DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — In May 2024, the futures of longtime NASCAR team owner Gene Haas and longtime team president Joe Custer were very much up in the air.
On Saturday night (Feb. 15), they were celebrating two NASCAR Xfinity Series cars finishing in the top three at Daytona International Speedway. The two new drivers of Sam Mayer and Sheldon Creed finished second and third for the newly formed Haas Factory Team in the United Rentals 300.
“We’re thrilled,” Custer told Frontstretch. “Daytona is always… everybody wants it really bad, but there’s a luck factor in it. Execution is critical, and I’m super proud of everybody at Haas Factory Team, that started four months ago, jelling this.”
Haas previously co-owned Stewart-Haas Racing, which won two NASCAR Cup Series and one Xfinity championship before shutting down at the end of the 2024 season. Custer had operated as the president of the team.
But Haas wanted to continue, despite losing his business partner and NASCAR Hall of Famer Tony Stewart. So Haas Factory Team was created, with Custer and roughly 50% of the employees sticking around, according to Custer’s son, Cole. With last year’s SHR Xfinity drivers Custer and Riley Herbst moving up to Cup (Custer with HFT), the new team brought in Xfinity veterans Mayer and Creed to drive.
So far, so good for two drivers embracing the changes.
“I had a lot of fun,” Creed told Frontstretch. “I’ve had fun all offseason with these guys. Very laid back, easygoing, easy to work with. I feel like Joe Custer and Gene Haas have just given us every resource we need to go out and win and have fast racecars. They’ve been great. I feel like we all worked really well tonight [Saturday].”
Creed ran up front for most of Saturday’s race. He led seven laps and finished top three in all three stages, following behind his former Richard Childress Racing teammate Austin Hill in the early portions.
Hill fell out of the race, and Creed was eventually joined by teammate Mayer right behind the other RCR car — the guy that replaced Creed there — Jesse Love. But despite the tandem’s attempts, Creed and Mayer could not get around Love’s No. 2, which won the race.
“Obviously, we were both trying to go get control of it,” Creed said. “… It just seemed like, I would help the No. 21 [Hill] a lot at the beginning of the race, and I feel like we did a really good job of controlling it together that first stage. And then every time I’d try to get a run, they’re [RCR cars] just so fast that like you get this big run at them and they have like enough speed to just deal with your run, and you kind of just spit them back out there in front of you. … Obviously, I drove those cars. They’re really fast and fun to race, so yeah, it made it hard.
“I wanted to go get control and like kind of get them out of control, because I could just see how fast [they were]. And I knew if it was gonna come down to these situations, it was just gonna be hard to do it in a lap and a half to two laps. … Just a lot to look over, but a lot to be happy about.”
Mayer was also super happy with his runner-up result as it was the first time he’d ever finished inside the top 10 at Daytona.
“… I’m just happy to walk out of here without being on a gurney at this point,” Mayer said. “So I’m super happy. The Haas Factory Boys have really taken care of me so far, and we’ll get some checkered flags for sure.”
The word Mayer used multiple times in his post-race media availabilities was “positivity.”
“… We’re definitely going to go back to the shop and get better for next time,” Mayer said. “So don’t count us out of it. We’re going to be back. I’m gonna be better, because I definitely could have executed a little better for the No. 00 especially. But yeah, there’s a lot of positivity going on right now, and me and Sheldon [Creed] are for sure gonna talk, and I’m gonna learn a lot off of it and we’re gonna go to Atlanta and hopefully do the same thing, just a couple spots better.”
Joe Custer was surprised how well the new team did but not at all by his new drivers’ performance.
“To see the kind of cars that they brought — I’m not surprised with the drivers,” Custer said. “The drivers just did their job. I mean, that’s what I expect from them. These guys, they’re good.
“But I’m so happy with the group at the shop, not looking at the future and putting together cars in the offseason that are capable of unloading and going to the front. Pit crews, the whole bit, we executed well. And the good news is there’s some stuff we can improve. So finishing second and third out of the box gives us that opportunity to build on this. We’re licking our chops at this year. We had fun tonight.”
It’s a far cry from being out of the sport. Early results show Haas, Custer and their drivers will spend the year contending for wins and the NXS championship.
Michael Massie joined Frontstretch in 2017 and has served as the Content Director since 2020. Massie, a Richmond, Va., native, has covered NASCAR, IndyCar, SRX and the CARS Tour. Outside of motorsports, the Virginia Tech grad and Green Bay Packers minority owner can be seen cheering on his beloved Hokies and Packers.