“His legacy doesn’t just die”: Gene Haas’ decision to stay in NASCAR approved by veteran spotter Brett Griffin

Gene Haas has recently announced that he would retain one of his former NASCAR Cup Series team's charters and field a one-car team, which he intends to call Haas Factory Team. Veteran spotter Brett Griffin thinks that it is a step in the right direction as far as preserving Haas' legacy in NASCAR is concerned.

Stewart-Haas Racing entered the arena of NASCAR in 2002 as Haas CNC Racing. In 2009, four-time Cup champion Tony Stewart purchased an ownership stake in the team. The organization was renamed Stewart-Haas Racing and to this day, the Ford team has bagged 69 wins and two championships in the Cup Series.

Front Row Motorsports has reportedly purchased one of the four SHR charters for $25 million. Of late, there have been rumors about other teams like Trackhouse Racing, Richard Childress Racing and even RFK Racing being in the mix of potential buyers.

In a recent episode of Door Bumper Clear, Griffin explained why he felt Gene Haas made the call.

"RFK was in talks of potentially picking it up, Richard Childress Racing was in talks of picking it up," Haas said. "For me, the thing is, those are tier one OEM teams...at least he's sticking around. His legacy doesn't just die.

No official announcement has been made regarding the partners, drivers, or manufacturers of the Haas Factory Team. Nevertheless, Stewart-Haas Racing's two-car Xfinity Series program will run as usual in 2025. Cole Custer won the 2023 Xfinity Series championship for the team, driving the number 00 Ford Mustang.

Brett Griffin explains why fielding a one-car team could be a problem for Gene Haas

Running a team in the premier racing series of NASCAR is expensive. Furthermore, it is even more challenging when a team has only one car to field each week. Griffin explained in the clip that a dedicated team of people can do similar jobs behind the garage for more than one car, and therefore, it is economically disadvantageous when that team has just one car to manage.

"I thought Gene, if he were gonna sell any, he would keep two and keep a two-car team. I'm surprised at this because a one-car team is really difficult to be successful," Griffin said. "It changes the economics of it greatly. What I mean by that is if you have a central office of people, they can do a lot of the same jobs for two, three or four car teams versus just one car teams. So the expense of owning a one car team per car cost more money."

As reported by Racer.com, Gene Haas said that his intention behind forming a new team is to promote his automotive company and grow HaasTooling.com.

"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," Haas said.

Meanwhile, Cole Custer's father, Joe Custer, will assume the office of Haas Factory Team's President. The new team will operate from the Stewart-Haas Racing facility in Kannapolis, North Carolina.