He was a "enigmatic" character to say the least. Always had a unlit cigar in his mouth, was something of a aloof personality. While team principals like Penske, and Ganassi are always ready to greet fans, and have a chin-wag, Haas would always move through the paddock in a head down bull rush, and God forbid you were in his path if he was driving a paddock scooter or golf cart, he would run you right over!
Had great success as a team owner in F5000, Can-Am, and Indycar. As the Lola importer to the U.S., he sold a helluva a lot of racing cars out of his Chicago headquarters. He always had a bizarre pre-race ritual of touching the vital components of his cars on the grid before the start, I remember seeing a bemused Alan Jones watching these theatrics before a Can-Am round at Mid-O. Alan had a look on his face like "what the f**k is he doing?"
The first race I witnessed in the flesh was won by a Haas Lola, driven by Sir JYS.
Fax
