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NASCAR team Owner Gene Haas of Haas Factory Support team announced they are leaving Ford for Chevrolet
On Friday morning, the NASCAR world learned the Haas Factory Support team is making the manufacturer move from Ford to Chevrolet beginning with the 2026 season. They will form an alignment with Hendrick Motorsports.
HFS has been a member of the Blue Oval fold since 2017 with NASCAR Champion and Hall of Fame driver/owner, Tony Stewart, when the team was called Stewart Haas Racing. When it was formed it was racing Chevrolets. In 2024, Stewart left the team and Gene Haas retained sole ownership.
The team was reduced to one NASCAR Cup Series team and two Xfinity Series teams at the start of this season, all remaining under the Ford banner.
Why the Move
This season, the team’s NCS driver Cole Custer has one top five and two top 10 finishes and is mired 33rd in points standing. The two NXS drivers of Sheldon Creed and Sam Mayer have enjoyed more prominent success.
Mayer put the team’s No. 41 Ford in Victory Lane at Iowa Speedway to pad his stats of 12 top five and 15 top 10 finishes. He is currently ranked fourth in the Playoff standings.
Creed has five top five and 12 top 10 finishes this year in the No. 00 Ford and is 10th in the Playoffs. Saturday night’s event at World Wide Technology Raceway is the cutoff race to determine the 12 Playoff championship eligible drivers. Creed is 65 markers above the Cutoff Line.
“First and foremost, we want to thank Ford for its partnership,” said Joe Custer, Haas Factor Team president. “Their support allowed us to establish Haas Factory Team, and we remain dedicated to delivering results for them in Cup and Xfinity all the way through the season finale in Phoenix.”
The relationship with Haas and Rick Hendrick was formed years ago via Haas Automation, which manufactures and sells CNC machines.
“Personally, I have a deep history with Chevrolet and Hendrick Motorsports,” Haas said. “Both helped in establishing not only my presence as a team owner in NASCAR, but also the presence of Haas Automation.
“Together, we were able to build a race team that competed for wins and championships while growing the use of Haas CNC machinery throughout the racing and manufacturing industries.”
Back to the Bowtie Brigade
Racing the Chevrolet brand won’t be anything new to Haas. He began his NASCAR team ownership in 2002 with Jack Sprague as the driver for three races in a Chevrolet. From there, he raced both Chevrolets and Dodge with multiple drivers in both the Cup and Xfinity Series.
In 2012, SHR won its first NCS Championship with Stewart driving the No. 14 Chevrolet. They backed that up with another series championship with Kevin Harvick wheeling the No. 4 Chevrolet to a title in 2014.
The reuniting of Haas, Chevrolet and Hendrick is being done in hope of that success happing again.
“We have a long history with Gene and his organization, including winning championships together so this feels almost like a homecoming,” said Rick Hendrick, owner of Hendrick Motorsports. “Our relationship started many years ago with Haas CNC machines in our facilities, and I’ve always admired the passion that he and Joe Custer have for the sport and their desire to win.
“We’re proud to support Haas Factory Team and thrilled to work together to deliver more victories for Chevrolet.”
The release said all current drivers will remain with HFS going forward.
Tim Packman Tim Packman is a journalist for Heavy.com covering NASCAR. He grew up around the short tracks of Western New York watching his dad, stepdad and step brother race. His uncle was the head starter at many area tracks and member of the FOAR Score Hall of Fame.
Tim’s passion for racing took him to the announcer’s tower and writing program stories for multiple tracks in the area, namely Lancaster National Speedway. In 2000, he moved to Mooresville, NC to become an award-winning journalist for NASCAR.com. He took a job with Dale Earnhardt, Inc. as the team’s Communications Director and was part of two Daytona 500 wins and two NASCAR Championships.
The announcing experience led to becoming a Pit Reporter and News Director for MRN Radio. A return to the team side at Richard Childress Racing as the Director of Corporate Communications took place, which also included another Championship.
From 2015 to 2018, Tim returned to where his career began in 1994 – Lancaster National Speedway & Dragway – as the Track President. He earned Short Track Promoter of the Year awards in 2016 and 2017.
Upon returning to NC, he joined The Garage Shop as Communications Director and host of it’s Podcast and MAV-TV docuseries “Legacy of Speed” talking about Land Speed Racing at Bonneville, and other places.
Tim has hosted two other Podcasts, namely “Pub Table Racers,” and wrote three books. One was with NASCAR Hall of Famer Bobby Allison titled, “Bobby Allison, a Racer’s Racer” and two Children’s books, “Funny Dan the Race Car Man” and “Petey the Pace Car.”
He also served in the US Navy. More about Tim Packman
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