Photo Credit: Noel Lanier
On Wednesday, February 24, Stewart-Haas Racing shocked the racing world by announcing that they’d be switching manufactures in 2017, switching from Chevrolets to Ford. It’s a decision that caught many people off-guard, especially considering they’ve won two championships and 30 wins since the team’s inception.
Stewart said the conversations with Ford have been going on for a little over six months, beginning with casual conversation in passing, to a more serious discussion.
“The more we talked to the group at Ford, the more we realized that our passion and desire to win races and championships, and their approach, is very much in line with how we approach it at Stewart-Haas Racing,” Stewart said. “There wasn’t anything in this deal that was a disappointment from the Chevy side. We weren’t disappointed with what we were doing with Chevy, but we felt like when we got in conversations with the Ford group that it just really seemed like a partnership that made a lot of sense the further that we went into it. The longer the conversations went, the more excited that both sides were about making this a reality. That’s really how it all evolved and came to where we are today.”
Stewart went on to say that key details that enticed him as conversations went on was “how dedicated they are and the amount of resources that they’re willing to put forth to help us all accomplish the goal that both sides want to accomplish in all this”.
So why the change?
Stewart stated that the change is about positioning themselves for the future and feel the relationship with Ford will bring them “great stability” and “an opportunity to compete at a very top level in the sport”. Stewart’s comment makes sense as there are less teams under the Ford banner than the Chevrolet banner, so therefore it will allow them to get more focus from the manufacture.
Though the stability goes beyond that as the new decision brings forth an expansion in their program.
Since beginning in the sport, Stewart-Haas Racing has utilized Hendrick Motorsports chassis and motors. With the decision to change manufacture, the relationship obviously goes out the window. The team will now utilize Roush-Yates engines, while building their own chassis in house.
“As far as next year, we’re trying to do everything we can to try to be as self-sufficient as we can going into 2017,” Stewart said. “We’re gonna be adding a lot of personnel to our organization, doing our own chassis program, and we’re excited about it. We see this as a lot of growth for Stewart-Haas Racing.”
Basically, as Stewart also puts it, everything involved here is “a great opportunity for us to kind of get out of the shadows and, to some degree, get off the coattails, to a certain degree, and really get out on our own”. When Stewart-Haas Racing had success before, there were those that would simply credit the success based on their relationship with Hendrick Motorsports, and continue along their way. The organization and it’s own personnel wouldn’t get the credit from those individuals. Now, on their own, everything is on their shoulders, whether they succeed or fail.
“I think that’s something everybody here at SHR is really excited about and proud that we’re finally in a position to do this and branch out in this way,” Stewart added.
There are some industry experts and fans worried that the move won’t work out for the organization, but Stewart feels that they’re wrong with their beliefs, based upon the people that he has in place. Two people that he feels will lead the way for them – Greg Zippidelli and Rex Stump.
Zippidelli was a crew chief at Joe Gibbs Racing from 1999 to 2011, before becoming the competition director at Stewart-Haas Racing.
Stump joined the organization near the end of 2014, becoming their technical director. Stump spent 18 years at Hendrick Motorsports, founding their research and development program, while playing a key role in their chassis design. Stump is known for leading HMS’ development of the Car of Tomorrow (CoT) program in 2016, causing them to be the class of the field upon it’s debut, and kick off a string of five straight championships for Jimmie Johnson.
“I feel like we’re pretty stacked on personnel and quality people that can make sure when we make this move that we’re as prepared as possible,” Stewart said. “I don’t anticipate any setbacks, to be honest. I fully feel like when we come out of the box next year we’re gonna have our ducks in a row. Sure, there could be growing pains, but I’m pretty confident in our staff and our group here that we’re gonna be as prepared as we can be going into next season.”
With the announcement coming so far early this season, other concerns surround how the rest of the year will play out for SHR with heir current relationship with Hendrick Motorsports and Chevrolet. HMS released a statement stating that their committed to their end of the deal this season in supplying the chassis and motors for SHR, while Stewart emphasized his team’s commitment to this season during the media teleconference.
“We’re committed to Chevrolet this year and we’re committed to winning races and trying to contend for a championship again this year,” he said. “They realize that. We’re still all-in this year with Chevrolet. Our partnership with Ford doesn’t start until next year and we’re excited about it, but this year we’re still a Chevy team and we’re still committed to going out and doing everything we can to win races and a championship for them. That’s what we do. That’s our commitment as a race team. We still respect our partnership with Chevy at this point.”
