NASCAR owner Gene Haas has been given the OK to field the first American Formula One team in nearly 20 years.
NASCAR owner Gene Haas granted Formula One team
The co-owner of Stewart-Haas Racing has been awarded a Formula One team, which will begin competition in 2015.
Jared C. Tilton
Haas, who co-owns Stewart-Haas Racing with Tony Stewart, was granted his license Friday by the Federation Internationale de l’Automobile, the governing body of F1.
The founder of Haas Automation, the largest CNC machine tool builder in the western world, Haas is estimated to have a estimated net worth of $740 million, according to a 2011 story in The Pacific Coast Business Times.
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The team is expected to begin competition in 2015, but could wait an additional year to ensure the infrastructure is in place.
“Obviously, we’re extremely pleased to have been granted a Formula One license by the FIA,” Haas said in a statement. “It’s an exciting time for me, Haas Automation and anyone who wanted to see an American team return to Formula One. Now, the really hard work begins. It’s a challenge we embrace as we work to put cars on the grid.”
If the proposed team does take the grid it would be the first American-based F1 entry since Carl Haas (no relation) ran a team from 1985-86. In 2010, a group formed a F1 team called USGP, but disbanded a month before the season began without ever turning a lap.
No American driver currently competes in F1. The last to do so was Scott Speed in 2007 and before him, Michael Andretti in 1993. Andretti’s father, Mario Andretti, was the last American to win the F1 World Championship (1978).
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