Key moments in Stewart-Haas Racing history

Tony Stewart and Gene Haas joined forces to create Stewart-Haas Racing in 2008. Take a look back at the organization's history from its early beginnings as Haas CNC Racing to its championship-winning runs as SHR.

Businessman Gene Haas first joined the ranks of NASCAR team owners in 2002, fielding the No. 60 Chevrolet in three races with journeyman Jack Sprague at the wheel. After working with a carousel of drivers the following year, Haas settled on former Daytona 500 winner Ward Burton, who brought the No. 0 Chevrolet team its first top-10 finish in early 2004.

Veteran Mike Bliss came aboard for 2005, an uneven season marked by eight DNFs in 36 races. The team came oh-so-close to its first full-fledged highlight in the NASCAR All-Star Race qualifier, but second-year driver Brian Vickers nudged Bliss out of the lead within sight of the checkered flag for the victory.

Haas expanded to a two-car operation in 2007, with Jeff Green as the primary driver of the No. 66 Chevrolet and Johnny Sauter in the team's No. 70 ride. The driver roster went into shuffle mode the following year as Scott Riggs entered the picture, but the team was unable to find much momentum in either season.

Huge changes came for Haas in late 2008, when he joined Tony Stewart in announcing the formation of a new organization -- Stewart-Haas Racing -- with Stewart as co-owner and driver and fellow Hoosier Ryan Newman as his teammate. The move paid immediate performance rewards, with Stewart and Newman accumulating seven wins in their first two seasons together.

Stewart added a crowning moment to the team's history in 2011 with a spirited charge to his third premier series championship. Stewart prevailed in five of the 10 playoff races to edge Carl Edwards on a tiebreaker for the title.

After a partial schedule with affiliate team Tommy Baldwin Racing in 2012, Danica Patrick helped Stewart-Haas Racing expand in 2013 as the full-time driver in the No. 10 Chevrolet. Patrick made an immediate splash in that year's Daytona 500, becoming the first woman to win a pole in NASCAR's top division.

SHR grew to the four-car maximum in 2014 by adding former champion Kurt Busch to the fold. Busch stepped into the team's No. 41 ride -- the car number a juxtaposition of Stewart's familiar No. 14 -- with majority sponsorship from Haas' automation and machine tools company.

The 2014 Stewart-Haas driver roster featured another substantial change, with Kevin Harvick leaving his longtime role with Richard Childress Racing to replace Newman. Harvick, paired with new crew chief Rodney Childers, burst out of the gates with a rejuvenating five-win season and his first premier series championship.

Tony Stewart made another major turn in the organization's direction in the fall of 2015, announcing that he would leave the driver's seat after the 2016 season. High-profile free agent Clint Bowyer was tapped as his replacement for 2017.

On Feb. 24, 2016, Stewart-Haas Racing and Ford Performance made the bold announcement that they would join forces in 2017, trading Chevy's bowtie logo for the blue oval. Besides the partnership's big-picture repercussions, the transition brought a dramatically new look to one of the sport's most successful teams.

The move to Ford didn't end the news cycle for Stewart-Haas Racing in 2016, either. On July 25, the organization announced it would field a NASCAR Xfinity Series team beginning in 2017. Less than two months later, Cole Custer was tabbed as the driver.

To open the 2017 season, Kurt Busch, who had been very close to winning in the Daytona 500 before, notched his first victory in The Great American Race. The win was also SHR's first in the sport's most celebrated event.

On the heels of Kevin Harvick's Championship 4-clinching win at Texas in 2017, Stewart-Haas Racing co-owners Tony Stewart and Gene Haas announced that Aric Almirola would drive the No. 10 Ford in the 2018 NASCAR Cup season. The Championship 4 appearance was Harvick's third in four years with the organization.

Aric Almirola took over driving the No. 10 Smithfield Ford in the NASCAR Cup Series in 2018 and found immediate success, scoring a win at Talladega Superspeedway during the playoffs that propelled him to the Round of 8 and netting a then-career-high 17 top 10s. Almirola finished a career-best fifth in points.

Kevin Harvick dominated the year as part of the series' "big three," netting a then-career-best eight victories in 2018 as well as another Championship 4 bid. Clint Bowyer also found his way to Victory Lane twice that year, claiming wins at Michigan and Martinsville.

With Kurt Busch leaving for another opportunity, Daniel Suárez joined SHR to take over the No. 41 Ford in 2019. Suárez spent two seasons with Joe Gibbs Racing ahead of his arrival.

2019 was a quieter season overall for SHR, but Kevin Harvick still managed to score four victories throughout the Cup season, including wins at New Hampshire, Michigan, Indianapolis and Texas, again earning a Championship 4 berth.

While wins quieted on the Cup front, Cole Custer brought plenty of wins to SHR through its Xfinity Series program. Custer stormed to seven wins en route to a second-place finish in points, while rookie teammate Chase Briscoe earned one win and finished fifth. Custer's performance earned him a quick promotion to the Cup Series in 2020, where he would replace Daniel Suárez in the No. 41 Ford.

Kevin Harvick's dominance peaked in 2020. Despite a disruption by the COVID-19 pandemic, Harvick was unfazed and won a series-high nine races, including his most recent win in September at Bristol.

Cole Custer immediately proved he belonged in the Cup Series during his rookie campaign. On a green-white-checkered restart in Kentucky, Custer took advantage of a critical launch and rocketed four-wide around the outside for his first Cup victory.

In his second full-time Xfinity Series season, Chase Briscoe was tearing it up just as much as Kevin Harvick was. Briscoe notched a series-best nine wins, including an emotional win in May at Darlington just days after his wife, Marissa, suffered a miscarriage. Clint Bowyer decided to step away from racing following the 2020 season, opening the door for Briscoe to step into the No. 14 Ford in the Cup Series in 2021.

Stewart-Haas Racing took a statistical step back in 2021, but that didn't keep the team out of Victory Lane. Aric Almirola drove an outstanding race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway to claim the organization's lone win of the year and qualify for the NASCAR Playoffs. Harvick went winless for the first time in his career.

On Jan. 12, 2022, Aric Almirola announced this season would be his final year of racing full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series. The news came six days after Stewart-Haas Racing hired reserve driver Ryan Preece to its roster.

In his sophomore season, Chase Briscoe returned the No. 14 Ford to Victory Lane for the first time since June 2018. Briscoe's victory at Phoenix Raceway made him the 200th different driver to win at the Cup level, winning in his 40th career start.

At the conclusion of the 2022 season, SHR announced that then-reserve driver Ryan Preece would step into the No. 41 Ford full-time starting in 2023. Cole Custer, the former driver of the No. 41, moved to a full-time role in the Xfinity Series.

On Jan. 12, 2023, Harvick announced that he would be retiring from the NASCAR Cup Series after nearly two and a half decades of racing full-time at the highest level. He later announced during Busch Light Clash weekend that he'd be joining the NASCAR on FOX booth as a color commentator in 2024.