Gragson, Stewart-haas Racing team feeling ire of owner
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Tony Stewart put his NASCAR team on blast ahead of the Daytona 500 and in the wake of a winless 2023 season: get to Victory Lane, hang banners — or else.
Stewart-haas Racing is in more than a small slump. SHR has been dismal.
The team once among NASCAR’S best hasn’t won in the past 84 Cup races headed into Sunday’s Daytona 500. This season’s four-driver lineup, which includes holdovers Chase Briscoe and Ryan Preece and newcomers Josh Berry and Las Vegas’ Noah Gragson, have a combined one Cup victory — Briscoe won in 2022 at Phoenix.
Stewart, so fiery as a driver he was nicknamed Smoke, had enough of the failures. The three-time Cup Series champion and NASCAR Hall of Fame driver said the standard at SHR — where Stewart and recent retiree Kevin Harvick each won championships — was set too high for the team to languish far outside title contention.
“We’re going to have get some races into it,” Stewart said this month on Siriusxm NASCAR Radio, “but if we’re not having the results we’re looking for, we’re going to start making some major changes. Everybody knows that. Everybody understands that.”
SHR’S stumbles on the track led to other losses off it, with premier sponsors Anheuser-busch and Smithfield leaving the team. SHR’S deal with Ford ends after this season, and negotiations could hinge on how many checkered flags Berry, Briscoe, Gragson and Preece chase.
The four drivers have heard the criticism — already harsh from fans and the media — but it hits harder when it comes from Stewart.
“We hear everybody, we hear you guys, we’re not just ignoring it,” Preece said. “And as you heard Tony say, mediocrity isn’t acceptable.”
Gragson is winless with one top-5 finish in 39 starts. Gragson was excited for a second chance at a NASCAR career after his “like” of an insensitive meme of George Floyd ended his brief tenure at Legacy Motor Club. Gragson, who won 13 races in the Xfinity Series driving for JR Motorsports and was the 2022 championship runner-up, ran 21 Cup races with Legacy before his suspension.
“We’ve done a lot of self-reflecting and soul searching over the past handful of months and trying to become the best leader possible,” Gragson said. “I think that’s what in 20 years when I look back I feel like, man, if I was the best leader for my team and the best piece of the puzzle for my team and did the best job, I’ll be satisfied with myself.”
Aric Almirola and Harvick left at the end of last season. They were veteran leaders in the race shop and at the track, and their voices will be missed. But even a proven winner such as Harvick wasn’t immune to the troubles that plagued the Fords in 2023. He won 37 races and the 2014 title in his 10 seasons at SHR, including nine wins in 2020, but scuffled to six topfive finishes in his farewell season.
Much like Stewart ripped SHR, team owner Rick Hendrick didn’t hold back in 2019, saying “Last year sucked. I ain’t gonna do that no more.”
Harvick said it’s up to Berry, Briscoe, Gragson and Preece to see SHR through back into one of the elite teams in NASCAR.
“Hey, we need to rebuild this, and we need to refresh it with some young faces from the driver’s seat, and let’s build our group around this,” Harvick said. “With that, I think there’s probably other things that come with that process and where they go and where they’re at, I don’t think any of us will really know until they start the season.”