“Get the Job Done”: Despite Kevin Harvick Departure, Tony Stewart Adamant About Team’s NASCAR Prospects

Tony Stewart appears to be moving far up the optimism scale, standing less than a month away from the Busch Light Clash at the L.A. Coliseum. Though Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR) has replaced iconic drivers Kevin Harvick and Aric Almirola with relative newcomers, Stewart couldn’t be more pleased with his team’s line-up for the coming challenge.

He told the SHR media team, “The most badass thing about our current roster of drivers is they’re young, aggressive, and hungry. They want to make their mark on this sport.” His 2024 roster will include Chase Briscoe, Ryan Preece, Josh Berry, and Noah Gragson. Berry and Gragson have been brought in to replace Harvick and Almirola, respectively.

Stewart added, “They have passion. They have desire. They have drive. They have the skills to get the job done. So it’s a matter of putting the whole package together.” All four drivers will be piloting their own Ford Mustang Dark Horses in the new season.

The last few years did not quite meet the level of Tony Stewart’s expectations. In 2023, only Harvick made it into the postseason still in contention for the championship. Naturally, replacing Harvick will be a tall job to do for the newcomer, Josh Berry. But then again, Berry already has plenty of experience racing in late-models and the iconic crew chief Rodney Childers has expressed his faith in the driver multiple times.

Every driver, including Berry, has expressed their desire to pull Stewart-Haas Racing out of the slump that it is in right now. Hopefully, they will be able to give form to the trust that Tony Stewart has placed in them.

The Stewart-Haas Racing line-up prepares for ‘Next Kevin Harvick’ battle

Two drivers who will lead SHR in the coming season are Josh Berry and Chase Briscoe. Though it is Berry who will be driving the #4 car of Kevin Harvick, Briscoe has made it clear that he wanted himself and his #14 car to be the leaders of the line-up. Briscoe’s words were, “I wanna be the new Kevin Harvick at Stewart-Haas. I wanna be the guy that’s running up front week in and week out.”

Considering that Briscoe will be the one with the most experience on the roster, he will be a natural fit at the helm. But if Berry has got one thing to prove, it is that he is worthy of Kevin Harvick’s seat. Childers too has made it his goal to surround the driver with the best crew he can put together and signed long-term spotter Eddie D’Hondt as an effort towards that.

Whether it gets relief from the recent bad break or not, Stewart-Haas Racing is no doubt set for a dramatic 2024.