In the final seven races of the 2025 NASCAR Xfinity Series campaign, Haas Factory Team drivers Sheldon Creed and Sam Mayer are set to chase a championship for the organization, as part of the Ford Racing family.
However, when the checkered flag is shown at Phoenix in November, the organization (as well as both of its drivers) will be moving on from the manufacturer, as part of a strategic move by Haas Factory Team to join the Chevrolet family and align with Hendrick Motorsports.
This isn’t uncommon in NASCAR – but, in an increasingly competitive landscape, these decisions can sometimes come with short-term consequences, especially if these changes are finalized and publicly announced before the end of a season.
For both Creed and Mayer, the idea of a lame-duck period during the NASCAR Xfinity Series Playoffs to end the organization’s tenure with Ford Racing would be disappointing, especially because it would drastically hinder their shot at winning the title.
Ahead of the Xfinity Series regular-season finale at WWT Raceway, Mayer, who claimed the news of the manufacturer change was sudden, said that he didn’t expect anything to change, as far as the flow of information from Ford Racing to Haas Factory Team.
“Everyone at Ford has been awesome to work with all year, and they said explicitly, like ‘We’re going to make sure you win the championship at the end of the year’, so I’m really looking forward to that,” Mayer explained on September 5. “Everyone has been behind us one hundred percent, everyone from all the way up, all the way down.”
Less than a week later, during a NASCAR Xfinity Series Playoff media availability, both Creed and Mayer denied any implication that Ford could be sandbagging their efforts at the tail-end of the season, as a consequence of the pending manufacturer change.
“I think our relationship with Ford is as good as it’s been all year,” Sheldon Creed said Tuesday (September 9). Sim time, I think we’re getting more of it, and the goal is still the same for Haas Factory Team and Ford. We have three cars in the final 12 playoffs, so the goal is to get at least one of them to the final four, if not all three. I don’t think anything changes.”
In the four days since the announcement was made by Haas Factory Team, nothing appears to have changed, as Sam Mayer noted when speaking with members of the media during Tuesday’s Playoffs Media Day.
With @HaasFactoryTeam switching to Chevrolet in 2026, is there any hesitancy or backing down of support in the @FordRacing camp?@Sam_Mayer_ says things remain “wide-open”, while @SheldonCreed says they’ve probably had more sim time leading into the Playoffs.#NASCAR pic.twitter.com/00TLKEVDUH
— Joseph Srigley (@joe_srigley) September 9, 2025
“For us, it’s wide-open. We are a go, and we are going to go win the championship with Ford. That’s what they want,” Mayer added. “That’s what we want, and everyone at Haas Factory Team is behind us as well with that. […] I think we’re in a really good spot for that, and I think that’s going to continue throughout the rest of the season because it’s in all of our interests to go out there and have a really good, strong finish to the rest of the season for all of us.”
In the last eight NASCAR Xfinity Series events, Mayer, behind the wheel of the No. 41 Ford Mustang Dark Horse, has been the only driver able to take the fight to Connor Zilisch and JR Motorsports and secure a spot in Victory Lane, doing so at Iowa Speedway.
With no concerns of things changing on the information front from Ford, both Mayer and Creed (as well as AM Racing driver Harrison Burton) are free to go give it their all and chase the 2025 NASCAR Xfinity Series championship.
