It is not news that Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR) has consistently hit below its weight over these last few years. The effects of the underperformance have gone so extreme that the team’s top brass are reportedly planning to sell multiple charters and focus solely on their Xfinity operations from 2025. The pressure that the moment has built could, inversely, be helping the team’s drivers perform better.
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Racing icon Kevin Harvick discussed the gray clouds surrounding SHR on his podcast recently. He believes that the noteworthy performances from Noah Gragson, Chase Briscoe, and Josh Berry of late could be stemming from the fear of losing a seat next year. Briscoe and Berry both finished inside the top-5 in the latest Cup Series race in Darlington. Gragson holds three top-10s in the last four races.
Harvick’s words went, “There’s definitely something that flipped the switches in the Fords. They are all racing for their job. They are all racing to keep a job, get a job. I think this whole silly season is going to be pretty wild.” Moreover, watching Briscoe talk publicly about the anxious mood in his camp has portrayed the intentions of SHR’s suits pretty clearly to him.
He continued, “There are going to be guys without jobs. I think they know that. They’re auditioning and they’re all definitely thinking about it because Chase Briscoe is publicly talking about it.” Briscoe, on a recent appearance on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, had spoken about how his peers and himself were clueless about the future of their team.
Chase Briscoe’s interview revealed the anxiousness inside SHR
On Tuesday, the 29-year-old’s voice aired on the radio claiming that neither he nor his peers had an idea about who amongst them could be dropped if SHR was indeed selling charters. He did not know if charters were being sold in the first place. Thoughts running chaotic in his mind, he said, “There’s a lot of uncertainty. Nobody really knows what is going on. I certainly don’t know what’s going on.”
Despite the lack of positive light, Briscoe is certain that he has proven himself enough to warrant being held back if the team remains a force in the Cup Series. Nervousness is an undesirable side-effect when multiple such rumors are floating around a race team. But, judging from Briscoe’s and Harvick’s words, the four drivers know better than to wallow in the possible fate of the team.
