Haas CNC Racing

Haas CNC Racing is owned by Haas Automation Inc., the world’s largest machine tool manufacturer.

Headquartered in Oxnard, Calif., Haas Automation Inc., has been involved in motorsports since 1995, through technical partnerships with race teams in CART, IRL, and NASCAR, including Hendrick Motorsports. The company is currently a sponsor of the Hendrick teams, and Haas CNC Racing continues to partner with Hendrick for engines and technical support.

The end of the 2006 NASCAR season saw the beginning of a new era for Haas CNC Racing. After residing for nearly five years in the shadow of Lowe’s Motor Speedway, the team moved its headquarters to a newly constructed $15-million race shop in nearby Kannapolis, N.C.

Along with a threefold increase in space, the new 140,000-square-foot shop includes technological advances that make it a world-class facility. Among these are a Research and Development area filled with Haas Automation Inc., machine tools for prototype production, and a seven-post, full-scale track simulator to model racetrack conditions.

History

Haas CNC Racing began in January 2002 with the announcement that three-time NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series champion Jack Sprague would be driving fulltime in the Winston Cup Series beginning in February 2003.

The Haas CNC Racing team made its NASCAR Winston Cup debut on September 30, 2002 at Kansas Speedway when Sprague guided the white-and-red No. 60 Haas Automation Chevrolet to a 35th place finish in the Protection One 400. The team competed in three additional Winston Cup races during 2002, including a season-best 30th-place finish in the Ford 400 at Homestead Miami Speedway.

Haas CNC Racing then made several changes to begin 2003 including a new sponsor, new body style and new number. NetZero, a value-priced Internet access provider, became the main sponsor of the team, continuing a relationship it had built with Sprague in 2002 through sponsorship of his No. 24 NASCAR Busch Series entry. The team switched from the Chevrolet Monte Carlo to the Pontiac Grand Prix body style in hopes of being more competitive in the Winston Cup Series. The team also changed numbers to the No. 0 to better reflect the sponsor, NetZero.

The changes immediately reaped rewards as the the No. 0 NetZero Pontiac began the 2003 season by qualifying 24th for the Daytona 500 and finishing the rain-shortened race in 14th-place

Haas CNC Racing made another change in April 2003 when NASCAR veteran Tony Furr replaced Dennis Connor as crew chief. The change improved the team's starting positions including a season-best fifth in the Coca-Cola 600 at Lowe’s Motor Speedway.

The team used Jack Sprague, John Andretti, Jason Leffler and Ward Burton as drivers of the No. 0 Pontiac during the 2003 season. The team's best finish of the year was 13th at Atlanta Motor Speedway with Burton. The team finished 37th in the 2003 owner’s points standings.

Haas CNC Racing also competed in six NASCAR Busch Series races in 2003. Troy Cline was behind the wheel of the No. 79 Haas Automation Chevrolet for the first two races. Cline finished 27th in his debut at the California Speedway in April and 38th at Richmond International Raceway the next week. Jason Leffler drove the final four races of the Busch season in the No. 00 Haas Automation Chevrolet. Leffler’s best finish was fourth in the Ford 300 at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

The 2004 season was one of growth as the race team fielded two full-time teams. Ward Burton drove the No. 0 NetZero Chevrolet in the Nextel Cup Series, while Jason Leffler guided the No. 00 Haas Automation Chevy in the Busch Series. Burton captured three top-10 finishes and 11 top-20 finishes. The team's best finish came in the Subway 400 when Burton finished ninth at North Carolina Speedway.

The team's first visit to Victory Lane came in June of 2004 when Leffler won the Federated Auto Parts 300 at Nashville Superspeedway. Later in the year, Leffler also won the pole position at California Speedway for the Stater Bros. 300.

In 2005 Haas CNC Racing entered a into a partnership with Labonte Racing to form Labonte/Haas Racing. The entity fielded the No. 44 U.S. Coast Guard Chevrolet with driver Justin Labonte in the NASCAR Busch Series. On the Cup side, Mike Bliss took the reins of the No. 0 NetZero/Best Buy Chevrolet.

Labonte amassed two top-10 and 15 top-20 finishes in a campaign which earned him the 17th position in Busch Series driver points. Bliss came up with two top-10 and 17 top-20 finishes of his own in 2005 and finished out the season in the 28th spot in Nextel Cup driver points.

Haas CNC Racing welcomed Johnny Sauter and sponsor Yellow Transportation aboard to drive the team’s No. 0 NASCAR Busch Series 2006 entry. Sauter finished the year eighth in the driver points standings having accumulated nine top-10 and two top-five  finishes.

Meanwhile, Jeff Green piloted the No. 66 Best Buy Chevrolet to a 28th ranking in driver points with two top-10s and an average finishing position of 24th.

Sauter’s success in the 2006 Busch Series was enough to earn him a promotion, and so Haas CNC Racing entered another growth period as it set course on the 2007 Nextel Cup Series season with two full-time teams.

As a newly formed team, Sauter and his No. 70 Yellow Transportation Chevrolet would not have the luxury of starting the season among the top 35 teams in the owner’s-points standings and benefitting from the guaranteed starting position enjoyed by the teams that were. Instead, for the first five races of the season they would be required to earn their way into the starting lineup by posting fast qualifying times.

Sauter was equal to the task and made every race except for Bristol, and his finishes were strong enough in the four races he did make to propel him into the top 35 in owner’s points. There was no room for relaxation however, as the No. 70 team teetered on the edge of the top 35 throughout the season. Sauter’s 2007 season was highlighted by a second-place finish in the All-Star qualifying race which earned him a position among the elite 21-car field where he started 20th and finished sixth; and a fifth-place finish in the fall race at Richmond International Raceway that is, to date, the best finish for a Haas CNC Racing team.

Both Sauter and Jeff Green, who was again behind the wheel of the No. 66 Best Buy Chevrolet, found the “Car of Tomorrow,” which made its debut at 16 races during the 2007 season, to their liking, each capturing a top-10 finish at the spring Phoenix race.

Green would go on to finish in the top-10 three times during the 2007 season, all in the COT and all on short tracks (those one-mile or shorter in length).

While the 2007 season proved successful for the Haas CNC Racing short track and super speedway programs the team continued to find strong runs on the intermediate tracks to be elusive.

So with a focus on gaining consistency during the 2008 season Haas CNC Racing is employing the services of two veteran Cup-Series drivers in Jeremy Mayfield and Scott Riggs.

Riggs will be behind the wheel of the No. 66 State Water Heaters Chevrolet with Robert “Bootie” Barker as his crew chief.