Gene Haas

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Eugene "Gene" Francis Haas (born November 12, 1952) is founder, president, and sole stockholder of Haas Automation, a CNC machine tool manufacturer. He also has a presence in motorsports, having founded NASCAR team Haas CNC Racing (now known as Stewart-Haas Racing), and the Haas Formula One team.

In 2002, Haas formed a new NASCAR race team, Haas CNC Racing. After purchasing the Concord, North Carolina-based Craftsman Truck Race facility from Hendrick Motorsports, Haas CNC Racing began work on its first entry in the Winston Cup (now Sprint Cup) series as a single-car team. The first entry for the new team was September 30, 2002 with driver Jack Sprague who finished 35th after a crash. The team raced only three times in 2002. By 2003 the team was running full-time with several driver changes over the season. The team won its first race in the then-Busch Series in 2004 with driver Jason Leffler. By 2006 the team had relocated to a new, state-of-the-art facility in Kannapolis, North Carolina and was fielding a full-time two car team in the Cup Series. At the end of 2008, the team was still struggling with a total 6+ year average finish of just under 27th place.

Late in 2008, Haas announced that he would join forces with NASCAR driver Tony Stewart] Stewart would drive for the team and in return would be given a 50% stake in the company from Haas

Haas has used his position as a successful businessman to share with the local community. Haas Automation and Haas were the recipient of the Roy Pinkerton Award, presented by United Way, Ventura County Chapter.] Many engineering colleges have "CNC Labs" outfitted with machines he donated, including California Polytechnic State University[12] (Cal Poly), California State University Channel Islands, and California State University Northridge.

Haas also has been a generous donor to two-year colleges, most recently Danville Community College through the award of a $1 million grant in April 2015 to support an Associate of Applied Science degree program in Integrated Machining Technology. The program, which will be housed in the Gene Haas Center for Integrated Machining in Danville, Virginia, will build upon the college's existing 80-credit Precision Machining Technology two-year diploma program.

The Gene Haas Foundation has provided charitable donations] since 2001 including Hospice Foundation, Boy Scouts of America, Los Angeles Mission, YMCA Kids Camp, NAACP, Children's Hospital Los Angeles, MS Society, and others.