Bob Pockrass

FOX NASCAR Insider

Tony Stewart went to the Stewart-Haas Racing shop a couple of weeks ago and saw as many people as he could a month before the team shuts down.

“Knowing that when I left the building there, here’s some of those people I’ve known for 16 years, and I may never, ever see them again, unfortunately,” Stewart said on “Kevin Harvick’s Happy Hour” podcast. “I don’t know that it’s even bittersweet. It’s more bitter than sweet, I feel like. It’s a tough decision.

“But, you know, things in life change. Your priorities change and variables outside of your control change as well.”

In a pair of interviews with FOX Sports last week, one with Harvick on his podcast and another with FOX Sports Digital, Stewart talked about his rookie season in an NHRA top fuel dragster (we’ll write more on that in a couple of weeks) as well as the final weeks of SHR. 

Stewart was given half of Haas CNC Racing prior to the 2009 season to form Stewart-Haas Racing. A two-time Cup champion at the time, Stewart left Joe Gibbs Racing for the opportunity to co-own a team. The idea was he could help bring experienced racing administrators as well as attract people willing to work for the organization.

In its 16 seasons, SHR has won 70 Cup races, including Cup titles in 2011 with Stewart and 2014 with Kevin Harvick.

Stewart thinks back to winning the all-star race in 2009 as the pivotal moment that has guided him the last 16 years through the end of his Cup career in 2016 and the seasons that followed.

“There were crew guys there that literally were in tears, and it really caught me off-guard,” Stewart said about the all-star win. “I just didn’t expect to see that. And it was people that had been with the Haas organization before I’d got there and worked on different teams that had never won a race, and here we are winning our first race as an organization.

“And what I realized for the first time since I had started Stewart-Haas and become a part of that, it wasn’t about me anymore. It was about sitting there enjoying watching these guys that were so overwhelmed and overjoyed with winning a race that it brought tears to their eyes. And it was like, ‘This is way bigger than anything that has to do with me. This is about all of us and what we can accomplish together.’”

It was with that mindset that Stewart, facing significant sponsorship and manufacturer-support challenges, opted to get out of NASCAR Cup ownership. Gene Haas will keep one of the four Cup cars and both Xfinity programs and operate it as a new organization, Haas Factory Team. The team told employees at the end of May it would cease operations, impacting more than 300 employees (some employees could return with Haas Factory Team).

“The reason we did the announcement early in the season was to try to take care of all of our people,” Stewart said. “I got so blamed for people losing their jobs. Well, there’s companies left and right that shut down. Look at COVID [in 2020] — how many people had to shut down? Nobody was screaming about how employees weren’t taken care of and what it did to their families.

“We did what we did to take care of our people, and we created great severance packages for them to take care of them and their families. … I would say over 80 percent of the employees at SHR have found homes for next year.”

Stewart, who owns his NHRA team and sprint-car teams, said 16 years as a race team in one series is a solid run.

“The bashing I got online and on social media was very unjust through the process,” Stewart said. “It’s easy to sit on your ass, on a chair, on your couch in your mom’s house and sit there and tell us how we’re doing it wrong. But nobody can seem to sit there and come in on Monday morning and tell us how to do it right.

“I feel like our group did a great job of taking care of our people the best that we could, and with the right intentions and with the attitude of our employees came first — and that’s what the focus has been this year, is making sure that we do everything to take care of our employees in a season that’s a transition year for everybody.”

Even with the transition, Chase Briscoe won at Darlington to make the playoffs in SHR’s final hurrah. It snapped a 73-race winless streak for the organization.

“Obviously, for the building, the last couple years have been a huge struggle, and just trying to get a car in the winner’s circle again was tough,” Stewart said. “But to see Chase get that done at Darlington and win a crown jewel race and get himself in the playoffs, that was a huge boost for the building.”

Stewart said he didn’t know that the charter situation would lead to such angst between teams and owners over the summer, but watching 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports sue NASCAR is something he is glad he doesn’t have to be involved with as a Cup team owner.

“With their battle with NASCAR and the direction that things are going, it’s not a direction that I want to be a part of,” Stewart said on the Harvick podcast. “This is the right time. This was never a part of a master plan.

“But as this year has gone on, this has become very clear that this is the right time for me to get out of the sport. There’s things that I see that I definitely don’t like. And I’m happy doing the stuff I’m doing now. I’ve always been somebody that’s ran all kinds of different series.”

Stewart indicated the challenges of piecing together several sponsorships for one car and not having other companies to create enough business-to-business relationships was just too much for SHR to try to operate a successful team on the track. Stewart said he had a lot of respect for the NASCAR-owning France family and was appreciative of the opportunities he had racing the greats Dale Earnhardt, Jeff Gordon, Rusty Wallace and Harvick among them.

“The sport’s going to be healthy, it’s going to survive,” Stewart said. “It always has. It always will. But I’m happy at this point in my life to make this change. … It wasn’t that way at the beginning of the year.

“We had different reasons for why we had to shut down at the end of the season, but as time has gone on and watching the owners and NASCAR fight and just the chaos that’s going on over there, I’m fine being done with this at the end of the year.”

Bob Pockrass covers NASCAR for FOX Sports. He has spent decades covering motorsports, including over 30 Daytona 500s, with stints at ESPN, Sporting News, NASCAR Scene magazine and The (Daytona Beach) News-Journal. Follow him on Twitter @bobpockrass.

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Formula 1 fans may have spotted a Netflix crew in the paddock at the US Grand Prix — but this time, it wasn’t for “Drive to Survive.” The Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders (DCC), fresh off their own Netflix debut, returned to the Circuit of the Americas for their annual pre-race performance, with cameras capturing their behind-the-scenes experience. 

The elite DCC squad is in the midst of a surge in popularity not unlike the so-called ‘Drive to Survive effect,’ which catapulted F1 into the mainstream American consciousness. Their new Netflix docuseries, “America’s Sweethearts: Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders,” introduced viewers to the 36, ultra-talented women who defied Ivy League-level acceptance rates to make the team, and turned them into social media stars.

Jada Mclean, a fifth-year DCC veteran, who waved the chequered flag as Charles Leclerc claimed victory in Austin, described the surprising parallels between F1 drivers and the world-renowned squad. “I watched ‘Drive to Survive’ and thought it was so special seeing what goes into being an F1 driver and all the sacrifices they make,” she explained. “It’s similar as a cheerleader: there’s a lot of people who don’t realize what we’re sacrificing to do what we do on Sundays. I think we probably understand each other as part of this Netflix family, being followed day-in and day-out through our lives as professional athletes, but also our lives outside [of the sport].”

The Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders have been performing at the race for over a decade

Photo by: Andy Hone / Motorsport Images

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When the Cowboys gave Netflix cameras unparalleled access to the DCC throughout the 2023-24 football season, the show charted every aspect of their experience inside the walls of AT&T Stadium. It seems the second season — which is yet to be announced by Netflix — will also follow their lives away from the football field, including the organisation’s decade-long relationship with the US Grand Prix. 

Shelly Roper-McCaslin, head of special projects at the DCC, has witnessed the F1 boom first-hand since the team began performing at COTA in 2013. “We’ve participated in F1 activities since the second year of the race and the sport has grown significantly in that time,” she said. “I suppose we’re Netflix cousins now.” 

The Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders perform at the front of the grid prior to the start of the US Grand Prix

Photo by: Steve Etherington / Motorsport Images

This year, the team brought their signature “Thunderstruck” routine, which kicks off every Cowboys home game, back to the grid. The reception the team received – from enthusiastic cheers in the grandstands to celebrities asking for selfies in the paddock — mirrors F1’s experience in the US following the release of ‘Drive to Survive’ five years ago. For Reece Weaver, one of the breakout stars of ‘America’s Sweethearts,’ the Netflix effect has been both surreal and humbling. “There’s definitely been a shift within the team, knowing that there’s a little more of a magnifying glass on us,” Weaver explained. “But it also shows us that it’s a lot of responsibility to be role models and mentors. It’s such a privilege to look up and see a little girl in the crowd wearing your uniform.”

Mclean echoed the sentiment. “Fans have a new appreciation for what we do now that they’ve seen all the hard work that goes into it.” She went on, “It’s definitely been different since the show, people are much more excited to see us because they feel like they know us a little better. We kind of feel like little celebrities, which is fun. Cheerleading is such a short chapter in our lives, so we’re all trying to soak in these moments and wear the uniform with pride.”

Defending MotoGP World Champion Francesco Bagnaia has thrown his support behind WorldSBK standout Nicolo Bulega as his candidate to replace Fabio di Giannantonio at VR46 Racing for the final two events of the 2024 MotoGP season.

The satellite squad is presently mulling options as it prepares to lose di Giannantonio for the concluding Malaysian and Valencia events, the Italian having chosen to curtail his season in favour of undergoing surgery on his troublesome shoulder injury.

At present, paddock chatter ahead of this weekend’s Thailand Grand Prix suggests former Ducati MotoGP rider Andrea Iannone is in line for the seat, five years on from his last appearance in the top-flight prior to him serving a four-year sentence for doping offences.

While would-be Ducati stablemates Bagnaia, Jorge Martin and Marc Marquez each welcome the prospect of a return to MotoGP for Iannone, the 2022 and 2023 world champion has nominated Bulega as his preferred choice for the vacant seat.

A former member of the VR46 Academy, Bulega gave a star turn in his rookie WorldSBK campaign with the factory Ducati team, scoring six victories en route to the runner-up spot in the final standings.

It is a performance Bagnaia believes Ducati should reward with a shot at a MotoGP debut, even if he is cautious about the challenge of stepping in for either Bulega or Iannone after Alvaro Bautista struggled to adapt during a one-off outing in Sepang last season.

“I hope to see Bulega on this bike because when you have the possibility to try a MotoGP bike you have to take it and I think Iannone will enjoy it a lot. 

“Sepang is not an easy track, we saw that last season with Bautista, but I think he will enjoy the MotoGP and will take it as a fun moment.”

Francesco Bagnaia, Ducati Team

Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images

Bagnaia’s views notwithstanding, there was a positive reaction to the notion of Iannone getting the chance to both return to MotoGP and Ducati.

The Italian spent four seasons with the Borgo Panigale marque, notching up one win and seven podiums during his stint. However, his career was derailed in 2019 while racing with Aprilia when he failed a drugs test that would earn him a ban from racing for four years.

Nevertheless, despite the extended period of non-action, Iannone made a triumphant return to competition this season in WorldSBK aboard the privateer Go Eleven Ducati, achieving one win and five podiums. 

For Pramac’s Martin and Gresini’s Marquez, Iannone has earned the chance to race in the premier class once more.

“For me, it is good to see him back in MotoGP,” points leader Martin said. “After what he went through, then he went to WorldSBK and won a race, so he is demonstrating that he is still on a good level. So maybe he is still fast and I think it is a good opportunity to show people that he is still strong.

“For me it would be nice to see him there, because we had good fights,” added Marquez. “Of course it is super difficult to be fast in one race after four years. 

“Maybe he is superman and can do it, because he is a very good talent but it will be nice and I think the approach is like a present.”

Oliver Solberg says returning to the World Rally Championship’s top tier next year is his “dream”, but is wary not to make the same “mistake I did last time”.

The WRC2 points leader is yet to secure a WRC seat for next season but could have options to graduate to Rally1 or remain in the second tier for a third consecutive campaign.

Solberg’s best chance to make the step back to Rally1 next year is likely to come from M-Sport-Ford, with the team’s plans for its two Ford Pumas for next season, “up in the air”, according to team principal Richard Millener.

M-Sport could have both seats open for 2025 with its lead driver Adrien Fourmaux heavily linked to a move away from the British squad to pilot the third factory Hyundai entry.

Solberg was linked to a Rally1 drive with M-Sport for this season before opting to sign a deal with Skoda to compete in WRC2, driving for the Toksport outfit.

The 23-year-old admitted that making the leap back to Rally1 next year would be “difficult” and “attractive”, but ensuring he is making the right step is critical to the decision.

Solberg’s most recent Rally1 experience came in 2022 when the Swede endured a difficult part-time campaign piloting Hyundai’s third car that yielded four top-10 finishes and three retirements.

Oliver Solberg, Elliott Edmondson, Hyundai World Rally Team Hyundai i20 N Rally1

Photo by: Red Bull Content Pool

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“I don’t think it [2025] looks very different to what I have now, and obviously the dream is to be in Rally1 but I think that will be difficult, but you never know,” Solberg told Autosport/Motorsport.com.

When asked about the possibility of vacant seats at M-Sport, he added: “If I think about my short-term future, maybe it would be very attractive, but long-term my dream is to stay in the WRC for a long time and I don’t want to do the same mistake I did last time with Hyundai.

“Obviously, [with] what happened there, you are very careful about what decision you make. I think M-Sport could be great and they have had a great season, it is difficult.

“I am one of the youngest [drivers here] but it is big step for your career and you want to be sure that you make the right one this time.”

Solberg maintains that he has “cool” options to continue in WRC2 if graduating to Rally1 next year doesn’t eventuate.

“I think I have very good options for WRC2 and I am extremely lucky with the options I have been offered,” he added.

“It is something that I don’t think anyone has got in WRC2 to be honest, for sure that is very attractive, but my dream is Rally1, but at least for WRC2 I have some cool options.”

Solberg’s stock could yet rise as the driver could secure a maiden WRC2 title should results go his way at the Japan season finale next month.

The Skoda driver currently leads the standings but won’t be competing on Japan’s asphalt roads having already completed his seven point-scoring events.

Solberg will however secure the title if rival Sami Pajari fails to finish either first or second in Japan.

“Obviously I love rallying so I will probably watch every stage [on TV at home],” he added. “But, normally when I watch its goes good for my competitors, so maybe I will just go and disappear somewhere.

“We will see, it could be very exciting.”

Honda is “prepared for some conflicts” with design legend Adrian Newey on how to best approach the 2026 Formula 1 regulations as they join forces at Aston Martin.

Newey’s arrival at the Silverstone-based outfit for next year was revealed in September following months of speculation over his landing zone in F1.

The Briton had announced his departure from Red Bull earlier in the season after almost two decades with the Milton Keynes-based squad, one of a number of key members of staff to seek employment elsewhere in recent years.

Honda had been in partnership with Red Bull since 2019, albeit leaving F1 in an official capacity at the end of the 2021 season and instead becoming a technical partner to the world championship-winning constructor.

The marriage faced the biggest issue, teams other than Ferrari, Mercedes and Alpine have in that the requirements from the chassis designers and the power unit design team can often clash, meaning compromises need to made rather than having a harmonious build process.

But, in spite of that, Red Bull and Honda have won each drivers’ championship since 2021 and taken the constructors’ title in the past two seasons.

Aston Martin will face the same task when teaming up with Honda for F1’s new era of technical regulations in 2026, but speaking to Motorsport.com in an exclusive interview Honda Racing Corrporation president Koji Watanabe said he hopes Newey’s arrival could spark a replication of the Japanese marque’s achievements this decade with Red Bull.

Lawrence Stroll, Toshihiro Sanbe,,President and CEO Honda Motor,Koji Watanabe, President of Honda Racing Corporation,,Martin Whitmarsh

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“We’re pleased to see Aston Martin taking steady steps to strengthen their competitiveness as a team,” said Watanabe.

“We’re very encouraged that they have solidified their management structure, including Newey’s involvement.

“I’ve worked with Newey before, and he has an incredible passion for building fast cars.

“While we build the PU and they build the car’s chassis, there are times when our visions don’t always align.

“In such cases, there are conflicts between what the chassis team wants and what the PU team wants, but together, we’ve managed to create the best car in the world.

“With Newey now at Aston Martin, I expect similar challenges to arise, but I hope this will lead to the Aston Martin Honda team becoming the best in the world. We’re prepared for some conflicts. Of course, it’s not just with Newey.”

The tech intrigue surrounding Red Bull’s front bib adjuster has thrown a spotlight on Formula 1’s parc ferme rules.

Central to the issue surrounding Red Bull is not that it had a device inside the car that can raise or lower the bib.

Instead, it all revolves around whether or not the team ever used it to make such a car change during parc ferme restrictions that are in place between the start of qualifying and the race.

The theory from some of its rivals is that it would be very simple for a Red Bull mechanic to lean in the cockpit with a tool and make such an adjustment on the sly.

Red Bull suggests such claims are nonsense and that it would have been impossible for it to do anything like that without getting spotted by the FIA, as it showed off a two-foot long tool that it says was used to make the tweaks in practice.

The views on both sides of the debate seem pretty entrenched right now. But, from the FIA’s perspective, the policing of parc ferme rules are pretty robust.

F1’s parc ferme rules are laid down in the sporting regulations and mainly allow only maintenance and safety changes, whether it be repairing accident damage, fixing broken components or alterations to improve driver comfort.

Set-up tweaks are heavily restricted and pretty much the only performance element that can be changed is the front wing flap angle. Teams cannot add, remove or replace bodywork parts.

If there are any parts of the car that the team wants to replace, then it must lodge a written request with the FIA and ensure that any new components are similar in design, mass, inertia and function to the original. Any parts taken off a car are also retained by the FIA should further checks be needed.

FIA delegates are checking the Red Bull Racing RB20 of Max Verstappen

Photo by: Andreas Beil

A watchful eye

To ensure teams comply with the rules, the FIA has two systems in place – one human and one electronic.

The first element is the use of scrutineers, who are assigned to each car for the duration of the weekend, to check the rules are complied with.

As the FIA’s deputy technical delegate Manuel Leal explained: “We have 20 scrutineers monitoring every single operation that is being done to the car and writing that down for us to check later.

“Also, at the beginning of the season, teams have to submit a list of operations they will normally conduct in parc fermé within the regulations, and we approve them or not.

“Each car is different so they might say that for them to check the combustion chamber, they need to remove the spark plugs and for removing the spark plugs, they need to remove something else. This list is given to the scrutineers, so they can follow what’s going on.” 

Beyond the scrutineer physically logging everything the team does, there are cameras inside the garages too.

Leal pointed out: “We have an overhead camera above each car that is monitored and recorded.

“Essentially, it’s similar to the CCTV any security firm might run. We monitor in real time, there are people watching constantly, and we can view anything that happens to that car.”

Set-up sheets

There are further ways that the FIA has to ensure that teams are not making sneaky changes to their cars that would be outside the regulations.

“The teams need to declare a set-up sheet for each car before qualifying,” explained Leal.

“That details cambers, toes, corner weights and so on. So, for example, if they crash and need to put the car back together, we will go down and check that they are only repairing the crash damage and not changing the set-up.

“We need to see the same cambers, the same toe and we will want to do a set-up check.

“If something needs to be replaced, say a potentiometer on a suspension has failed, we need to see evidence of the failure, and if it’s related to a critical performance point, such as weight distribution, ballast, suspension set-up, or aero – bar the front wing flap – then you will have an FIA person checking that it’s the same.”

Nikolas Tombazis, Head of Single Seater Technical Matters, FIA

Photo by: Mark Sutton

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Fitting seals

The FIA is aware that scope is there for teams to make adjustments deep within the car that could alter a setting, which is why there are further ways it can guarantee compliance.

This is through the appliance of seals on device that can change settings – and that is something which happened with the Red Bull bib adjuster in Austin.

“Engines and gearboxes are, of course, sealed,” says Leal. “But we have the right to apply seals to whatever part we wish to keep track of.

“So if there is something we are concerned about that is critical and difficult to see live, even with the cameras, then we will add a seal.

“As a minimum, it’s gearboxes, power units, energy recovery systems, bodywork panels, the driver’s seat, but we can place seals wherever necessary. I think over the course of the season we order anything up to 40,000 seals, so that gives an indication of how stringent our checks are.”

Teams can work on their cars for two hours after qualifying, before a cover must be placed over it and left secure until the following day.

This cover is then removed five hours before the start of the formation lap for any further work.

And to further check compliance, the FIA does regular examinations of cars on race morning with its own staff to be totally sure that everything is in order.

Leal added: “FIA personnel typically do set-up and parts spec checks on Sunday morning, just to make sure that there is nothing a scrutineer has missed, which to be honest is rare.

“But it’s just a further level of vigilance for us to make sure that teams have stuck to the regulations, that we have a level playing field and that, unless there is a compelling reason, we go into the race with cars in the condition they qualified.”