Stewart-Haas Racing will shutter at the end of the year but Factory Haas will immediately rise out of what remains with both a one-car NASCAR Cup Series program and two-car Xfinity Series operation.
That’s in addition to the factory work Gene Haas and president Joe Custer will continue to offer six other cars in the Xfinity Series.
One of those auxiliary cars were driven by Hailie Deegan for the first part of this season, at AM Racing, until the two parted ways after a disastrous start that saw her fall to 27th in the standings while dropping the car out of a guaranteed starting spot in the owner points.
Custer says he’s spoke with Deegan about one of their two cars for next season believing there is more potential to be unlocked.
“Yes, we’ve spoken with her,” Custer said while unveiling his son Cole as the Cup driver for the organization. “Obviously, she was with one of our technical partners. So that’s a challenge, right, to see what the future is with her.
“We believe there’s more in her, and we want to be part of that, but that’s for future conversations.”
Deegan, 23, is only in her seventh season driving stock cars after spending her formative years behind the wheel of off-road trophy trucks. She enjoyed modest success in the ARCA platform, with two West Series victories, but has struggled the past several years in Trucks and now Xfinity.
She failed to make the playoffs in the Truck Series driving for both Tricon Garage and ThorSport Racing and moved to Xfinity this year where the consistency just wasn’t there. She has since been replaced the past two weeks by Cup Series driver Josh Berry in the AM Racing car.
Ultimately, Custer says the primary goal for the two in-house Xfinity Series teams is winning races and the championship.
“The situation with us at Haas Factory Team is we have to win at that level,” he said. “We are willing to look at all options as far as drivers go. Maybe somebody that is already in the sport. Maybe somebody that’s a Cup driver that comes down.
“We’ve got to put cars in the winner’s circle. We’ve got to sort out our equipment because our business model is reliant on having technical partners to keep the program healthy.
“So, if we don’t win and we are not a leader on the track, then our other teammates … they find it hard to believe that we can deliver the kind of data and leadership for them. So, it’s a different model.
“Our game plan is for drivers to come into those teams as well as ours. Whether they go from theirs to ours, maybe, maybe not. All options are open. We envision eight successful Xfinity teams showing up to every race next year and the year after with a high level of confidence and the ability to win.”
Matt Weaver is a Motorsports Insider for Sportsnaut. Follow him on Twitter.