Gene Haas, founder of Haas Automation and longtime NASCAR team owner, is recognized for his hands-on approach and commitment to problem-solving: find a challenge, create an efficient, cost-effective solution, and repeat. Born in Youngstown, Ohio, and raised in California, Haas started his career sweeping floors in a machine shop. After only six months, Haas was setting up lathes and conventional milling machines. He continued to work at machine shops through high school and college, mastering the machining techniques that would lead him to found Haas Automation in 1983.

Today, Haas Automation is North America's largest CNC machine tool builder, manufacturing high-quality machining centers, lathes, and rotary tables at a state-of-the-art facility in Oxnard, California. Known for his technical insight, Haas personally drives much of the company’s innovation, with breakthrough products like the 5C Collet Indexer and VF-1 that set new standards in accessibility and affordability. Haas products are sold through a worldwide network of more than 170 Haas Factory Outlets in more than 80 countries, which provide the industry with the best support and service.

Haas’s passion for motorsports runs just as deep. He began as a Formula 5000 mechanic and went on to sponsor and manage teams across NASCAR, INDYCAR, and Formula One. In 2002, he launched his own NASCAR team, which, in partnership with Tony Stewart in 2008, became Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR). SHR achieved remarkable success, winning two NASCAR Cup Series championships—first in 2011 with Stewart and then in 2014 with Kevin Harvick—as well as two NASCAR Xfinity Series titles and over 100 race victories, including crown-jewel events like the Daytona 500, Brickyard 400, and Southern 500.

With SHR closing its doors at the end of 2024, Haas’s dedication to NASCAR continues with the Haas Factory Team, a new program competing in both the Cup and Xfinity Series.

Based in Kannapolis, North Carolina, the Haas Factory Team reflects a commitment to performance and engineering excellence, carrying forward Gene Haas’s commitment to motorsports.