Tony Stewart’s Thumping Message Echoes Through Stewart Haas Racing: “Working Hard to Get Better”

Tony Stewart made it clear over the offseason that his team was one to watch out for in the 2024 season. He expressed his staunch confidence in his new line-up of drivers and ruled that they were capable of taking Stewart-Haas Racing back to the top where it belonged. A mere number of days before his confidence gets a verdict, the men behind the wheels appear to be firing up their engines with perfect synchronization.

Though Josh Berry and Noah Gragson are newcomers to the team’s HQ at Kannapolis, they have already made some strong bonds with the others. Chase Briscoe says of him and Berry, “Noah keeps it funny for sure. And even Josh, which has been really interesting because I didn’t know him well at all, but he has been super easy to get to know. I’m really excited to race with these guys.”

Stewart’s confidence in the four drivers knew no bounds when he said earlier this month, “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.” Briscoe, as the hand with the most experience at SHR, believes the same.

He mentions that their cars did need to get better, but at the same time, their culture and fundamentals did too.

In efforts toward creating a better culture, the team has redesigned its logo and painted its shops in newer colors. Berry sums up the efforts and the synergy, “We have been spending a lot of time with each other as part of creating this new direction with Stewart Haas… I think, for us, I feel really good about our group. Everyone is really motivated right now. They’re working hard to get better.”

Tony Stewart reiterates reality and the confidence in his drivers

For the first time in many years, Stewart-Haas Racing isn’t the big fish in the sea anymore. Stewart is only too well aware of this. In his recent address to all the SHR employees, he made sure that they were too.

He said, “We’re looking up the hill. We’re not at the top of the hill looking down anymore, we’re at the bottom of the hill looking up, and this is the group of people that can get us where we need to be.”

Smoke added further ammo to his already tall promises about the caliber of his drivers and added, “I’m excited about what we have on tap. I think we got a group of drivers that, for the first time, all truly want to work together to make each other better.” 

So heading into the coming season, it’s only natural that fans will have to wait to see how well the four drivers function together on the track, but the unity they’ve found is certainly a start.