Ahead of the World Wide Technology Raceway race weekend, the NASCAR Cup and Xfinity Series, Haas Factory Team, recently made a major announcement for the upcoming 2026 season. The team will switch its OEM from Ford to Chevy in the next season in both series. After getting wind of the news, team driver Sam Mayer shared his views on the same.The team has also formed a technical alliance with Hendrick Motorsports for the next season. However, Haas Factory Team will compete in the rest of the 2025 Cup and Xfinity Series seasons with their current OEM, Ford. The NASCAR team initially fielded Chevy cars, but this changed after the founder, Gene Haas, partnered with three-time Cup Series champion Tony Stewart. Following the new alliance, the team switched from Chevy to Ford in 2017.Reflecting on the news, team driver Sam Mayer shared his thoughts on the Haas Factory Team's decision to change its OEM. He praised the FORD staff and stated:"Everyone at Ford has been amazing to work with. Obviously, this announcement kind of fell in our lap the last like four or five days for myself, so I was definitely taken back a little bit by it. It's definitely an interesting choice of a Haas Factory driver. But yeah, everyone at Ford has been awesome to work with all year, and they said exclusively, 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." [00:00]"Obviously, we're kind of the foundation of the XFINITY series for Ford. So they want to see the best for us. and I'm going to make sure that happens. We're going to make to is the champ, four, and go raise your championship. That's the goal anyway. So really looking forward to it, but we got the rest of this year, and obviously make sure exciting as well," he added.Sam Mayer currently ranks third in the Xfinity Series points table with 874 points to his credit. He has secured one win, 15 top-ten finishes, 12 top-five finishes, and one pole position in 25 starts so far this season."He won't tolerate not improving": Haas Factory Team owner Gene Haas on the OEM switchOn Friday, September 5, 2025, Haas Factory Team announced its switch from Ford to Chevy for the 2026 season. Following that, team president Joe Custer explained his thoughts on team owner Gene Haas' decision to switch OEMs.The team confirmed that former NASCAR Xfinity Series champion Cole Custer will pilot the #41 Chevy Camaro ZL1 in the Cup Series. Followed by two full-time entrants in the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series (formerly the NASCAR Xfinity Series). Sheldon Creed will get behind the wheel of the #00 Chevy, and his teammate Sam Mayer will drive the #41 Chevy in the next season.Notably, Joe Custer was featured in an interview with SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Ch. 90 and opened up about Gene Haas' demands for improvement and return to Chevy. Custer stated:"We've had a long relationship with the Hendrick folks; Rick Hendrick himself brought us into this sport. Gene, he's a patient man, but he demands improvement, make no mistake. And so we're not here to do the same thing over next year with, without, you know, addressing these clear issues we have."Haas Factory Team driver Sheldon Creed currently ranks ninth in the Xfinity Series. He has secured 12 top-ten finishes, 5 top-five finishes, and one pole position in 25 starts this season. On the other hand, Cole Custer ranks 33rd in the Cup Series points table with 353 points to his credit. Additionally, he has yet to secure a win this year.