Fast Facts Redux: Stewart-Haas Racing

Photo credits: Patrick - Atlanta 2015, Charlotte Bray;

Harvick - Dover 2014, Beth Reinke; Busch - Texas 2015,

Debbie Ross; Stewart - Darlington 2015, Charlotte Bray 

(all for Skirts & Scuffs)

Stewart-Haas Racing is currently the home of team co-owner and three-time Cup Series champ Tony Stewart, 2014 Sprint Cup Series champ Kevin Harvick, 2004 Cup Series champ Kurt Busch and former Indy 500 Rookie of the Year Danica Patrick. With a big announcement concerning the team on the way this week, let’s take a look at the history of the team in this week’s Fast facts, originally published in Nov. 2011.

• Stewart-Haas was originally Haas CNC Racing, which debuted in 2003. The original team was the No. 0 NetZero Pontiac with driver Jack Sprague, who was followed by John Andretti, Jason Leffler and Ward Burton. The No. 0 became the No. 66 in 2006 with Jeff Green behind the wheel and Best Buy as a sponsor. The No. 66 became Ryan Newman’s No. 39 from 2009-2013 (No. 39 was Newman’s midget car number), then became Harvick’s No. 4 in 2014.
• In 2006 the No. 70 for Haas CNC Racing debuted at the Coca Cola 600 with Johnny Sauter behind the wheel. Jeremy Mayfield signed on as the driver in 2008, but was replaced along the way by Sauter, Leffler, Tony Raines and others. The No. 70 became Stewart’s No. 14 for the 2009 season (Stewart’s number is homage to his racing hero, A.J. Foyt).
• Patrick’s No. 10 (Patrick’s number in her karting days) was originally the No. 35 at Tommy Baldwin Racing. In 2012, Patrick moved to NASCAR full-time after splitting time between IndyCar and the Nationwide (now Xfinity) Series, competing in 10 Cup Series events for TBR in a partnership with SHR. She retained the No. 10 when she moved full-time to SHR in 2013, but Baldwin’s team retained the owner’s points for the 2013 season. While Patrick has been sponsored by GoDaddy for much of her career, Nature’s Bakery comes on as Patrick’s sponsor beginning in 2016.
• Busch was signed by team owner Gene Haas for a fourth SHR car in 2014 after it was announced that Newman would not return to the team because they could not find sponsorship for a fourth team. Busch’s No. 41 is sponsored by Haas’s company, Haas Automation.
• Stewart won the team’s first race at the 2009 Sprint All-Star Race (non-points race), then followed it up with the team’s first points victory at Pocono in June 2009, becoming the first owner-driver to win a race in the Cup Series since Ricky Rudd in 1998. 
• On November 20, 2011, Stewart won the Chase for the Sprint Cup by winning a tie-breaker (most wins in the season) over Carl Edwards. Stewart won five races during the 10-race Chase, including the title-clinching finale over Edwards. He became the first owner-driver to win the championship since Alan Kulwicki in 1992.
• Find out more about Stewart-Haas Racing at www.stewarthaasracing.com.