Joe Custer, president of the newly formed Haas Factory Team, has openly criticized the team‘s lackluster 2025 performance with Ford, leading to an upcoming shift to a partnership centered on Rick Hendrick Chevrolet NASCAR dominance starting in 2026. The decision aims to revive Gene Haas’s racing operations after a turbulent year marked by disappointing results and a longing for the technical synergy that Chevy and Hendrick Motorsports provide.
Haas Factory Team’s Rocky Ford Chapter
The Haas Factory Team emerged for the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series, arising after Stewart-Haas Racing shuttered at the end of 2024. Gene Haas retained ownership, appointing Joe Custer as team president. Despite a promising reveal of the No. 41 Ford Mustang piloted by Cole Custer, the group struggled throughout their debut season. With only 2 top-10 finishes and a mere 9 laps led in 28 races, persistent doubts surfaced about the advantages—if any—of the Ford relationship.
This Ford alliance was intended to usher in a new era, but Haas’s motorsport history tells a different story. Back in the early 2000s, Haas’s NASCAR journey thrived on Chevrolet equipment and a technical partnership with Hendrick Motorsports, powering race wins and the expansion of Haas Automation. Those early Chevy connections set a blueprint for teamwork, engineering excellence, and competitive horsepower—contrasts accentuated by the 2025 struggles, as Cole Custer languished at 33rd in points and only managed 363 points for the campaign.
Leadership’s Candid Appraisal of Ford Performance
Amid growing scrutiny, Joe Custer addressed what led to parting ways with Ford, bearing out an honest, data-driven review of both their assets and shortfalls. He recognized Ford’s efforts but ultimately saw a misalignment between the team’s needs and the resources provided:
“I do want to say that Ford did literally everything they said they would. It’s just a matter of what we found when we evaluated our strengths and our weaknesses, did our deep dive, and decided we wanted a degree of synergy and alignment when it came to our strengths and what we have not done as well.”
—Joe Custer, President, Haas Factory Team
This introspection underlined a central challenge—operating as a single-car Cup entity left Haas under-resourced next to larger competitors. Even after inheriting the Kannapolis facility from Stewart-Haas Racing and leveraging simulations, car handling and competitive consistency lagged behind expectations. The unpredictable results indicated deeper structural deficits in the Ford era.
Custer summarized the situation clearly, reinforcing the stakes of switching horses in the ultra-competitive Cup Series:
“Well, for us, the results speak for themselves on the Cup side. This is a performance-based, results-driven sport, and we need to be better. Candidly, we expected to have to assess where we were by a certain point this year, and we found reasons for optimism, but we also needed a reality check in other areas.”
—Joe Custer, President, Haas Factory Team
Turning to Rick Hendrick Chevrolet for Revival
In a major move for the 2026 season, Haas Factory Team is exiting Ford to form a sweeping technical alliance with Hendrick Motorsports under the Chevrolet banner. This shift impacts not only the Cup effort but also envelops both full-time Xfinity teams as they gear up for NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series action. Hendrick’s reputation as a powerhouse was cemented after collecting six Cup wins in 2025, including the Daytona 500, making their engines and shared technical pipeline among the most coveted in the sport.
Haas’s experience with Chevy from their early days boosts the optimism for 2026, as data-sharing and top-tier equipment could provide the edge missing during the Ford tenure. Custer highlighted where the team expects to gain immediate advantages:
“Where we needed help is data. We need simulation tools to have a predictable car at the track. Ideally, it unloads the way we expect it to based on what we developed in simulation.”
—Joe Custer, President, Haas Factory Team
This renewed alignment with Chevrolet and Rick Hendrick is meant to close the engineering gap, restore team confidence, and reestablish their competitive edge—especially as the sport’s current landscape increasingly rewards those with elite information sharing and technical depth.
Xfinity Playoffs: Ford Commitment Remains Strong
While the Cup program prepares to embrace Chevrolet, the Xfinity operation will finish 2025 with Ford, pursuing a championship with full support from the manufacturer. Ford Racing has reiterated its commitment to Haas Factory Team’s bid, especially as drivers Sheldon Creed and Sam Mayer advanced to the Round of 12. A third Ford, fielded by AM Racing, joins them in the hunt during the final seven playoff races.
Sam Mayer credited Ford for an unwavering level of support as the championship push intensifies:
“Everyone at Ford has been awesome to work with all year, and they said explicitly, like ‘We’re going to make sure you win the championship at the end of the year,’ so I’m really looking forward to that. Everyone has been behind us one hundred percent, everyone from all the way up, all the way down.”
—Sam Mayer, Xfinity Series Driver, Haas Factory Team
The cohesion has continued through the playoffs, as Sheldon Creed remarked on improved resources and consistency despite the team’s impending manufacturer switch:
“I think our relationship with Ford is as good as it’s been all year. Sim time, I think we’re getting more of it, and the goal is still the same for Haas Factory Team and Ford,”
—Sheldon Creed, Xfinity Series Driver, Haas Factory Team
The Xfinity squad gained a morale boost when Mayer broke a 25-race winless streak in Iowa, signaling strong form heading into the closing phase. With all parties motivated, the effort is focused on placing at least one Ford in the finals at Phoenix.
Mayer underscored the shared urgency and opportunity that defines this unique championship chase, even as the Ford partnership nears its end:
“For us, it’s wide-open. We are a go, and we are going to win the championship with Ford. That’s what they want. That’s what we want, and everyone at Haas Factory Team is behind us as well with that,”
—Sam Mayer, Xfinity Series Driver, Haas Factory Team
Implications of the Chevrolet Switch for NASCAR and Haas
The impending move to Rick Hendrick Chevrolet NASCAR dominance is positioned to revive Haas Factory Team’s standing not just as an active competitor, but as a technical force throughout the Cup and Xfinity garages. Reuniting with Chevrolet brings the organization back to roots that originally helped establish Haas Automation as a household motorsports name, while leveraging Rick Hendrick’s recent Cup-winning technology and support could offer a much-needed lifeline. Key figures like Gene Haas, Joe Custer, and Cole Custer are now tasked with translating this alliance into consistent performance—a challenge magnified in the high-stakes world of modern NASCAR.
Meanwhile, Ford’s ongoing contribution to the Xfinity chase may serve as a swan song for this era, with Sheldon Creed, Sam Mayer, and the wider Haas crew racing with one title in sight before the next transformation. The stage is set for Haas Factory Team to become one of the most intriguing storylines across both series in 2026, as the motorsport world watches to see if a return to Chevrolet and Hendrick horsepower will deliver the competitive breakthrough they have been seeking.
