Gene Haas: Age, height, weight, marriage, controversies, personal life, career

Gene Haas is a great man who is well-known in the racing world. However, he has a habit of withholding information about his personal life from the public. Much of the information Gene Haas divulges to the public is about his career and his plans.

Early life

Eugene Francis Haas (born November 12, 1952) is the founder, president, and sole stockholder of CNC machine tool maker Haas Automation. He is also involved in motorsports, having created the NASCAR team Haas CNC Racing (now Stewart-Haas Racing) and the Formula One outfit Haas F1 Team.

Education

Gene has a strong interest in sports and business, but he began his life like any other kid. However, as previously stated, he is very secretive and dislikes discussing his childhood. As a result, the information about the school where he began his education as a child is still being reviewed. He attended California State University, Northridge after graduating from high school and majored in accounting and finance.

In 1975, he earned a Bachelor of Science degree. Haas studied engineering at first, but after Lockheed nearly went bankrupt, he switched to business. Gene was unable to find a reliable job that paid more than what he earned at a summer job he had in a machine shop after graduating from high school. He worked as a CNC programmer and machinist at the shop.

Professional career

Haas designed and built an indexer with a stepper motor drive, which he later mass-produced through his company Haas Automation. Today, the company is known as the largest machine tool manufacturer in the United States with a revenue of less than $1 billion.

Haas CNC Racing

Haas CNC Racing, a NASCAR race team, was founded in 2002 by Haas. After purchasing Hendrick Motorsports’ Craftsman Truck race facilities in Concord, North Carolina, Haas CNC Racing began construction on its first Winston Cup (now known as the NASCAR Cup Series) entry as a single-car team. The new team’s debut race came on September 30, 2002, with driver Jack Sprague finishing 35th following a crash.

When Stewart won the All-Star Race in May 2009, Haas was there to see the first team victory. On November 20, 2011, Haas joined Stewart on the podium at Homestead-Miami Speedway, as Stewart won the Ford EcoBoost 400 and clinched his third Sprint Cup Championship. In 2014, Stewart-Haas and Kevin Harvick earned their second Cup championship. Stewart announced his retirement from the Cup Series as a driver after the 2016 season on September 30, 2015.

The team currently fields Cup Series cars for Kevin Harvick (No. 4), Chase Briscoe (No. 14), Aric Almirola (No. 10) and Cole Custer (No. 41). With Cole Custer’s victory in New Hampshire in September 2014, Haas joined Rick Hendrick, Richard Childress, Jack Roush, and Bill Davis in the exclusive club of owners who have won as an owner in all three national touring series.

Formula One

Haas revealed in January 2014 that he has formally submitted to the FIA his interest in launching a team in the F1 championship in 2015 or 2016, tentatively titled Haas Formula and Haas Racing Developments. On April 11, 2014, Haas revealed that the FIA had granted him a licence. However, on May 28, it was revealed that the team’s debut will be postponed until 2016, with Haas formally confirming the postponement on June 4.

To better showcase its commitment to the chosen sport, the team adopted its present moniker, Haas F1 Team, in September 2014. It was also rumoured in December 2014 that Haas had purchased substantial assets from the bankrupted Marussia F1 team, which was confirmed in early 2015.

Wind Shear tunnel

The planning for a commercial wind tunnel began in 2006. Triliad Development, based in California, was hired by Haas to manage the project. The facility was planned to be the world’s most advanced automotive wind tunnel. The facility is built around an MTS rolling road, which allows a car to be restrained directly on top of a large tread mill-like machine with a 70-foot-long (21 m) by 10-foot-wide (3.0 m) by 1 mm thick stainless steel belt revolving at speeds of up to 180 miles per hour (290 km/h).

Unlike standard fixed-floor tunnels, the rolling road adequately simulates the characteristics of a car on a race track. The new wind tunnel’s construction began in 2007 and was finished by the end of the year. In July 2008, the wind tunnel opened to its first customer, a Formula One race team, after six months of commissioning. Today’s customers at the Wind Shear plant include NASCAR, IndyCar, Formula One, and American Le Mans Series teams. Haas is the sole owner of Wind Shear.

Personal life

He was married to Bernadette Haas, but the details of their marriage are not currently available to the public. Unfortunately, Gene’s wife died on June 29, 2016, after they had been together for several years and everything was going well.

Awards

Haas has yet to receive any awards or nominations, but Haas Automobile has. They received the Roy Pinkerton Award from the prestigious United Way, Ventura County Chapter. He provides CNC machines to several colleges, including California State University Channel Islands, Polytechnic State University, and California State University Northridge.

Criminal tax evasion

Haas was detained on June 19, 2006, by IRS officials to investigate filing fake tax returns, witness intimidation, and conspiracy. In addition to Haas, four others were indicted and all pleaded guilty.

A plea agreement was negotiated just before Haas’s case was set to go to trial, in which he agreed to plead guilty to criminal conspiracy to conduct tax evasion. He received a two-year prison sentence and was ordered to pay $75 million in restitution.

Haas was imprisoned in January 2008 and freed on probation on May 7, 2009, after serving 16 months of his two-year sentence.

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