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Opinion: Ripple effects of Stewart-Haas/Ford alliance will be significant

1162 Views 22 Replies 14 Participants Last post by  Dale3DaleJr88, 
Dale3DaleJr88


By Tom Jensen

In one of the most shocking announcements in recent NASCAR history, Stewart-Haas Racing officials said the team will switch from Chevrolets to Fords next year and beyond, thanks to a new multi-year deal between the parties.
It will be the biggest manufacturer switch since Joe Gibbs Racing moved from Chevrolet to Toyota in 2008, and the ripple effects will be significant.
Since its inception in 2009, SHR has been closely aligned with Chevrolet. In fact, it was car owner Rick Hendrick who brokered the deal to bring Tony Stewart into what had been known as Haas-CNC Racing. And Hendrick Motorsports has provided engines and chassis to SHR ever since. That, obviously, will no longer be the case.
Stewart himself has been as synonymous with Chevrolet through the years as he has with Schlitz and pizza. They just went together naturally, and Stewart had a lot of Chevrolet support with his open-wheel teams. So to make this move is well and truly jaw dropping.
From Ford's standpoint, it's a great move.
SHR already has won two NASCAR Sprint Cup Series championships, one with Stewart in 2011 and one with Kevin Harvick in 2014. At the moment, SHR is one of the four true elite teams in NASCAR's top series, along with Hendrick, Joe Gibbs Racing and Team Penske.
Ford hasn't won a Sprint Cup title since 2004 when Kurt Busch – ironically, now with SHR – won the first Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup in one of Jack Roush's Fords. Busch's title came one year after Matt Kenseth won a championship with Roush.
And with the recent domination by Joe Gibbs Racing, Ford had fallen to No. 3 among the automakers in the Cup Series behind Chevrolet and Toyota.
It was clear Ford needed to make a bold move, because in the last two years, the only competitive team it had was Team Penske. During that time, Ford only got one car into the final round of the Chase, and that was Joey Logano in 2014.
Starting next year, Ford will have a championship-caliber team to go with its existing partners.
Terms of the deal were not disclosed, but for Ford to lure away one of the two top Chevrolet teams, rest assured it was an extremely lucrative deal.
"We have said very clearly that we are not in NASCAR just to race, but to win races and championships," said Dave Pericak, global director, Ford Performance. "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."
And suddenly, the NASCAR season just got a whole lot more interesting.

Opinion: Ripple effects of Stewart-Haas Racing/Ford alliance will be significant
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Mr.PttyBlue43
I can't imagine Danica, Harvick, and Bowyer in a Ford. I can barely imagine Kurt because that was over ten years ago.

Danica has been a Chevy Driver Since 2010
Harvick has been a Chevy Driver for his entire career
Busch has been a Chevy Driver since 2012
Bowyer has been a Toyota Driver since 2012 and was a Chevy Driver since the beginning of his career.

HAAS fielded Chevy's since the start and Tony Stewart ran Chevy's (Pontiac's Count) his whole entire career except for 2008...

I hope they run like Roush and decide to switch back...
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stp43
Are all 4 drivers signed up for next year. I have read Harvicks contract is up after this season.
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Mr.PttyBlue43
stp43 said:
Are all 4 drivers signed up for next year. I have read Harvicks contract is up after this season.
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I can see Harvick going to Hendrick and replacing Kahne.
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taterracing
Mr.PttyBlue43 said:
I can see Harvick going to Hendrick and replacing Kahne.
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Didn't Kahne just sign a multiyear extension?
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Mr.PttyBlue43
taterracing said:
Didn't Kahne just sign a multiyear extension?
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Nevermind...
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j20e g18bs rac11ng
Really surprising seeing as how one of the factors in Tony leaving JGR is because they switched to Toyota and all of his dirt teams ran Chevy equipment. Maybe Dodge should have been looking in that direction if they ever wanted to come back into the sport.
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stp43
j20e g18bs rac11ng said:
Really surprising seeing as how one of the factors in Tony leaving JGR is because they switched to Toyota and all of his dirt teams ran Chevy equipment. Maybe Dodge should have been looking in that direction if they ever wanted to come back into the sport.
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Maybe Dodge is coming back? Wait and see.
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moparrulz1967
I can't see Stewart staying with the company. I believe there is still another shoe to drop in this one, and it's gonna be a BIG shoe
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swift89
moparrulz1967 said:
I can't see Stewart staying with the company. I believe there is still another shoe to drop in this one, and it's gonna be a BIG shoe
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He's part owner of a title contending nascar sprint cup team. That's a lot of money to just walk away from. He doesn't personally have to race a ford since he will be retired next year. I don't see why he would leave.


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selby92
Mr.PttyBlue43 said:
I can't imagine Danica, Harvick, and Bowyer in a Ford. I can barely imagine Kurt because that was over ten years ago.

Danica has been a Chevy Driver Since 2010
Harvick has been a Chevy Driver for his entire career
Busch has been a Chevy Driver since 2012
Bowyer has been a Toyota Driver since 2012 and was a Chevy Driver since the beginning of his career.

HAAS fielded Chevy's since the start and Tony Stewart ran Chevy's (Pontiac's Count) his whole entire career except for 2008...

I hope they run like Roush and decide to switch back...
Click to expand...
Harvick ran Fords in 1999 in the truck series. To me it is weird to see Kurt Busch with Chevrolet since he has had so much success with Ford. Different strokes, or something like that.
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ARosser14
Stewart and Ford isn't unheard of (aside from Jackie Stewart's Stewart-Ford F1 team). Tony won several midget races in the 1990s for Steve Lewis and Bob East, including the 1995 USAC Midget championship as part of his triple crown, in Ford-powered cars. I think, I may be wrong, but I think the fact that it's an American brand makes it far, far different from when Tony was with Toyota. I know he still loves his Chevrolets and will continue too (I do/will too) but he's a businessman and car owner, come next year that's his exclusive role in Sprint Cup and like he and Gene both said, the opportunity to take SHR out from under a shadow to grow it into a powerhouse was too good to pass up. I don't see him leaving what he's been the key factor in building, if he does I'll come here and eat a big plate of crow. I'm sure he'll continue his relationship with Chevy where possible while forging a great and successful new partnership with Ford.
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taterracing
RedChevy14 said:
Stewart and Ford isn't unheard of (aside from Jackie Stewart's Stewart-Ford F1 team). Tony won several midget races in the 1990s for Steve Lewis and Bob East, including the 1995 USAC Midget championship as part of his triple crown, in Ford-powered cars. I think, I may be wrong, but I think the fact that it's an American brand makes it far, far different from when Tony was with Toyota. I know he still loves his Chevrolets and will continue too (I do/will too) but he's a businessman and car owner, come next year that's his exclusive role in Sprint Cup and like he and Gene both said, the opportunity to take SHR out from under a shadow to grow it into a powerhouse was too good to pass up. I don't see him leaving what he's been the key factor in building, if he does I'll come here and eat a big plate of crow. I'm sure he'll continue his relationship with Chevy where possible while forging a great and successful new partnership with Ford.
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Haas is an opportunist. He gave Stewart half his organization, and that paid off many times over. He took a chance on Kurt Busch, even paying for the sponsorship himself. That has paid off. He's taking a chance on F1. He's doing everything right so far. We'll see how it goes. Now the move to Ford. It makes sense, and with his track record, there's no reason to doubt it will pay off.
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drjekyll76
I am sure SHR gotten a pretty good deal that they could not refuse from Ford.
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DaleJrFan95
Regarding Harvick possibly moving to Hendrick and replacing Kahne in the #5, all I can say is 'never say never'. Who would have though back in 07 that Jr would have announced that he was gonna leave DEI and go to Hendrick? Who could have predicted that Mark Martin would one day drive for Hendrick?

Anything is possible when the circumstances line up.
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swift89
DaleJrFan95 said:
Regarding Harvick possibly moving to Hendrick and replacing Kahne in the #5, all I can say is 'never say never'. Who would have though back in 07 that Jr would have announced that he was gonna leave DEI and go to Hendrick? Who could have predicted that Mark Martin would one day drive for Hendrick?

Anything is possible when the circumstances line up.
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I don't pay attention enough to Harvick interviews or anything so I may be wrong, but just because he has been only in a Chevy in sprint cup, why does that mean he is opposed to changing to ford? Maybe he has said in the past "only chevy". Idk. But if he hasn't, then why are we thinking he doesn't want to stay at SHR?


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DaleJrFan95
swift89 said:
I don't pay attention enough attention to Harvick interviews or anything so I may be wrong, but just because he has been only in a Chevy in sprint cup, why does that mean he is opposed to changing to ford? Maybe he has said in the past "only chevy". Idk. But if he hasn't, then why are we thinking he doesn't want to stay at SHR?


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I never said he was. I'm just saying that anything is possible.
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RaisedOnRadio
So Chevrolet loses 2 championship caliber organizations in a little over a year. Furniture Row and Stewart-Haas. That's mind boggling.
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willmcd13
Damn people get it through your head. Kahne is not leaving Hendrick until the end of 2018 unless he starts running 30th every week. I thought I would have heard the end of those speculations once he signed the contract extension and Chase got in the 24.
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G
Oh well,it ill all come out in the wash.
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