Silly Season 2025

Jorge De Guzman said:
Looks like Tony wants to cash out. Off to NHRA
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Yep. Hate it. Interesting how he slammed the Toyota Driver Development Program, and then bails on Ford's guy. Who is screwing careers here?
 
Daytripper said:
But so many people said last year that Tony's lack of interest in NASCAR wasnt a problem for SHR.
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Honestly, I don't think Smoke is disinterested, he just has other things going on....
 
Revman said:
Honestly, I don't think Smoke is disinterested, he just has other things going on....
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Hate to disagree, but I think Tony's interest in NASCAR really only ever went as far as his own driving career. I think he has basically been disengaged since the day he got out of the car. I always felt that for Tony, NASCAR was more of a means to an end than a true calling. Much like what people have said about Kyle Larson since he showed up in NASCAR.
 
Formerjackman said:
Hate to disagree, but I think Tony's interest in NASCAR really only ever went as far as his own driving career. I think he has basically been disengaged since the day he got out of the car. I always felt that for Tony, NASCAR was more of a means to an end than a true calling. Much like what people have said about Kyle Larson since he showed up in NASCAR.
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I agree with that.
 
Revman said:
Yep. Hate it. Interesting how he slammed the Toyota Driver Development Program, and then bails on Ford's guy. Who is screwing careers here?
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Nature of business, unfortunately.

Honestly, he was not wrong about his comments either. However, Ford isn't exactly filling to the brim with prospects at lower levels outside of Deegan and Herbst (depending on where his money takes him) atm. Literally is the only development driver I know of, now Cam Waters is getting his feet wet as well in the Ford camp.

No shade at any of the OEMs, at all. Just an opinion.
 
I don’t think Tony is sour on NASCAR but as others have said he just wants to do other things. One thing I do know is that Tony will be getting a healthy direct deposit when the sale(s) go through!
 
I’m pretty sure Gene Haas remains the majority shareholder in SHR.
 
aunty dive said:
I’m pretty sure Gene Haas remains the majority shareholder in SHR.
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I'm sure he is, but the question is did Tony ever actually put any of his own money into the team, or was he given an ownership stake for signing on? If so, his stake could represent a handsome if not a huge profit.
 
Formerjackman said:
I'm sure he is, but the question is did Tony ever actually put any of his own money into the team, or was he given an ownership stake for signing on? If so, his stake could represent a handsome if not a huge profit.
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The rumor mill said GM wrote Gene a check … I have no idea.

Huge profit? Capital gain, actually. 4 Cup Charters “purchased” in 2015 at the low, low introductory price of $ 0.00 … 💵💵💵💵
 
Formerjackman said:
I'm sure he is, but the question is did Tony ever actually put any of his own money into the team, or was he given an ownership stake for signing on? If so, his stake could represent a handsome if not a huge profit.
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At the time, it was reported he put no money into the team. He probably owns a small percentage of the team.
 
kkfan91 said:
Brett says Kaulig could merge with Trackhouse.
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Charlie Spencer said:
I've been wondering about the possibility.
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It would make sense at this point, although it’s kinda disappointing how much and how quickly Kaulig’s programs have fallen off. They’re not as competitive in either of Cup or Xfinity as they were just a couple of years ago and they’re taking funded drivers…seems like they expanded a bit too much too soon.
 
FLRacingFan said:
It would make sense at this point, although it’s kinda disappointing how much and how quickly Kaulig’s programs have fallen off. They’re not as competitive in either of Cup or Xfinity as they were just a couple of years ago and they’re taking funded drivers…seems like they expanded a bit too much too soon.
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Kaulhouse Racing. (Just a silly guess)
 
aunty dive said:
I’m pretty sure Gene Haas remains the majority shareholder in SHR.
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When *racing* reporters comment on business matters, I take it with a grain of salt, because most of them are pretty clueless and often misinterpret their information. Pockrass is one exception; he is careful and generally accurate.

However, when Stewart-Haas Racing was formed, the New York Times published a news article about it... written by a NYT *business* reporter, and published in the NYT business section. It said explicitly that Smoke's equity share was 50%. I regard that as a reliable source of the equity at that time.
 
LewTheShoe said:
When *racing* reporters comment on business matters, I take it with a grain of salt, because most of them are pretty clueless and often misinterpret their information. Pockrass is one exception; he is careful and generally accurate.

However, when Stewart-Haas Racing was formed, the New York Times published a news article about it... written by a NYT *business* reporter, and published in the NYT business section. It said explicitly that Smoke's equity share was 50%. I regard that as a reliable source of the equity at that time.
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Quite possible. One forgets now what a dumpster fire Haas was before Tony came on board. Giving someone half of that organization would be like giving them 100,000 share of K-Mart stock at the time.
 
Kiante said:
Nature of business, unfortunately.

Honestly, he was not wrong about his comments either. However, Ford isn't exactly filling to the brim with prospects at lower levels outside of Deegan and Herbst (depending on where his money takes him) atm. Literally is the only development driver I know of, now Cam Waters is getting his feet wet as well in the Ford camp.

No shade at any of the OEMs, at all. Just an opinion.
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Toyota gives young drivers a shot.....not a guarantee. Tony was suggesting that Toyota was grabbling all of the talent without enough seats, and screwing careers. Complete bull****. Other teams and OEMs have demonstrated the willingness to take what Toyota has developed, and sign them. Ford and Chevy are welcome to follow suit, but Ford hasn't--even though they made noise that they would, and The Felon--who is Chevy--has openly and repeatedly stated that he is fine with somebody else developing his talent.

Still hate that Tony is likely leaving. While his shots at Toyota were ass clown quality, I recognize his value to the sport.
 
Revman said:
Toyota gives young drivers a shot.....not a guarantee. Tony was suggesting that Toyota was grabbling all of the talent without enough seats, and screwing careers. Complete bull****. Other teams and OEMs have demonstrated the willingness to take what Toyota has developed, and sign them. Ford and Chevy are welcome to follow suit, but Ford hasn't--even though they made noise that they would, and The Felon--who is Chevy--has openly and repeatedly stated that he is fine with somebody else developing his talent.

Still hate that Tony is likely leaving. While his shots at Toyota were ass clown quality, I recognize his value to the sport.
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I don't think it's unfair to point out that for a long time Toyota seemed to have a lot more drivers in the pipeline then they had potential seats for. With the addition of 23XI and Legacy, I think that argument is largely moot now. Since you couldn't help yourself and threw the "felon" into the argument, I think it's important to point out that the current HMS lineup contains NOBODY that could be considered a former Toyota development driver in any way, Byron's year at KBM included. I also think it's worth noting that the Toyota Cup lineup consists of what, TWO drivers that are genuine Toyota development guys, and one of them was born into it.
 
Jessie Love and Daniel Dye were both Toyota development drivers. They had no place for them. Childress got Love for Xfinity, and Dye is driving for McAnally in the Trucks. They have kept Heim who truthfully should be driving full time in at least in Xfinity. Nothing has changed about what Stewart has said, but on the other hand Toyota has been doing it so long that drivers know what they are getting into before they start. They flood the field with drivers in ARCA and that is a dead end for many hoping to attract a ride higher up, but again that is their choice.
I wouldn't be surprised to see Nemechek get the knife soon. They are going to have to make room for Heim somewhere if they want to keep him.
 
For those that needed it or werent around as fans back then, Tony was given a 50% stake in the HAAS/CNC NASCAR team for signing his name to the contract. He brought his own people in for his team (not Gibbs personnel) and the 39. If I remember correctly Gene was serving prison or had just gotten out when he asked Tony to come to his team.
www.espn.com

Stewart granted release from Gibbs, will join Haas

Two-time NASCAR champion Tony Stewart has been granted a release from the final year of his driving contract with Joe Gibbs Racing after 10 seasons with the team, sources close to Stewart confirmed for ESPN.com.
www.espn.com www.espn.com

Tony Stewart Leaving JGR, Will Co-Own Stewart Haas Racing

www.sportsbusinessjournal.com www.sportsbusinessjournal.com
 
What an absolute fall from grace. It’s just a matter of days it sounds like now
 
The Nature Boy said:
I feel sorry for the hundreds of employees at the shop who are about to lose their jobs because of this. They deserve so much better than this crap.
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Yea you know you think about office people, shop personnel, hauler drivers the people we don’t see who are a big part of the “behind the scenes” of a race team…it’s a tough way to go out.
 
I feel bad for the employees, but there's nothing Tony and Gene can do if they're losing money. They have no other option but to sell, losing Harvick, along with Busch Light and Smithfield, would be a huge blow to any team.
 
I felt like they had assembled a solid line-up that would attract major sponsors, but so far that hasn't been the case. If Hendrick themselves are losing money, I can't imagine SHR's situation.
 
JJ_14 said:
I felt like they had assembled a solid line-up that would attract major sponsors, but so far that hasn't been the case. If Hendrick themselves are losing money, I can't imagine SHR's situation.
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It actually seems like they've done a good job of getting sponsorship. Haas hasn't been on the cars that much. Now how much those guys are paying for the name on the car no one knows?
 
The Nature Boy said:
I feel sorry for the hundreds of employees at the shop who are about to lose their jobs because of this. They deserve so much better than this crap.
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Can't really blame anyone at SHR right now, if you want to blame someone blame Nascar and RTA. SHR can't sell something that they have no idea if it will exist next season and what the value of it will be.
 
Daytripper said:
But so many people said last year that Tony's lack of interest in NASCAR wasnt a problem for SHR.
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I had a feeling SHR wouldn't be invested in their Cup program anymore once Cole Custer got demoted to the Xfinity Series.

All the major players involved have something else that's a higher priority than the Cup program.

Then there's Ford, which has deeper issues too. The sport, as a whole, struggles with marketing its talent, but nowhere is it more obvious than Ford. I mean, Ryan Blaney just won the championship last year. Ryan Blaney. The guy who has the looks and charisma of Ryan Gosling. Yet, there's no marketing campaign behind him whatsoever.
 
wi_racefan said:
Can't really blame anyone at SHR right now, if you want to blame someone blame Nascar and RTA. SHR can't sell something that they have no idea if it will exist next season and what the value of it will be.
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The employees deserve to know whether or not their employer plans to sell. Period.

I don’t see SHR existing if charters went away, it just impacts how much Tony and Gene can cash out.
 
The Nature Boy said:
The employees deserve to know whether or not their employer plans to sell. Period.

I don’t see SHR existing if charters went away, it just impacts how much Tony and Gene can cash out.
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What if Tony and Gene don't know yet until the charter deal is settled? It's a definite possibility. If they new deal gives them enough that sponsorship isn't needed like the past then maybe they stick around? These are real things to consider.
 
The Nature Boy said:
The employees deserve to know whether or not their employer plans to sell. Period.

I don’t see SHR existing if charters went away, it just impacts how much Tony and Gene can cash out.
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Racing at this level is a business. Millions of people each year are instantly "surprised" by decisions that are made by their employer. At this time they really don't need to know what is going to happen. Would it be nice to know? Sure. Those charters will be somewhere next year and their will still be opportunities for some. Unlike most other businesses they are at least aware of what might happen far in advance. Look at what just happened to all the Red Lobster employees...those folks basically showed up to work one day locked out and out of a job.
 
The Nature Boy said:
The employees deserve to know whether or not their employer plans to sell. Period.

I don’t see SHR existing if charters went away, it just impacts how much Tony and Gene can cash out.
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Lol no, they don't. They deserve a paycheck for services. Nothing more, nothing less. Every single one of them is free to start a race team any time they want. But until they put millions of dollars and all the risks that come with it into the game, they don't deserve anything other than what's agreed to in an employee contract. It's not a great situation for them, no doubt. But businesses go out of business every single day of the year. And, for the most part, people land on their feet.

SHR has been a pretty unique place ever since Tony joined in that they truly operated like two companies - Tony's and Gene's. Especially once Gene funded a 4th car for Kurt, which was a pretty obvious "F you" to Tony who went out and got injured. They really don't share much between the 4 cars - data, setups etc. Especially when Kevin was in the 4. That car was kept pretty tight lipped. I have no idea what it's like there now. But the idea that they might be calling it quits in Cup is really not very surprising. I don't think the leadership has ever been a healthy one. The two partners really didn't partner much together, and the highest ranking non-owner was trying to move mountains for his son. Not exactly a recipe for success!
 
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