1on1: Haas GM Joe Custer

When Gene Haas was sent away to federal prison to serve a 24-month sentence for pleading guilty to one count of tax evasion, the owner of Haas CNC Racing turned over the everyday operation of his race organization to Joe Custer, its general manager.

Custer helped broker the staggering deal that brought driver Tony Stewart on board as a partner, with Haas CNC essentially giving Stewart 50 percent of the company in exchange for all else that Stewart can bring to the table in terms of driver talent, sponsorship alliances and ownership expertise. Custer talked about the new partnership and the future of the company that soon will be known as Stewart-Haas Racing.

Q: Talk about your excitement in bringing Tony Stewart on board at the end of this season, and what it might mean for your struggling operation?

Custer: We feel like we've made the right investments in our company and we haven't quit. We keep coming back every year and every week, trying to get better and believing we'll get better. But we're not showing it. You can say what you want, but you get your report card every Sunday -- and I'm not happy. Our folks are not happy with our report card. And you have to ask Tony this, but for whatever reason he sees what I see and what I believe and that is, with him on board, we could win the Daytona 500 and win the championship next year. I believe that with all my heart.

Q: Is there anything that has surprised you about Tony?

Custer: I'm just telling you the truth, and that is that I'm just getting to know him. I know him from the sport. I don't know him as a person. I'm just now getting to know him a little bit, and it just keeps getting better. You hear about his passion and his drive, and that's what comes through right away. This guy, he thinks about racing the whole time. And the people around him who helped get him where he is -- whether it's his employees at Eldora (Speedway, the dirt track Stewart owns in Rossburg, Ohio) who worked overtime on a Wednesday night or whatever -- he knows about that. And that impresses me. I've built some companies ... and I see a guy in Tony who understands that it's about the people. You can't just write a check and expect to get the performance. You've got to have the commitment as owner, from the very top on down. You've got to have people who have skin in the game and can say, 'My name is on it now. And my name means I'm gonna be there.' I have a lot of respect for that.

Q: Was this deal just too good for him to pass up?

Custer: I think it is. You'd have to ask him, but we're gonna do everything we told him we would do to make him a successful car owner. I don't know -- like Tony has said -- if that's ever been done before. Look at some of the guys who are icons in the sport -- the A.J. Foyts, the Richard Pettys. I want Tony Stewart to be, on the owner side, at their level. And hopefully through our relationship, we can help him get to that level, where he is one of the dominant owners in the sport 20 years from now.

It used to be you could get it done on savvy. Now you've got to have the checkbook. You've got to have the financial resources behind you to be successful and give you that stability you need over the long haul. That's what we're about. We're manufacturers. We look at things over a long period of time. We feel like we can be a key to helping someone like Tony make his goals -- and ours -- become a reality. (Continued)