The No. 41 car is the fourth and newest team added to Stewart-Haas Racing and debuted at the beginning of the 2014 season. On August 26, 2013, Kurt Busch announced he would be leaving Furniture Row Racing to drive the fourth Stewart-Haas car. The deal was initiated by team founder Gene Haas, who would sponsor the full season through his company Haas Automation. The signing of Busch came with some controversy, considering that Ryan Newman's contract was not renewed under the pretense that there was not enough funding to run both Newman's No. 39 team and Kevin Harvick's new No. 4 team. In addition, Busch was signed by Haas while co-owner Tony Stewart, a noted rival of Busch's, was more-or-less incapacitated due to his leg injury, with Stewart publicly saying "It was his (Haas') decision" but also "Kurt is a huge asset." On September 24, 2013, it was revealed that the car would be No. 41, and later that Daniel Knost would be Busch's crew chief. SHR purchased the No. 14's charter from the now-defunct Michael Waltrip Racing.