Stewart Haas Racing

Owned by Gene Haas and Tony Stewart, and based in Kannapolis, North Carolina, Stewart Haas Racing is a NASCAR Sprint Cup race team, running the #14 Office Depot Chevrolet Impala, driven by Tony Stewart, as well as the #39 United States Army Chevrolet Impala, driven by Ryan Newman. Technical support is supplied to the team by Hendrick Motorsports – also a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series competitor. As the name would suggest, the primary sponsor for the #14 car is Office Depot, with additional sponsorship provided by Old Spice and Burger King. The #39 car is sponsored by the US Army, Tornados and Haas Automation.

Gene Haas is the founder and sole owner of Haas Automation, the largest machine tool manufacturer in the US. He was also the founder of the NASCAR race team, Haas CNC Racing, back in 2002. Working as a single car team, Haas CNC Racing entered the Nextel Cup (the predecessor of the Sprint Cup), with the team’s first race taking place on September 30, 2002. The team’s driver at the time was Jack Sprague, and he finished 35th after being involved in a crash during the race. After racing sporadically in the following years, the team moved to Kannapolis in 2006 and started fielding a second car, making its presence known on the NASCAR scene.

In late 2008 it was announced that Haas CNC Racing would join forces with Tony Stewart to form Stewart-Haas Racing, and this took place in January 2009. Tony Stewart notched up the first win for the new team in May 2009, when he took first place in the All-Star race. With an impressive list of achievements, Tony Stewart has been referred to as “one of the finest racers of his generation” in an article appearing in the New York Times in 2008. By March 2010, Stewart had competed in 40 races, with four wins, 15 top-fives, 25 top-tens and one DNF.

The second driver in the team, Ryan Newman, is certainly not short on talent having achieved 13 NASCAR Sprint Cup wins in his racing career, as well as having 7 Nationwide Series wins and one Camping World Truck Series win. With a degree in vehicle structure engineering, and his hobbies including driving and working on vintage cars, Newman is certainly dedicated to the exciting world of auto racing. Fans will no doubt be watching with keen interest as Stewart-Haas Racing tackles the 2010 season, their second as a team.

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