Haas Factory Team, which formed ahead of the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series season when team owner Gene Haas opted to retain one of the four charters he had used with Tony Stewart before Stewart-Haas Racing shut down at the end of 2024, opted to continue Haas' partnership with Ford.
But shortly after the regular season concluded, with Cole Custer in 33rd place in the point standings and just two top 10 finishes in his first Cup Series season with the team since 2022, the team announced that they plan to switch back to Chevrolet for the 2026 season and beyond.
Stewart-Haas Racing had been aligned with Chevrolet prior to their switch to Ford in 2017. They won the championship with Chevrolet in 2014, when Kevin Harvick was crowned champion at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
Gene Haas realigning with Chevrolet, first time since 2016
Ever since Harvick's nine-win season in 2020, the team have been an apparent decline, winning just five total races from 2021 to 2024.
Haas' relationship with Chevrolet really goes back to before he even formed Haas CNC Racing in 2002. Haas was an associate sponsor of Hendrick Motorsports before entering the Cup Series full-time in 2003, and the 2026 deal also includes a technical partnership with Rick Hendrick's team.
Hendrick engines are set to be used by Haas Factory Team across both the Cup Series and Xfinity Series (soon-to-be O'Reilly Auto Parts Series).
From 2002 to 2016, the only year in which Haas' team was not aligned with Chevrolet was 2003, when they spent their first full season in the Cup Series with Pontiac.
The impending switch to Chevrolet is also set to include Haas' Xfinity Series team, following a season in which Ford won just one regular season race compared to Chevrolet's 23.
That one Ford win belongs to Haas Factory Team, as Sam Mayer got the job done at Iowa Speedway in August. Both Mayer and teammate Sheldon Creed qualified for the playoffs.
Custer is set to return to the team's No. 41 Cup entry next year, and both Mayer and Creed are set to return to the Xfinity Series team, again behind the wheel of the No. 41 car and the No. 00 car, respectively.