NASCAR: 3 landing spots were already ruled out for SHR charters

Things seemed fairly straightforward when Stewart-Haas Racing announced that they would be shutting down after the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series season and thus looking to unload their four charters.

The first charter was retained by team co-owner Gene Haas to run the one-car Haas Factory team in 2025, and Cole Custer was later named as the team's driver. Another one was sold to Trackhouse Racing Team amid their expansion from two to three cars.

The other two were set to go to 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports, with both teams set to expand from two to three cars as well. But those two teams have been locked in a legal battle with NASCAR over the last few months, having filed an antitrust lawsuit against the sanctioning body following their decision not to sign the new NASCAR charter/revenue sharing agreement.

As a result, NASCAR initially blocked the transfer of Stewart-Haas Racing's charters to those two teams, and NASCAR claimed that they no longer recognized the existing four 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports entries as chartered entries.

The main issue was the fact that NASCAR had said that that they were preparing to run 32 charters in 2025 instead of the usual 36. But with the transfer of Stewart-Haas Racing's charters blocked, only 30 were accounted for.

There were reportedly inquiries made about those two "missing" charters amid the news that their transfers to 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports, reportedly valued at over $20 million each, were not officially recognized by NASCAR.

Fortunately for 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports, a judge sided with the two teams earlier this week, allowing them to sign the charter agreements while pursuing their antitrust lawsuit against NASCAR and Chairman Jim France.

As a result of the preliminary injunction, these two teams are indeed allowed to race as chartered teams in 2025 using their existing two charters, and they are each allowed to purchase a Stewart-Haas Racing charter after all, bringing the accounted for charter count back up from 30 to 36.

But several potential landing spots already appeared to be off the table for the two outstanding Stewart-Haas Racing charters, even if this ruling had not been made.

Here are three that were once considered but would not have panned out.

Richard Childress Racing

Rumors of Richard Childress Racing potentially looking to expand back to three full-time entries for the first time since 2017 made the rounds over the summer, specifically as they ran a third car in select events for a third year in a row.

However, they recently announced only a part-time schedule for the third entry again in 2025, indicating that they have no immediate interest in getting back to running three cars on a full-time basis.

RFK Racing

RFK Racing had been linked to expansion for several months, even as all four Stewart-Haas Racing charters had been accounted for, and they confirmed that they would not expand unless they got a third charter.

They did indeed manage to pull it off, using a charter leased to them by Rick Ware Racing to add a third entry. As a result, they no longer have a need for another charter.

Haas Factory Team

With the transfer of Stewart-Haas Racing's charters to 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports having initially been blocked, those two charters still technically belonged to a team that no longer exists.

This would have put the organization in a bit of a bind. The start of the 2025 season is getting closer and closer, and the value of those charters was likely decreasing as more time passed, making it far less likely that the team would have gotten what they had initially planned on getting for them.

However, there was no way that Gene Haas was going to go from running a one-car team to a three-car team at the last minute. With all things considered, the recent ruling should be a major relief for more than just 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports.

The 2025 NASCAR Cup Series season is scheduled to get underway on Sunday, February 16. The 67th annual Daytona 500 is set to be broadcast live on Fox from Daytona International Speedway beginning at 2:30 p.m. ET.