CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — There will be no Stewart-Haas Racing in NASCAR next season now that Hall of Famer Tony Stewart has left the series and the four-car organization he was co-owner with Formula 1 team owner Gene Haas.
There also won’t be a JTG Daugherty Racing team, but it’s simply a name change under new ownership of the one-car organization that won Talladega in 2024 with Ricky Stenhouse Jr. It There were no driver changes for the No. 47 Chevrolet under what is now known as Hyak Motorsports.
But SHR? Well, that put four drivers on the free agent market and the future of three of his vaunted charters in limbo. The team will now be called Haas Factory – closer to the Haas F1 name – and Cole Custer returns from the Xfinity Series at NASCAR’s highest level to drive the car.
Existing SHR drivers took their places across the grid.
Chase Briscoe, the only SHR driver to win a Cup race in 2024 and make the playoffs, probably had the softest landing. He was recruited by Joe Gibbs Racing when Martin Truex Jr. decided to return to racing part-time in 2025.
Josh Berry will replace Harrison Burton at Wood Brothers Racing, which will keep him in both Ford and Team Penske equipment. Penske drivers have won the last three Cup championships.
Noah Gragson was expected to join Front Row Motorsports, but that team joined 23XI Racing in refusing to sign NASCAR’s final offer on charters and is now embroiled in an antitrust lawsuit against the sanctioning body. Front Row and 23XI both hope to expand to three cars in 2025 – but their current charters expire at the end of this month and, unless a deal is reached, the teams will have to compete as ‘open’ cars without any guarantee of a spot on the ground or other protections.
Additionally, to grow, the two teams planned to each purchase a charter from SHR. NASCAR says there are no charter deals on the table for 23XI and Front Row, and any transfer from SHR will not be honored.
Ryan Preece was the last SHR driver to land a seat. He will join RFK Racing, which will go from two cars to three for next season. RFK did not purchase one of the SHR charters and will lease one in 2025 from Rick Ware Racing.
In other driver moves for 2025, Kaulig Racing will have another team as it brings AJ Allmendinger over from the Xfinity Series again and hired Ty Dillon to replace Daniel Hemric.
Michael McDowell left Front Row for Spire Motorsports, which also brought back Justin Haley, the only driver to win a Cup race in Spire’s short history.
Shane van Gisbergen, the dramatic winner of his first-ever Cup race in 2023, will race full-time at NASCAR’s highest level as Trackhouse Racing expands to three cars.
Former Truck Series champion Zane Smith is set to become the third Front Row driver while Riley Herbst has been promoted from the Xfinity Series. But with both of these teams suing NASCAR and NASCAR saying the purchase of SHR’s charters will not be approved, their fate remains unknown if the teams continue with their expansion plans as “open” cars.
There are a handful of notable crew chief changes, starting with the offseason surprise at Joe Gibbs Racing to move Denny Hamlin crew chief Chris Gabehart into a management role. Bubba Wallace at 23XI, the team co-owned by Hamlin, will also have a new crew chief as his was also promoted.
Longtime Penske employee Jeremy Bullins has left Wood Brothers Racing to reunite with Brad Keselowski at RFK Racing. Rodney Childers, who spent more than a decade at SHR and won a Cup title there with Kevin Harvick, will join Spire to become Haley’s crew chief.
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