Kevin Harvick and Clint Bowyer share their initial reaction to SHR's exit news

Kevin Harvick and Clint Bowyer revealed their initial reactions to the news of SHR shutting down at the end of the current season. The news was unexpected, especially for Kevin Harvick, who won the 2014 NASCAR Cup Series championship with Stewart-Haas Racing.

Harvick joined Stewart-Haas Racing in 2014. Among the 60 national series wins under his belt, 37 were with Stewart-Haas Racing; the most that any SHR driver has amassed. Harvick now works as a race analyst and commentator in the FOX Sports booth alongside his former SHR teammate Clint Bowyer.

However, the news of Stewart-Haas Racing closing its doors entirely caught the veteran racer off guard. Touching on his days behind the SHR garage, Harvick said,

"When you finally heard what the scenario was with all of it going away, I think that caught me a little bit off-guard," Harvick said. "And then you start to look back on all the things that happened at Stewart-Haas; it was a great time of my life, around a lot of racers, I had great teammates."

Harvick won the championship in his first year with Stewart-Haas Racing. Hence, Harvick has fond memories with members of the Ford team.

"Stewart-Haas racing meant a lot to my career; getting the championship, all the wins but my team; the team that I had at Stewart-Haas with Rodney Childers and all the guys on that team, that's what I worked my whole career for and they let us build that... that's the part that I will remember the most," he added.

Stewart-Haas Racing's stint in the Cup Series ends after 15 years of operation, with two Cup Series championships (Tony Stewart and Kevin Harvick) besides 69 wins. SHR is expected to sell off its charters, assets, and its facility at Kannapolis. Front Row Motorsports has purchased one of their charters already.

Clint Bowyer gives "hats off" to SHR

Clint Bowyer was Harvick's teammate at Stewart-Haas Racing from 2017 to 2021. He replaced Tony Stewart as the latter retired in 2017. Two of Bowyer's 10 victories came during his tenure as a Stewart-Haas Racing driver.

Recalling the rich legacy of SHR, the 45-year-old said,

"Hats off to them. A lot of accolades, a lot of things happened within those walls at Stewart-Haas Racing. A lot of good people. A lot of good racers at that place...Kevin's team, my team... Danica (Patrick), her whole career pretty much was at Stewart-Haas Racing."

A bigshot team like Stewart-Haas Racing quitting to race is a big deal. However, Bowyer felt there was a positive side to this. Although the void isn't easy to fill, SHR's charters are available and those chartered entities will still run in the Cup Series, although for other teams.

"A lot of good things in NASCAR became of Gene Haas' initial investment; I'm talking hundreds and millions of dollars he invested in NASCAR," explained Bowyer. "That's not an easy void to fill. But the good news is with the charter system, they're available. That means they are going to some other place."

Throughout 16 years as a stock car driver, Bowyer has made 536 starts, winning four poles and recording 10 wins besides 82 top-five and 224 top-10 performances. He is one of the few drivers to have driven for all three manufacturers in the NASCAR arena.