Stewart-Haas Racing is set to close; Tony Stewart is fine with it as he’s done with the sport
Stewart-Haas Racing was founded in 2002. At the end of this season, the NASCAR team will close their doors.
49 time NASCAR Cup Series winner Tony Stewart is a co-owner of the team. And, when the decision was first made to close the team, he didn’t want to close the doors, it was circumstances that forced it.
Now, after watching how things have played out this season alone between 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports, Stewart feels it’s the right time to leave the sport.
23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports opened a lawsuit regarding the new 2025 charter agreement. The teams are looking for better terms for their teams regarding the agreement.
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“I went to Talladega. Went from Talladega to Charlotte and spent the whole day at the shop. Got to see as many people as I could at the shop,” Tony Stewart stated via Kevin Harvick’s Happy Hour Podcast.
“Knowing that when I left the building there that there’s some of those people that I’ve known for 16 years and I may never ever see them again, unfortunately.”
“I don’t even know that it’s bittersweet. It’s more bitter than sweet.”
“It’s a tough decision. But, things in life change. Your priorities change and variables outside of your control change.”
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NASCAR has changed
“NASCAR, you and I have been around it for a long time. It is not what it used to be. It is drastically different than what it used to be,” Stewart explained.
“And, that’s okay for some people. And, for some people, it’s not. I guess I’m one of those people that, I have a lot of respect for the France family and for the opportunities I’ve had to be a professional racecar driver. To race at the highest level and race with Dale Sr, Rusty Wallace, Jeff Gordon and yourself.”
“But, this is a time where things are drastically changing in the sport. You look at what’s going on with 23XI and Front Row Motorsports right now, with their battle with NASCAR.”
“The direction that things are going. It’s not a direction that I wanna be a part of. It’s the right time. This was never a part of a master plan. But, as this year has gone on, this has become very clear that this is the right time for me to get out of the sport.”
“There’s things that I see that I definitely don’t like. And I’m happy doing the stuff I’m doing now.”
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“I don’t have a Hendrick Motorsports or Penske Truck Rentals and all the things that a lot of these guys have to back their race teams. We have to do it solely on sponsorship. And that is a ton of work.”
“It’s more competitive now getting sponsor than it’s ever been, I feel like, in our sport. When you and I started, there were more Fortune 500 companies that wanted to be on cars full-time that couldn’t because there wasn’t cars to be on.”
“And now, you’re fighting for one race sponsorships. You’re constantly having to change wraps out. It’s just a different time in the sport.”
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“The sport’s going to be healthy. It’s gonna survive. It always has, it always will. But, I’m happy at this point in my life to make this change.”
“It wasn’t that way at the beginning of the year. We had different reasons for why we had to shut down at the end of the season.”
“As time’s gone on and watching the owners and NASCAR fight. And just the chaos that’s going on over there. I’m fine being done with this at the end of the year.”
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