SHR’s ex-sponsor teams up with former ally of $90M Tony Stewart in a high-stakes season-long pact

Texas A&M University, which previously sponsored $90 million-worth (via Celebrity Net Worth) Tony Stewart and Gene Haas-owned (but now defunct) Stewart-Haas Racing, is all set to back the No. 41 Haas Factory Team Ford Mustang driven by Cole Custer. The university will juggle between the roles of primary and associate sponsors for the Xfinity Series champion.

Custer will run Texas A&M’s brand-new military livery in this year’s Coca-Cola 600, one of NASCAR's four crown jewel races. Noting the university’s history with Tony Stewart’s former team, Custer, who joined Gene Haas’s newly formed organization this year, is particularly excited about the tie-up.

“I’m proud to carry the Texas A&M branding on our No. 41 Ford Mustang this season,” Custer said in a statement (quoted by Toby Christie). “It was a productive partnership in 2024, so we look forward to expanding the relationship and raising awareness around Texas A&M’s commitment to our country’s military personnel.”

According to the deal, Haas Factory Team will provide selected Texas A&M University students with “hands-on learning opportunities” through paid internship programs at its headquarters in Kannapolis, North Carolina. HFT will also take 10 students on an exclusive, behind-the-scenes tour at Texas Motor Speedway on May 3.

Besides its upcoming stint with NASCAR, Texas A&M University will back the No. 60 Honda driven by NTT IndyCar Series driver Felix Rosenqvist, who also won the 2019 IndyCar Series Rookie of the Year Award. Rosenqvist’s uniform and helmet will carry Texas A&M’s logo throughout the season.

“I'm definitely planning on coming back”- NHRA driver Tony Stewart on his potential return to NASCAR

After finishing 22nd in the 2016 Ford EcoBoost 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway, Tony Stewart never competed in a NASCAR-sanctioned race. He got involved with the NHRA, where he is in his sophomore year, driving his wife Leah Pruett’s Top Fuel Dragster for Tony Stewart Racing.

Stewart bagged his first NHRA win last weekend at the NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series Four-Wide Nationals at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, which also brought back memories from his 2009 NASCAR All-Star win. Recalling them, the motorsports veteran said (via Yardbarker):

“It brought me back to a moment back in 2009 when we started Stewart-Haas Racing, and I remember winning the All-Star Race at Charlotte and getting to victory lane."

Tony Stewart celebrates after winning the Four Wide Nationals at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on Apr 13, 2025- Source: Imagn

Perhaps that brought back the zeal to return to NASCAR’s ovals. Tony Stewart, as a member of the prestigious NASCAR Hall of Fame, owns a hard card that gives him full access to the garage area and the drivers before each NASCAR race.

On that note, Stewart told SiriusXM NASCAR Radio:

“I'm definitely planning on coming back to NASCAR races. I don't know if NASCAR has the ability to revoke that (his NASCAR HoF hard card) or not but until they do revoke it, I'm going to take advantage of having a hard card and I definitely want to come back and see everybody.”

That’s indeed some exciting news for the NASCAR aficionados. However, Stewart has yet to reveal his schedule. All things said, it seems the 53-year-old is not ready for retirement.