Silly Season 2025

Revman said:
Honestly, I don't think Smoke is disinterested, he just has other things going on....
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Hate to disagree, but I think Tony's interest in NASCAR really only ever went as far as his own driving career. I think he has basically been disengaged since the day he got out of the car. I always felt that for Tony, NASCAR was more of a means to an end than a true calling. Much like what people have said about Kyle Larson since he showed up in NASCAR.
 
Formerjackman said:
Hate to disagree, but I think Tony's interest in NASCAR really only ever went as far as his own driving career. I think he has basically been disengaged since the day he got out of the car. I always felt that for Tony, NASCAR was more of a means to an end than a true calling. Much like what people have said about Kyle Larson since he showed up in NASCAR.
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I agree with that.
 
Revman said:
Yep. Hate it. Interesting how he slammed the Toyota Driver Development Program, and then bails on Ford's guy. Who is screwing careers here?
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Nature of business, unfortunately.

Honestly, he was not wrong about his comments either. However, Ford isn't exactly filling to the brim with prospects at lower levels outside of Deegan and Herbst (depending on where his money takes him) atm. Literally is the only development driver I know of, now Cam Waters is getting his feet wet as well in the Ford camp.

No shade at any of the OEMs, at all. Just an opinion.
 
I don’t think Tony is sour on NASCAR but as others have said he just wants to do other things. One thing I do know is that Tony will be getting a healthy direct deposit when the sale(s) go through!
 
aunty dive said:
I’m pretty sure Gene Haas remains the majority shareholder in SHR.
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I'm sure he is, but the question is did Tony ever actually put any of his own money into the team, or was he given an ownership stake for signing on? If so, his stake could represent a handsome if not a huge profit.
 
Formerjackman said:
I'm sure he is, but the question is did Tony ever actually put any of his own money into the team, or was he given an ownership stake for signing on? If so, his stake could represent a handsome if not a huge profit.
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The rumor mill said GM wrote Gene a check … I have no idea.

Huge profit? Capital gain, actually. 4 Cup Charters “purchased” in 2015 at the low, low introductory price of $ 0.00 … 💵💵💵💵
 
Formerjackman said:
I'm sure he is, but the question is did Tony ever actually put any of his own money into the team, or was he given an ownership stake for signing on? If so, his stake could represent a handsome if not a huge profit.
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At the time, it was reported he put no money into the team. He probably owns a small percentage of the team.
 
kkfan91 said:
Brett says Kaulig could merge with Trackhouse.
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Charlie Spencer said:
I've been wondering about the possibility.
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It would make sense at this point, although it’s kinda disappointing how much and how quickly Kaulig’s programs have fallen off. They’re not as competitive in either of Cup or Xfinity as they were just a couple of years ago and they’re taking funded drivers…seems like they expanded a bit too much too soon.
 
FLRacingFan said:
It would make sense at this point, although it’s kinda disappointing how much and how quickly Kaulig’s programs have fallen off. They’re not as competitive in either of Cup or Xfinity as they were just a couple of years ago and they’re taking funded drivers…seems like they expanded a bit too much too soon.
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Kaulhouse Racing. (Just a silly guess)
 
aunty dive said:
I’m pretty sure Gene Haas remains the majority shareholder in SHR.
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When *racing* reporters comment on business matters, I take it with a grain of salt, because most of them are pretty clueless and often misinterpret their information. Pockrass is one exception; he is careful and generally accurate.

However, when Stewart-Haas Racing was formed, the New York Times published a news article about it... written by a NYT *business* reporter, and published in the NYT business section. It said explicitly that Smoke's equity share was 50%. I regard that as a reliable source of the equity at that time.
 
LewTheShoe said:
When *racing* reporters comment on business matters, I take it with a grain of salt, because most of them are pretty clueless and often misinterpret their information. Pockrass is one exception; he is careful and generally accurate.

However, when Stewart-Haas Racing was formed, the New York Times published a news article about it... written by a NYT *business* reporter, and published in the NYT business section. It said explicitly that Smoke's equity share was 50%. I regard that as a reliable source of the equity at that time.
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Quite possible. One forgets now what a dumpster fire Haas was before Tony came on board. Giving someone half of that organization would be like giving them 100,000 share of K-Mart stock at the time.
 
Kiante said:
Nature of business, unfortunately.

Honestly, he was not wrong about his comments either. However, Ford isn't exactly filling to the brim with prospects at lower levels outside of Deegan and Herbst (depending on where his money takes him) atm. Literally is the only development driver I know of, now Cam Waters is getting his feet wet as well in the Ford camp.

No shade at any of the OEMs, at all. Just an opinion.
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Toyota gives young drivers a shot.....not a guarantee. Tony was suggesting that Toyota was grabbling all of the talent without enough seats, and screwing careers. Complete bull****. Other teams and OEMs have demonstrated the willingness to take what Toyota has developed, and sign them. Ford and Chevy are welcome to follow suit, but Ford hasn't--even though they made noise that they would, and The Felon--who is Chevy--has openly and repeatedly stated that he is fine with somebody else developing his talent.

Still hate that Tony is likely leaving. While his shots at Toyota were ass clown quality, I recognize his value to the sport.
 
Revman said:
Toyota gives young drivers a shot.....not a guarantee. Tony was suggesting that Toyota was grabbling all of the talent without enough seats, and screwing careers. Complete bull****. Other teams and OEMs have demonstrated the willingness to take what Toyota has developed, and sign them. Ford and Chevy are welcome to follow suit, but Ford hasn't--even though they made noise that they would, and The Felon--who is Chevy--has openly and repeatedly stated that he is fine with somebody else developing his talent.

Still hate that Tony is likely leaving. While his shots at Toyota were ass clown quality, I recognize his value to the sport.
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I don't think it's unfair to point out that for a long time Toyota seemed to have a lot more drivers in the pipeline then they had potential seats for. With the addition of 23XI and Legacy, I think that argument is largely moot now. Since you couldn't help yourself and threw the "felon" into the argument, I think it's important to point out that the current HMS lineup contains NOBODY that could be considered a former Toyota development driver in any way, Byron's year at KBM included. I also think it's worth noting that the Toyota Cup lineup consists of what, TWO drivers that are genuine Toyota development guys, and one of them was born into it.
 
Jessie Love and Daniel Dye were both Toyota development drivers. They had no place for them. Childress got Love for Xfinity, and Dye is driving for McAnally in the Trucks. They have kept Heim who truthfully should be driving full time in at least in Xfinity. Nothing has changed about what Stewart has said, but on the other hand Toyota has been doing it so long that drivers know what they are getting into before they start. They flood the field with drivers in ARCA and that is a dead end for many hoping to attract a ride higher up, but again that is their choice.
I wouldn't be surprised to see Nemechek get the knife soon. They are going to have to make room for Heim somewhere if they want to keep him.
 
For those that needed it or werent around as fans back then, Tony was given a 50% stake in the HAAS/CNC NASCAR team for signing his name to the contract. He brought his own people in for his team (not Gibbs personnel) and the 39. If I remember correctly Gene was serving prison or had just gotten out when he asked Tony to come to his team.
www.espn.com

Stewart granted release from Gibbs, will join Haas

Two-time NASCAR champion Tony Stewart has been granted a release from the final year of his driving contract with Joe Gibbs Racing after 10 seasons with the team, sources close to Stewart confirmed for ESPN.com.
www.espn.com www.espn.com

Tony Stewart Leaving JGR, Will Co-Own Stewart Haas Racing

www.sportsbusinessjournal.com www.sportsbusinessjournal.com
 
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