DAYTONA BEACH, Fla.: Tony Stewart put his NASCAR staff on blast forward of the Daytona 500 and within the wake of a winless 2023 season: get to victory lane, dangle banners — or else.
Stewart-Haas Racing is in additional than a small stoop. SHR has been downright dismal.
The staff as soon as amongst NASCAR’s greatest hasn’t gained within the final 84 Cup races headed into Sunday’s Daytona 500. This season’s four-driver lineup, which incorporates holdovers Chase Briscoe and Ryan Preece and newcomers Josh Berry and Noah Gragson, have a mixed one profession Cup victory — Briscoe gained in 2022 at Phoenix.
Stewart, so fiery as a driver he was nicknamed Smoke, had sufficient of the failures. The three-time Cup Series champion and NASCAR Hall of Fame driver mentioned the usual at SHR — the place Stewart and up to date retiree Kevin Harvick every gained championships — was set too excessive for the staff to now languish far outdoors title competition.
“We’re going to have get some races into it,” Stewart mentioned 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 monitor led to different losses off it, with premier sponsors Anheuser-Busch and Smithfield leaving the staff. SHR’s take care of Ford ends after this season and negotiations may hinge on what number of checkered flags Berry, Briscoe, Gragson and Preece chase.
The 4 drivers have heard the criticism — already harsh from followers and the media — however it hits more durable when it comes from Stewart.
“We hear everybody, we hear you guys, we’re not just ignoring it,” Preece mentioned. “And as you heard Tony say, mediocrity isn’t acceptable.”
Aric Almirola and Harvick each left on the finish of final season. They had been veteran leaders within the race store and on the monitor, and their voices can be missed. But even a confirmed winner similar to Harvick wasn’t resistant to the troubles that plagued the Fords in 2023. He gained 37 races and the 2014 title in his 10 seasons at SHR, together with 9 wins in 2020, however scuffled to only six top-five finishes in his farewell season.
Now a Fox Sports broadcaster, Harvick in contrast SHR’s present station to 1 Hendrick Motorsports endured in 2018 when Jimmie Johnson, William Byron and Alex Bowman all went winless and Chase Elliott gained 3 times. Johnson was a veteran on the backend of his full-time profession whereas Byron, Bowman and Elliott had been younger and inexperienced. It was a rebuilding effort that adopted the retirements of Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Jeff Gordon.
Much like Stewart ripped SHR, staff proprietor Rick Hendrick didn’t maintain again in 2019, saying “Last year sucked. I ain’t gonna do that no more.”
Harvick mentioned it’s as much as Berry, Briscoe, Gragson and Preece to see SHR by way of again into one of many elite groups 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 mentioned. “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 and you start to see what the strengths and weakness of what they have.”
Here are the SHR drivers on sizzling seats:
— Josh Berry, 33, No. 4 Ford.
Berry did win 5 profession races within the second-tier Xfinity Series however is winless in 12 profession Cup begins. Berry spent final season in its place driver within the Cup Series. He made begins for each Chase Elliott and Alex Bowman at Hendrick and for Gragson at Legacy Motor Club.
“Tony has been a great leader and had a lot of success in this sport. I can completely understand why he would say that he wants us to perform better,” Berry mentioned. “That’s naturally as an owner what he’s expected to do and that’s what we expect of ourselves. I don’t think any of us, I didn’t walk into this deal expecting everybody to pat me on the back and tell me how easy it’s going to be and how nice they’re going to be to me. I knew it’s going to be hard. I know I’m going to have to work at this. I know we’re going to have to perform.”
— Chase Briscoe, 29, No. 14 Ford.
Briscoe has only one win in 108 profession Cup begins. He has essentially the most begins among the many 4 SHR drivers and may very well be feeling essentially the most warmth because the longest-tenured driver to begin racing for a championship. Briscoe was thirtieth within the standings final 12 months.
— Noah Gragson, 25, No. 10 Ford.
Gragson is winless with only one top-five end in 39 profession begins. Gragson was excited for a second probability at a NASCAR profession after his “like” of an insensitive meme of George Floyd led to finish of his transient tenure at Legacy Motor Club. Gragson, who gained 13 races within the Xfinity Series driving for JR Motorsports and was the 2022 championship runner-up, ran 21 races in Cup with Legacy earlier than 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 mentioned. “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.”
— Ryan Preece, 33, No. 41 Ford
Preece was simply as underwhelming in his first season at SHR as he was in his earlier cease with JTG Daugherty Racing. He’s winless in 151 profession races and had simply two top-10 finishes final season.
“Preece has the personality that he’s going to speak up and voice his opinion on what things are,” Harvick mentioned. “Ryan’s not going to be shy about speaking his mind and that’s what it’s going to take to be the leader.”
Maybe Preece can study a factor or two about methods to converse out from his fed-up boss.
“We had two miserable years in a row,” Stewart mentioned. “I’m tired of taking the blame from everybody on why the cars aren’t running good. I think the fans need a reality check and a reminder that I’m not the crew chief, I’m not the engineer, I don’t dictate the setups on the cars. I give these guys the tools to do the job and we just haven’t got it done the last couple years.”
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AP Auto Racing Writer Jenna Fryer contributed.
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AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing
(This story has not been edited by News18 workers and is revealed from a syndicated information company feed – Associated Press)
