Kevin Harvick calls collapse of Stewart-Haas Racing 'unbelievable'

On Tuesday news broke that Stewart-Haas Racing would be shutting down its operations at year’s end, leaving dozens of NASCAR employees looking for a new landing spot.

Kevin Harvick, who last competed with Stewart-Haas Racing in the No. 4 car, opined on the shuttering on Tuesday afternoon.

“It’s unbelievable to me, really, that we went from forever, to forward, to for sale in six months,” Harvick said. “And it’s just, I don’t even know how you could possibly imagine sitting here today and thinking six months later that Stewart-Haas is going to announce that they’re basically folding.”

Stewart-Haas Racing as it currently exists came about in 2009. Originally Haas CNC Racing was formed in 2002, when Gene Haas elected to form his own team. Tony Stewart was later added to the mix in 2009 as a driver in a deal that gave him a 50% stake in the company.

Chevrolet provided the team’s engines and chassis until 2016, when the organization began using Ford engines and building chassis in-house.

All of that lent to an operation that created opportunities for multiple drivers like Harvick. Harvick stopped short of outright criticism, but seemed to indicate not everyone was bought into the organization the way they needed to be.

“It’s a full-time job. It’s a 24/7 job,” Harvick said. “It’s not a knock on the owners. Gene and Tony were great to me. But they’re kind of hands-off owners and had people in place to do their jobs. I think in today’s day and age, you have to have people that are involved with the authority to do what they need to do with the people and things inside the company to make it run properly. It’s tough to see.”

More than anything, Harvick seemed distraught over all the people that will now be thrown into limbo as they look for a new organization to join to make ends meet following the collapse of Stewart-Haas Racing.

“I mean there’s a lot of people that put a lot of time and effort into that organization,” Harvick said. “And the organization did a lot for me, personally.”