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CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Stewart-Haas Racing, a two-time NASCAR championship team with 69 Cup Series victories since its 2009 formation, will close its organization at the end of this season

Co-owners Tony Stewart and Gene Haas announced the decision Tuesday after nearly a year of rumors that their four-car Cup Series team was looking to sell its charters and either scale back or exit the stock car series completely. The news was delivered to the nearly 300 SHR employees late Tuesday afternoon.

“It is a decision that did not come easily, nor was it made quickly,” the owners said. “Racing is a labor-intensive, humbling sport. It requires unwavering commitment and vast resources, with a 365-day mindset to be better than everyone else. It’s part of what makes success so rewarding. But the commitment needed to extract maximum performance while providing sustainability is incredibly demanding, and we’ve reached a point in our respective personal and business lives where it’s time to pass the torch.”

SHR this year fields Cup Series cars for Josh Berry, Chase Briscoe, Noah Gragson and Ryan Preece. Berry and Gragson are in their first seasons with the team. SHR holds the 2025 option on Briscoe and he has not been contractually permitted to discuss future employment options even as rumors have swirled that SHR would close.

“Stewart Haas has been home to my family and I for the last 7 years and at the end of the year myself and the entire organization will be looking for a new home and new opportunities in the Cup series,” Briscoe posted on social media. “I have amazing partners behind me and can’t wait to get them back in victory lane.”

The move will also shutter the SHR Xfinity Series team, with two cars driven by Cole Custer and Riley Herbst.

Gene Haas founded Haas CNC Racing in 2002 and the California businessman lured Stewart in as a co-owner ahead of the 2009 season. Stewart had won two Cup championships for Joe Gibbs Racing at the time but couldn’t turn down an equity stake and opportunity to help a small team win races and contend for titles.

Stewart in his 2009 debut season gave the rebranded team its first Cup victory — he won four races that year — and its first Cup title in 2011. Kevin Harvick added a second championship in 2014.

Stewart, Harvick and Clint Bowyer have all retired from NASCAR driving and SHR since then has been in a grueling rebuild. The organization’s last Cup Series win was in 2022 with Harvick a year before he retired. SHR didn’t win a Cup race last season.

The team also is set to lose some of its support from Ford at the end of the season, although Mark Rushbrook, the global director of Ford Performance, told The Associated Press last week he had no idea what SHR’s plans are beyond this year.

SHR also lost major sponsorship this season when Smithfield Foods exited NASCAR and Anheuser-Busch moved to Trackhouse Racing.

Haas, 71, spends most of his time with his Formula 1 team and Stewart is driving a full NHRA schedule, making both absentee owners at NASCAR events. Haas was also ill for much of last year.

The NASCAR team is primarily run by Joe Custer, the chief operating officer and longtime Gene Haas confidant. His son, Cole, won the Xfinity championship last year for SHR.

Among SHR’s accomplishments are the two Cup titles, two Xfinity championships and victories that include crown-jewel events such as the Daytona 500, Brickyard 400 and Southern 500.

“We’re proud of all the wins and championships we’ve earned since joining together in 2009, but even more special is the culture we built and the friendships we forged as we committed to a common cause — winning races and collecting trophies,” Stewart and Haas said. “We have tremendous respect and appreciation for all of our employees, and we will work diligently to assist them during this transition to find new opportunities beyond the 2024 race season.”

Part of Haas’ F1 team is run from the Kannapolis-based shop and it is unclear if that will continue or if Haas has plans to also depart from F1.

It’s also not clear what happens to the four charters SHR holds that guarantee entry into the field every week. Spire Motorsports last year bought a charter for $40 million, but the actual charter value fluctuates annually.

Teams are in a bitter fight with NASCAR over charters, which are set to expire at the end of this season. The teams want them made permanent and not renewable but NASCAR has refused to budge on the issue.

Should SHR be able to sell the charters, it appears there is interest from Front Row Motorsports, 23XI Racing and Trackhouse. There is also speculation that Joe Custer may retain one of the charters and run a car for his son.

Where SHR’s drivers land is unknown. Briscoe should be able to start talking to other teams now about his future. The team also held an option for next year on Berry, who doesn’t bring much personal sponsorship and got the break of his career when SHR hired him ahead of this season.

Gragson’s contract was announced as a multiyear deal and has backing from Bass Pro Shops to take to another team. Preece is in a contract year with SHR so was already free to shop around the series.

Cole Custer could end up in a car in either Cup or the Xfinity Series with backing of Haas’ CNC Automation company, while Herbst has significant financial backing from Monster Energy that should give him options.

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Wisconsin fires offensive coordinator after 2 years

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Wisconsin fires offensive coordinator after 2 years

Wisconsin fired offensive coordinator Phil Longo on Sunday, a day after the Badgers’ 16-13 home loss to No. 1 Oregon.

In a statement, Badgers coach Luke Fickell thanked Longo for his two seasons with the program, while adding, “We are not where we need to be and believe this decision is in the best interest of the team.”

Wisconsin ranks 97th nationally in scoring and 102nd in passing while operating an Air Raid-style offense that Longo brought with him from North Carolina and other stops.

The Badgers, who lost starting quarterback Tyler Van Dyke to a season-ending injury Sept. 14, had only three points and 88 yards in the second half against Oregon, which rallied from a 13-6 deficit entering the fourth quarter.

Wisconsin ranked 101st nationally in scoring in Longo’s 23 games as coordinator and failed to eclipse 13 points on its current three-game losing streak. Quarterback Braedyn Locke had only 96 passing yards against the Ducks.

Fickell did not immediately announce an interim coordinator for Wisconsin’s final regular-season games against Nebraska and Minnesota.

Fickell had long targeted Longo for a coordinator role, going back to his time as Cincinnati’s coach. Longo, 56, oversaw productive offenses at Ole Miss, North Carolina, Sam Houston State and other spots but never consistently got traction at a Wisconsin program that had operated dramatically differently on offense before his arrival.

“This team still has a lot in front of us and I am committed to doing everything we can to close out this season with success,” Fickell said in his statement.

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4-star QB Jones, former FSU commit, picks Florida

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4-star QB Jones, former FSU commit, picks Florida

Four-star quarterback Tramell Jones Jr. has committed to Florida, he told ESPN on Sunday, joining the Gators’ 2025 class four days after pulling his pledge from Florida State.

Jones, a four-year starter at Florida’s Mandarin High School, is ESPN’s No. 9 dual-threat passer in the Class of 2025. After multiple trips to Florida throughout his recruitment, Jones returned to campus Saturday, taking an official visit with the Gators during the program’s 27-16 win over LSU. A day later, Jones stands as the lone quarterback pledge in a 2025 Florida class that includes five pledges from the ESPN 300.

“I pretty much saw everything I needed to see when I visited last spring — I just love everything around the campus,” Jones told ESPN. “And then hanging out with the guys yesterday, seeing the camaraderie with each other, that really just sealed it for me.”

Jones was the longest-tenured member of Mike Norvell’s 2025 class at Florida State before his decommitment from the Seminoles on Thursday morning.

Jones’ exit came days after Norvell announced the firings of three assistant coaches on Nov. 10, including offensive coordinator and offensive line coach Alex Atkins. Jones was the first Florida State commit to pull his pledge in the wake of the staff shakeup but marked the Seminoles sixth decommitment since the start of the regular season, joining five ESPN 300 recruits who have left Norvell’s recruiting class across the program’s 1-9 start.

Jones’ commitment follows a key late-season victory for Billy Napier on Saturday and marks the Gators’ first recruiting win since athletic director Scott Strickland announced on Nov. 7 that Florida would stick with the third-year coach beyond the 2024 season.

Uncertainty over Napier’s future had weighed down Florida’s recruiting efforts in the 2025 class as the Gators began November with the No. 39 class in ESPN’s latest team rankings for the cycle. But Jones’ pledge comes as a boost for Florida one day after the Gators hosted a handful of high-profile flip targets, including five-star offensive tackle Solomon Thomas (Florida State pledge) and four-star wide receiver Jaime Ffrench (Texas pledge).

When Jones signs with Florida, he’ll arrive on campus flanked by fellow in-state offensive talents in four-star wide receivers Vernell Brown III (No. 44 in the ESPN 300) and Naeshaun Montgomery (No. 115), as well as four-star running back Waltez Clark (No. 223). Florida is also set to sign a pair of in-state defenders from the 2025 ESPN 300 between four-star defensive end Jalen Wiggins (No. 68) and four-star cornerback Ben Hanks Jr. (No. 121).

With Jones’ commitment, Florida has another jolt to its momentum on the recruiting trail as the Gators seek to chart a strong finish in the 2025 cycle next month. More imminently, Florida will host No. 11 Ole Miss on Saturday.

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Ted Williams’ 1946 MVP award sells for over $500K

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Ted Williams' 1946 MVP award sells for over 0K

A rare souvenir postcard picturing Hank Aaron as a rookie with the Indianapolis Clowns of the Negro Leagues sold for nearly $200,000 at a baseball memorabilia auction that also included Ted Williams’ 1946 AL MVP award, which went for $528,750.

The Aaron postcard from the scrapbook of scout Ed Scott, who discovered Aaron, went for $199,750 following a bidding war that soared past the pre-sale estimate of $5,000-$10,000, Hunt Auctions said.

The auction included 280 items from Williams’ personal collection that had been held by his daughter, Claudia, who died last year. Among the other items were a silver bat awarded for his 1958 batting title, which sold for more than $270,000, and the Presidential Medal of Freedom presented to him by fellow naval aviator George H.W. Bush, which went for $141,000.

The sale also included items from the collection of Rutherford Hayes Jones, the business manager of the Washington Giants, one of the earliest Black baseball teams. The trove was discovered in 2001 in a suitcase, where it had been unseen for 40 years.

A first batch of items from Claudia Williams’ collection went up for auction in 2012 at Fenway Park and garnered more than $5 million.

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