At Stewart-Haas Racing, Kevin Harvick did all he could for the organization, including winning a championship. He knows how hard it is for teams to get to that point in the NASCAR Cup Series.
Now, the Haas Factory Team is going to basically restart. After all of the years as SHR, building the teams, crew members, and shop members, and making it a championship-caliber organization.
Haas will have a single Cup Series team in 2025. But, is it going to be a successful effort?
“Now, they’re right back to where they started. I think it will be very difficult for them to run this team competitively,” Harvick said on his Happy Hour podcast.
Co-host Mamba Smith replied that he is excited to see the new team.
“I’m excited. I’m excited because it’s a full-circle moment. Like, they had the long run that we were both a part of in different ways,” Smith explained. “Now, instead of going away, they’re going to stay. One, I’m excited because it saves a lot of jobs. A lot of people that just don’t need to be out trying to find it. There’s a large group of people that will be able to be retained by Haas.”
Kevin Harvick shot back. He doesn’t want to make it seem like this will be easy. In fact, he isn’t sure what the draw is for talented workers to want to work at Haas now.
“Do you think they will be able to retain the good people?” Harvick asked. “Because I don’t. I don’t think without a marquee name like Tony Stewart, or Danica Patrick or Ryan Newman or myself, whoever that is, I don’t see any route to retaining any of the good people. … But this is exactly how Haas Racing, when it started, this is the same way that it functioned when it started. Why would they be able to keep the good people now?”
Even retaining someone like crew chief Rodney Childers is likely not going to happen. Bigger teams are going to poach the best talent. So, Haas will have to hope they find diamonds in the rough or get lucky with a few loyal personnel.
“So, either there was a disagreement with everything that happened or Tony just wanted out but I have a hard time believing that they’re going to be able to keep the key people around in order to be as competitive as they need to be to run up front.”
Cole Custer is the most likely candidate for the Haas Factory ride. For what it’s worth, Kevin Harvick believes he is the right driver for the job.
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