April 6th, 2009 
T.C. Well I did.
Don’t believe me? Click here for a post I wrote last July about Stewart becoming half owner of then Haas CNC Racing. At the time, there was a lot of talk that Tony Stewart may never win another race, and that he may be ruining his career. I disagreed.
I don’t think anyone (including myself) thought he would be doing as well as he is at this point, but I said then that I knew he would not be fighting to stay in the top 35 week after week.
Currently, after seven races, Stewart sits fifth in the standings with two top fives and five top tens. His Stewart Haas Racing teammate, Ryan Newman, struggled early on, but appears to be turning his season in the right direction. He currently holds down the 17th spot in points, and has two top ten finishes.
The keys to their success so far this year have been the decisions made by Stewart and his management, and the support from Hendrick Motorsports.
One of those decisions that has made a huge impact was the hiring of Bobby Hutchens. With Hutchens leading the way at SHR, the transition for Stewart & Co. has been very smooth. Hutchens came to SHR after very successful stints running the competition areas at both Richard Childress Racing and Dale Earnhardt Inc.
Add to that the hiring of Darien Grubb, Jeff Meendering, Tony Gibson, Kevin Pennell, and the decision to retain Matt Borland, and you’ve got a very stout core. All have had success and Grubb, Meendering, and Gibson all come to Stewart Haas with experience at Hendrick and direct knowledge of their system. They know how to get the most out of the support they are receiving from HMS.
What I think is truly interesting about Stewart and Hutchens taking control at Haas, is that while some changes were made, they did retain quite a few original Haas employees. It would seem that many of the right elements were in place, they were just missing that something extra to make it all work.
That all important support from Hendrick is the other main key to their success. While Haas was getting help before this season, it took the right folks to make it work. And I think the question of whether or not Stewart would be getting good stuff from HMS has been answered. How could Rick Hendrick not take full advantage of having six championship caliber drivers in his equipment?
A third important factor for SHR this season has been the addition of key sponsors. Stewart coming over to Haas gave them credibility and notoriety over night. Office Depot, Old Spice, and the US Army all signed on for the season and have provided the much needed funding to take this team to the next level.
Going forward, it certainly isn’t unrealistic to think that Stewart will compete for wins this season. He’s already led laps and shown he can contend. I wouldn’t be surprised to see Stewart make the Chase, and for Newman to come very close.
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I am just itching for SHR to get their first win. Even I didn’t think they would be THIS good out of the box. I predicted a strong showing at daytona, a falling off and then them heating back up around june or july. I didn’t predict them doing this well this soon either.
I also think that Tony and Darian have good chemistry considering they haven’t been working together very long. It will be interesting to see how they progress.
What’s the status on the Army sponsorship for Newman? I thought it was only a partial season deal.
Ross: Army is signed on for 23 races with Newman. So far this season, when Army hasn’t been on the car it’s been Haas Automation on the hood. I believe they are still searching for another sponsor to pick up the remaining races.
I was completely wrong on this one. I thought Tony going to Haas was career suicide. Having followed Haas racing in the past, I thought there was no way anything successful could have the Haas name attached to it.
I do have one question though. We all know that Haas has always been affiliated with Hendrick. Is Hendrick giving the same assistance to Haas as they always have & Tony’s key personnel know how to use this information more effectively or is Hendrick really upping the help compared to years past now that Haas has two legitimate chase contenders and solid sponsors on both teams.
It’s night and day between pre-Tony Haas & their current situation & while I did expect an improvement with Tony’s involvement, I didn’t expect what their showing now. I can’t remember the last time a Haas car was in the top 20 in points let alone both teams in the top 20 & one in the top 5. Not taking anything away from Tony but does Hendrick have more to do with Stewart Haas racing then is apparent?
I was pretty sure that Tony would bring success to Haas. He already is an owner, not at this level, but still a team owner. His previous, and continued, success as an owner shows that he knows how to delegate and make sure the proper people are in the right spots to make success an option. What has surprised me is the difference in his demeanor. I was thinking that this change would make him have a shorter temper, boy was I wrong. He has handled the stress, change, etc., very well. He seems to be more receptive to the media and appears to have some weight off his shoulders. It is the exact opposite of what I expected. I hope that he continues in his success for the chase and that a win is soon to come.
It has been rumored that Ryan is now being allowed to show some personality and not being held down by an owner telling him what kind of driver he needs to be. If that is in fact true, I am sure that it will take time for him to adjust to the new team, but, I hope that adjustment comes soon and he can continue to move forward in the points standing.
Window said: “it’s night and day between pre-Tony Haas & their current situation”
So it must be the engines? The same engines, though, right? Seems to me the difference is Tony.
I’m a NASCAR newb. My three boys became spontaneous fans last year when football ended, so I’ve been scrambling to learn so I can answer their questions (because dad knows everything, apparently). I found the initial learning curve to be steep.
Anyway, we picked “favorite drivers” more or less at random. I picked Tony because I’d heard of him. My oldest picked Kyle, so yeah that was a little discouraging last year : ). Anyway, I don’t know much.
I think that Tony learned alot from Joe Gibbs in so much as surrounding himself with key talente personell. Along with his abiltiy to own and manage several different ventures. He is not strung out with business like Dale Jr. In my opinion, Joe Gibbs was and will be his mentor.
Right on the Gibbs post. Tony learned alot from him and has said so many times. Other than his distaste for stupid media questions, Tony is one of the most caring drivers in NASCAR. I hope he wins more championships and a boatload of races. He deserves it.
I really never understood why people thought Tony Stewart would struggle. The parts were there for Haas. They just needed the right people. Tony is doing exactly what I expected he would. He is one of the best drivers in all motorsports and he is proving he is a pretty smart businessman too.
Having the pleasure know Tony and his family for years, I can honestly say that I’m not that surprised he is doing this well with the new team. He has proven over the years that he is one of the most talented drivers of all time.
But what I think most people didn’t know is that Tony is also one of the smartest guys to ever drive a race car and has incredible business savvy.
Talent+Smarts+Opportunity=Success
maybe i was wearing rose colored glasses but i never had a doubt that Tony would be hot right out of the box…he said all along that he wouldn’t do this if he didn’t think he could be competitive. and he learned great lessons over at JGR. yep i smell victory in the not to distant future!!
I have a question is hendrick or any deal like this giving the best or almost the best.Most satilite type teams seam to run good but not win like there suppliers or top tiers teams or i’m just over thinking oh thats scary
As much as I respect Stewart’s talents on track, I too feared he would struggle w/ being an owner/driver. Looks like there are a lot of good pieces and alliances in place. Even though I don’t care one bit for the COT, this seems to have really helped a lot of teams find there footing early, especially w/ the teating ban to consider.
It’s sort off point, but can someone explain why Hendrick wants to support Stewart? or why any big multi-car team wants to support another operation? It seems to me as if Hendrick gives more than he could get in return and Stewart being a contender has to reduce the odds of a Hendrick driver making the chase. Thanks in advance for the answers.
Well, it aint free, right? If your shop is in the business of making winning engines and you can sell a few more, you do it. Hendrick gets more profit from the same engine facility, Tony gets quality builds at a good price.
Steve-Quick answer is cash flow. Rick can sell services and technology subsidizing the cost to run his teams all the while keeping his people working. Also adds another couple of teams to the Chevy camp.
Let me try to help Steve with some answers. Why would Rick Hendrick want to support Stewart or any other organization?
1. Making and selling top notch cars and engines is a business for Hendrick. If what he was selling was second rate teams like Stewart would not want to buy them.
2. His name is on that equipment he does not want his name associated with second rate equipment. Also there is incredible pride when something you made succeeds.
3. Winning is great, but it is even better when you beat someone that is good in top notch equipment.
4. Stewart Haas can provide information back to Hendrick which helps his organization. (Not to mention machine tools from Haas Automation and wind tunnel time at Haas’s wind tunnel.)
5. He’s a racer. For every racer that is secretive there is several more that will do anything to help another racer. This I know from personal experience. It’s a lot more fun to beat people who brought their A Game than a bunch of start and parker’s.
6. Stewart was someone he had to contend with anyway. Now at least if he wins he wins in Hendrick equipment.
Hope this helps,
Don