What’s Happening?

One major NASCAR Silly Season rumor may be at its end as another rises. In the latest episode of Door Bumper Clear, NASCAR Spotter Freddie Kraft claims a Legacy Motor Club and Haas Factory Team merger is out the door, though an OEM change could be on the table for the latter.

In early August, a rumor swept through the NASCAR community that Jimmie Johnson’s Legacy Motor Club, as part of their very public hunt for a third NASCAR Cup Series charter, was looking ot merge or outright buy Gene Haas’ Haas Factory Team. Though this rumor had little traction beyond a few rumor pages, it caught the eye of NASCAR’s fan base, as both teams had evolved from similar paths of fallen NASCAR organizations.

The story of Stewart-Haas Racing becoming the Haas Factory Team over the past two years has been about as improbable as what LMC has become over the past two years in its own right.

In early 2023, both teams were headed in opposite directions with the announced retirement of Kevin Harvick at the end of the 2023 season and the announcement that Jimmie Johnson would join the ownership group at the former Petty GMS racing operation with an impending move to Toyota in 2024. 

While overhead changes at SHR were expected for 2024, no one could’ve predicted that the team would be closed by year’s end. Furthermore, it seems equally unlikely that anyone could’ve predicted that the team would retain a charter and re-form into the Haas Factory Team.

Over the past year, while the remains of SHR have continued to decline, LMC is looking up, having made an almost 180-degree turnaround from a rather miserable first season with Toyota. The initial rumor that LMC was looking to merge or buy HFT stemmed from the fact that LMC, currently embroiled in a lawsuit with Rick Ware Racing to acquire another charter, was desperate to find a third charter for 2025.

If this rumor were true, it would look like a major win for LMC, which had missed out on one of Stewart-Haas Racing’s charters last season, but could walk away with not only the charter but the team’s top-of-the-line shop in Kannapolis.

But, this rumor appears to be short-lived, as on the latest episode of Door Bumper Clear, NASCAR Spotter Freddie Kraft stated that the deal is “out the window” but that HFT is not finished in Silly Season, claiming that the team is potentially looking at a switch to Chevrolet for the coming season.

What Are the Implications of Both Rumors?

Perhaps the most important takeaway from this rumor is that the host factory team is potentially switching to Chevrolet.

This would be nothing new for a Gene Haas-owned team, as for the early part of its lifespan, Haas CNC Racing, the team that eventually became Stewart-Haas Racing, ran Chevrolets well into Tony Stewart’s era of co-ownership that began in 2009 until the end of the 2017 season.

While this would have little implication for the team on the Cup Series side, a switch to Chevrolet would have massive implications for the Xfinity Series end of the operation. This is because HFT is hands down the best Ford team in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, though that is a small field, as they are the only one of four multicar Ford entries in the series.

While Ford has set its sights on signing away mostly developed talent in recent seasons, this would leave a massive hole in their developmental system, as prospects like Sam Mayer and Sheldon Creed would likely be swept out of the Ford camp. While they could turn their attentions towards AM Racing, the loss of HFT, the team that technically won Ford’s most recent series title, would still be an impactful loss.

Of course, this does not rule out the possibility that the team could run Fords in one series and Chevrolets in another, though this seems highly unlikely.

Furthermore, this also implies that LMC may not be as desperate for a Charter as once thought, though, as part of their lawsuit with RWR, it was revealed that the team agreed to pay a record-breaking price for a charter earlier this season. This could mean LMC is slowing their search, or is confident of getting a charter via another route.

Nonetheless, this is still just a rumor, and at this time, neither LMC, HFT, nor any OEM has announced any move of this type.

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