CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — There won't be a Stewart-Haas Racing in NASCAR next season now that Hall of Famer Tony Stewart has left the series and the four-car organization he co-owned with Formula 1 team owner Gene Haas.
There also won't be a JTG Daugherty Racing team, but that's merely a rebrand under new ownership of the one-car organization that won Talladega in 2024 with Ricky Stenhouse Jr. There was no driver change 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 its vaunted charters in limbo. The team will now be called Haas Factory — closer to what Haas F1 is known as — and Cole Custer returns from the Xfinity Series to NASCAR's top level to drive the car.
The existing SHR drivers have taken seats all 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 snapped up by Joe Gibbs Racing when Martin Truex Jr. decided to scale back to part-time racing in 2025.
Josh Berry will replace Harrison Burton at Wood Brothers Racing in a move that both keeps him in a Ford but also Team Penske equipment. Penske drivers have won the last three Cup championships.
Noah Gragson is slated to move to Front Row Motorsports, but that team joined 23XI Racing in refusing to sign NASCAR's final offer on charters and now is embroiled in an antitrust lawsuit against the sanctioning body. Front Row and 23XI are both hoping to expand to three cars in 2025 — but their current charters expire at the end of this month and, unless an agreement is reached, the teams will have to compete as “open” cars with no guarantee of a spot in the field or other protections.
Further, to expand, both teams planned purchases of a charter each from SHR. NASCAR says there is no deal for charters on the table for 23XI and Front Row, and any transfer from SHR will not be honored.
Ryan Preece was the final SHR driver to land a seat. He'll move to RFK Racing, which will grow from two cars to three for next season. RFK did not buy one of the SHR charters and instead will lease one in 2025 from Rick Ware Racing.
In other driver moves for 2025, Kaulig Racing will have another lineup as it again moves AJ Allmendinger up from the Xfinity Series and has 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 in his first-ever Cup race back in 2023, will race full-time at NASCAR's top level as Trackhouse Racing expands to three cars.
Zane Smith, a former Truck Series champion, is slated to become the third driver at Front Row while Riley Herbst was promoted from the Xfinity Series. But with those two teams suing NASCAR and NASCAR saying the purchase of SHR's charters will not be approved, their fate remains unknown if the teams continue 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, also will have a new crew chief because his also was promoted.
Jeremy Bullins, a longtime Penske employee, 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 move to Spire to be Haley's crew chief.
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AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing
Jenna Fryer, The Associated Press
