing an existing OEM would be 100% counterproductive.
@Trainlover1995 especially odd Ford would be the one since in the 90's Ford was the dominant manufacturer, Chevy wasn't the dominant manufacturer until common templates rules in 2003...before that they actually made rules during the 1995 season to slow the new Chevy Monte Carlo down!
I'll tell you why it went down
Ol' Cleeter McFarland stuck smoke in a crown vic race and he got a taste for the best form of stock car racing lol
The beginning of the end for SHR was when they tried to get Kyle Larson and it backfired. Plus Tony and Gene not being the owners that everyone thought they were.
Tony's downfall in NASCAR as a driver I think was the lower-horsepower cars the last couple years of his career. He'd been used to driving 900HP cars on dirt (sprints and late models) and Cup cars had that until 2014. He wasn't the same after that. And like others said in the comments, too many eggs in one basket (mainly Harvick) and not enough resources spread around the 4 teams. Hate to see them go, but Tony definitely has other interests being Leah and the NHRA team, hope all their drivers can find good rides next year.
I hope Briscoe goes to the Wood brothers. It's probably the most competitive Ford seat he can get
@@camillaquelladegliaggettiv4303I would say FRM is the spot to go. It’s hard to tell if the 21 is a red headed step child or if Harrison Burton is just that awful.
I think Tony’s downfall as a driver started back in 2013 when he was injured in that accident that led him to miss the rest of the season. He was never the same driver after that. On top of that, you had the Ward controversy incident in 2014 and the broken back accident that led to him missing the first couple of races in his farewell season in 2016. Had those incidents not happened, Tony could have raced a least a few more years in the Cup Series.
I predicted the end of SHR around a year ago, when the rumors of switching manufacturers were swirling about. Upon hearing of Haas and Stewart essentially running SHR as two halves, instead of one team I felt it was almost over, then Tony's tweet about looking for a new hobby, not in the Southeast, confirmed my suspicions of the demise of SHR!!!🏁🏁✌️
For someone who watched from 2004-2009 and started watching from 2020 post pandemic onwards, why did Kurt Busch leave SHR? Was there a reason? No one talks about this
Drag racing and F1 racing with a complete lack of leadership and communication
4 Ever + 4 Ward = 4 Sale!
Harvick leaving Shr and so many sponsors leaving because they were tied to him
1. Busch Beer (Prime sponsor )
2.Hunt Bros
3.Gear Wrench
4.Subway
5.Mobil-1 Part Time (Moved to Toyota)
6.RealTree
7.EZGO
8.Pristine Auctions
9.Rheem
10.Fields
11.UniBet
12. Bad Boy Buggies
13.Texron OffRoad
Then losing Smithfield and GoBlowing with Aric leaving. Thats a lot of money gone.
Gene Haas didn't want to waste his time on an upper mid-pack NASCAR Cup team when he could put his energy into a backmarker F1 team. LMAO XD
I mean nowadays a back marker F1 team can make more money that a winning team in cup.
Knew the team was DOA before the year started. Harvick and Almirola gone. If Chase Briscoe is your best driver, you're in big trouble.
It was the car. That’s why. Next gen
Lack of hands-on owners I get that you want to let the people you hire and pay do their job, but sometimes you gotta jump in and be hands-on which neither owner was not showing up to the track like they used to, but like stated in the video, there was things that Tony didn’t like with NASCAR sohe met him and then I think the contract was. It was just the last clue that they could leave and it was probably the easiest way to get out and not have to worry about having to pay to get it out.
Also, what about Stewart with his SRX league and Haas with his F1 team. Also, Haas needs to sell to Andretti.
He doesn’t need to sell the team is profitable.
After Ford made the critical mistake of saying no the Larson. I think thts when Tony really stopped caring. Outside company telling him what to do with HIS team. Thts where it really fell off to me. My thought being if I can't do what I want with my team that I own, and its my money why the fuck am I here?
If I’m not mistaken, Tony started SHR because he didn’t like JGR switching to Toyota.
You say it’s nothing to do with Gene. But he was an owner and he seems to be much happier finishing 18th in a field of 20 compared to finishing 18th in a field of 40. His heart wasn’t in NASCAR anymore either, he could have bought Tony out of his share and downsized. It just sucks that this whole team is being dissolved instead of sold as a whole. Ford has been pretty ordinary this year until Kansas but SHR on the whole seems to be on an upswing. I feel for the drivers. And I really feel for the personnel behind the scenes.
All those cars Getting wrecked add up in dollar amount. Would be crazy if Kyle Busch buys the team
They bit off more than they could chew.
The only teams that could sustain 4 car megateams for long periods of time have been Hendrick and Gibbs. Roush did it for a while, but even they crumbled under the strain of foolishly trying to go at it with 5 cars.
They should have sold one of their charters when things first started to go downhill. A 3 car team is much more manageable, and they could spread their resources out better taking the best people and getting rid of the rest. The people in charge are ultimately responsible, and Stewart's refusal to take any blame is proof he is not a leader. Zipadelli is a Stewart desciple, and shares a lot of the same deficiencies, like not being good at communicating or managing people.
You forgot to mention when NASCAR and Tony had their beef with his Eldora track and how angry Stewart was they gave Bristol a Cup dirt race instead of Eldora. That was right after the 2020 season, which might have also contributed to Stewart losing interest in NASCAR.
I think overall the biggest mistake they made above all else was the decision to go to Ford. It helped them in the short term, but it absolutely hurt them in the long run. They wouldn’t let SHR get Larson, which was a major missed opportunity and one that will probably leave us wondering forever what could’ve been. I believe they also wouldn’t let SHR sign Kyle Busch, but I could be wrong. Not to mention they won two Cup championships with Chevy and zero with Ford.
I also think letting Newman go and keeping Danica was a mistake not talked about as much. SHR could’ve had a 1-2 points finish the year after. Newman was a solid racer and usually won one race a year. They could’ve had Harvick, Stewart, Newman and Kurt on the same team from 2014-16.
Another mistake that isn’t talked about as much either was them replacing Suarez with Custer. We’ve seen Suarez turn into a solid driver for Trackhouse and Custer came up to Cup and then went back to Xfinity. This, along with them not getting Kyle Busch and Larson means SHR could’ve had Larson, Harvick, Suarez and Kyle on the same team from 2021-now.
Even replacing Custer with Preece was a mistake in itself. Has Preece really been any better? He’s never done anything at the Cup level. Custer won an Xfinity championship. They should’ve just left Custer there unless they found a truly better option. Preece wasn’t a better option.
I think the ownership losing interest in NASCAR is the biggest reason why SHR faltered down the line, but I think horrific driver lineup decisions and them switching to Ford also hurt them in the long run. I get that some of it was out of their control, but most of it wasn’t.
They weren’t good at picking drivers. Stewart and Harvick were the only ones that had the talent to routinely win races. Not just run good and win once a year. Stewart isn’t good at picking talent. They had no chance of landing Larson with Hendrick. People just want someone to be the villain. They didn’t have the talent, and it wasn’t because of the equipment. It was the drivers they hired. When you’re not successful, you lose interest.
Tony and Kyle have a great relationship. There was definitely a fighting chance. It was the summer of 2020 when he found out bowyer was done and he literally presented a offer to Kyle and Kyle was interested and when he went to ford for the extra support to get the deal across the line they said absolutely not.
I don't know this but my guess is always been since this started, that NHRA is where he wants to be now and what he is focused on, and seeing how he is aligned with the Don, in my eyes that's a much better career choice and future.
I like to think Tony Stewart spent most his capital fixing all the SRX cars Paul Tracy had a hand in redecorating
Tony “Rah Rah Speech” Stewart cashing out. I don’t blame him honestly. Smart business and downsizing move. He’s involved in enough other things.
It started going downhill when Gene Haas started an F1 team…Harvick basically carried that team through until her retired
You don’t have to remind me about 2020 for Harvick..
SHR was on life support when Harvick did not get off pit road first at Kansas
Well still a Smoke fan forever
They should've hired Kevin Conway and Martin Durex Jr
Chase briscoe would have been able to carry the torch, but shr went down hill. 24 started decent until the drivers and teams found out it was shutting down. they have decent runs. Briscoe/Berry/gragson are all talented drivers. Harvick was shocked shr shut down. He didn't say it was gonna happen.
I don't think its a downfall at all, I think the new car and the massive fines for modifying it closed the chapter for Stewart-Haas Racing. Old school team that liked engineering and "cheating" the car better every weekend. With that gone, there was no ceiling to push, and no fun left. Both Gene and Tony aren't suit & tie guys like Hendrich.
Very simple. Tony lost interest in the company. Gene lost interest in his side too. No company with no leaders can win.
SHR goin to Ford was one of the signs of death. Danica was a bust, Aric was a bust. Suarez and Custer were busts.... Bowyer and Newman were mid at best. Yes they were tier one but still second to Penske. The harvick dominance of 2018 was still a lost championship to Penske. 2020 the 4 team was waaaaay too inconsistent in the playoffs to earn the championship which was lost to Chase Elliott.
They weren't really inconsistent in the playoffs: Under the 2011-2013 Chase format, Harvick would have won the championship. It was just that one meh round, along with stage points favoring people who run sixth all day with no issues over people who have early trouble and then pass 25+ cars.
Sorry but you can’t blame the aero package at Kansas on the 4 losing to the 22. He was in a ford also. And for the rain in Texas yeah he was the first car through but the rest of the field was right behind him and didn’t even spin.
Now we need HAAS to leave F1
HAAS has been doing fine in f1 this year. So I don’t see that happening.
Tony is tired of NASCAR. Gimmicks made up rules 👀🥂
People will barely remember SHR in 10 years from now. Thats racing.
Thats adorable. "For a reason we all know"...
They are over NASCAR like the rest of us. The dude wants to start a family and go drag race and not worry about the stupidness and whining and crying and babies of NASCAR.
Leadership when main person is over doing drag racing and not at the track every week
You should do another what-if scenerio if Kyle Larson were to join Stewart-Haas in 2021. Or Kyle Busch joining in 2024. or both!
I predicted it like 3 years ago. Stewart would not have wanted to downsize and if you go back to his coffee with Kyle (Petty) interview he already disavowed nascar for its choice in who it let dictate the sport.
I honestly think they couldn’t get a manufacturer deal and that was the writing on the wall. Such a waste of a great team in my opinion
furniture row did the same thing
100% Tony's fault, Gene brought Tony in as an owner just to run the team. Tony decided drag racing and Leah were more important than NASCAR, that's when the team started crashing. Gene should have picked someone else to make a co-owner.
Tony was given evening and once he got tired of it he threw it away. Now there are hundreds of people out of work because of him.
Tony should be ashamed of himself, but he won't be because he's to stubborn to care.