Stewart-Haas Racing switching to Ford in 2017
One of NASCAR's most prominent teams is making a manufacturer switch.
Stewart-Haas Racing surprised many on Wednesday when it announced it was changing from Chevrolets to Fords for the 2017 season.
“I am proud of our association with Chevrolet as they helped build our organization into the team it is today,” SHR co-owner Tony Stewart said in a statement. “This new partnership with Ford allows us to strengthen our position in the sport and ensure the long-term stability and success for everyone who is a part of Stewart-Haas Racing.”
Stewart-Haas Racing has always been a General Motors team dating back to its Haas CNC days. The team has a technical alliance with Hendrick Motorsports which will end when the team is done with Chevrolet at the end of the 2016 season.
It's unclear from the brief release whether SHR will build its own equipment or form an alliance with a Ford team. Joining forces with anyone on the Ford side outside of Team Penske would be a performance downgrade for Stewart-Haas. Penske has been far and away the best Ford team over the past two seasons. It's currently the only Ford team capable of competing for a championship.
That lone wolf status of Team Penske was likely an incentive for Ford officials to get a major team on its side. While Toyota has most of its backing behind the four cars of Joe Gibbs Racing and the technically-aligned Furniture Row car and Chevy has Hendrick Motorsports, Richard Childress Racing and others, Ford was outnumbered at the top of NASCAR.
“We have said very clearly that we are not in NASCAR just to race, but to win races and championships,” Dave Pericak, the global director of Ford Performance said in a statement. “We believe the addition of Stewart-Haas Racing in 2017 will give our program a major boost in terms of being in contention for both drivers’ and manufacturers’ championships every year.
“We believe that our NASCAR engineering experience and tools match up very well with the expertise and personnel that Stewart-Haas Racing has in house right now, and that we will both benefit from this partnership going forward.”
In addition to performance on the track, the addition of Stewart-Haas Racing's four drivers gives Ford a huge marketing boost with Kevin Harvick and Danica Patrick. Kurt Busch is returning to Ford – he drove Fords for Roush Fenway Racing to start his career and won a title with Roush in 2004 – and Clint Bowyer joins Stewart-Haas at the end of the season to replace Stewart, who is retiring from the driver's seat. Busch's title was the last time Ford won a Sprint Cup championship.
“Motorsports is an extremely challenging environment where in order to maintain success you have to constantly innovate. It’s true in NASCAR and it’s true in business,” SHR co-owner Gene Haas said. “We’ve enjoyed great success with Chevrolet, but this opportunity with Ford allows us to evolve while continuing to compete at the highest levels of the sport.”
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Nick Bromberg is the editor of From The Marbles on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at nickbromberg@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!
