There were rumors at the start of the year that Gene Haas was done with NASCAR. But when reports began circulating that the Haas Factory Team was shutting down its operations, they said nothing, choosing instead to wait for the right moment to hit back. On August 8, they did just that with essentially two key announcements.
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The team first announced that Dean Thompson will join their O’Reilly lineup as a third charter, as they are expanding their O’Reilly operations. Thompson is coming from Sam Hunt Racing and will join Sheldon Creed (No. 00) and Sam Mayer (No. 41) in a new number that’s yet to be announced.
But it doesn’t end there, as Haas Factory Team President and COO Joe Custer also clearly put an end to all the rumors circulating about them shutting down their Cup operations and selling their charter driven by Cole Custer (No. 41).
“We have unfinished business in the Cup Series as Haas Factory Team,” said Custer at the Iowa Speedway, as reported by journalist Jeff Gluck on X. “We are dead committed. Gene Haas is an F1 owner and a NASCAR Cup owner, and also an O’Reilly owner, and we intend to keep it that way. His business is strong. He’s a friend, a mentor and also a passionate racer.”
The rumors started because the No. 41 team has struggled for performance since Haas became a single-car operation after Stewart-Haas Racing shut down its other programs at the end of 2024, owing to the rising demands of running a four-car team. In 2026, Cole Custer is 30th in the standings after 22 races with an average finish of 25 and zero top 10s.
But COO Joe Custer’s words show Gene Haas’ commitment to the team. Haas has been an owner involved in the sport since 2002, and instead of shutting it down for justifiable reasons in the last couple of years, he’s choosing to expand their presence, even if it’s in O’Reilly for now.
“We are going to try to figure out Cup as a single-car team,” Custer continued in his statement. “We’ve got a ways to go. But stay tuned. Because we’re not happy, We’re happy with what the trend has been recently. GM believes in us. Our owner believes in us. Our partners believe in us. Our driver believes in us.”
Custer further revealed that there is excitement brewing in the team. But as of this moment, they are focusing on getting closer to GM as their technical partner, and not expanding to a multi-car team.
That vision can be seen this year, when the team switched from Ford to Chevrolet and formed a technical alliance with Hendrick Motorsports. They now use Hendrick-built engines across their Cup and O’Reilly programs.
The rumors of an exit may have been put to rest, but Haas Factory Team still has plenty to prove on the track.