After Tony Stewart and Gene Haas confirmed that Stewart-Haas Racing would be closing shop at the end of the season, former SHR driver Kevin Harvick reflected on Haas' early struggles in NASCAR and eventual partnership with Stewart.
Stewart Haas Racing's roots can be traced back to the Haas CNC Racing team, founded by Gene Haas in 2002. The team struggled to fetch consistent results at the Cup level until Tony Stewart's arrival as a team co-owner/driver in 2009.
Kevin Harvick reflected on the early days of the team and how Stewart's arrival transformed the team into a championship-winning organization within a couple of seasons. Harvick explained that Gene Haas left Stewart in charge of the on-track performance of the team.
"Over the last couple of years when the performance of the cars wasn't what it was, I don't think Gene was having much fun watching his cars struggle. That's why he initiated that partnership with Tony Stewart to get his cars running better because he wanted to have more fun, because it's more fun when you run good right?" Harvick said on Happy Hour podcast. [at 4:35]
The former #4 SHR Ford driver explained that Stewart's arrival brought a fundamental change in the culture of the team, transforming it into an elite Cup Series organization:
"When Haas started they didn't run good, and they brought Tony Stewart over and it fixed the culture, the performance, we won championships and won races and did all the things that we needed to do."
Kevin Harvick also shed light on SHR's decline in performance over recent years. He insisted that Gene Haas was more involved with his F1 team, while Stewart became engrossed in his other ventures.
Harvick added that Gene Haas would prefer a backmarker team in F1 rather than see his cars struggle in the NASCAR Cup Series, and hence decided to pull the plug on the organization.
Kevin Harvick predicts a "war" for Tony Stewart's SHR talent
With Stewart Haas Racing shutting down at the end of the season, Kevin Harvick predicted a war for the talented employees within the team. The former SHR driver spoke in high regard about the team personnel as he anticipates the top teams to bid for the talent.
"Well, it's going to be a war for the people, the good people. It's going to be a war between all the top teams in a contest to see who can get the best people that are within SHR. There are a lot of good people within SHR. And people are hard to come by. Good engineers, good crew chiefs, good management, all those things exist at SHR," Harvick said on his podcast [at 5:38]
Harvick's former crew chief Rodney Childers will be one of the most sought-after SHR personnel. His immense experience would instantly add value to any team on the grid.