Gene Haas "In Good Standing" With NASCAR

(Originally published on Aug. 3, 2008)

LONG POND, Pa.--Often lost in the circumstances involving the formation of Stewart-Haas Racing is the fact that one of those two namesakes currently resides in federal prison.

But unlike Michael Vick--who may face further discipline from the National Football League following his release--Gene Haas will be welcomed back into NASCAR with open arms.

"He's in good standing with NASCAR, that's all they told us, and that's all we need to know," team General Manager Joe Custer told the Press Sunday morning.

Haas reported to prison in January to serve a two-year term after pleading guilty to one count of tax fraud. That followed a plea bargain resulting in the dismissal of several charges, which included reporting false race team expenses.

"They were dropped," Custer said of charges related to the race team. "That's the point. It they're dropped, they're not an issue."

Stewart was unavailable for comment, as his spokesperson, Mike Arning, cited the driver's interest in focusing on his current team, Joe Gibbs Racing. But Arning indicated that the criminal case never gave Stewart a moment of pause about involving himself with Haas' company. Stewart was first offered 50 percent of Haas CNC Racing in Dec. 2007, the month before Haas' incarceration. Custer repeated past comments that Haas and Stewart never spoke (which Arning seconded). Custer said that Haas was never consulted by anybody on the deal, even though it involved half of one of his companies being given away.



"We don’t know too much about any of the legal circumstances surrounding Gene Haas, so we won’t comment," Arning said. "We do know that it hasn’t had an impact on Haas CNC Racing’s initiatives and our excitement in the new partnership."

The race team's parent company, Haas Automation, Inc., is now run by GM Bob Murray, who signed off on the Stewart deal after Custer presented it to him. Custer said that Stewart is in no danger of seeing similar legal issues arrive under the Stewart-Haas regime.

"We don't have that risk anymore, because of the people we have in place, and the internal policies we've set in place won't allow lower-level employees to make mistakes at that level," said Custer of the criminal case, which also involved Haas Automation subordinates. "So yes, we won't see that happen again."

Whether those fail-safes involve any restrictions on Haas' input long-term is unclear.

"We don’t have a comment on Mr. Haas’ future role with the team," Arning said.