2024 is yet another test for Stewart-Haas Racing. The Tony Stewart-owned team has struggled to replicate their best form in the past few seasons, and if things stay the same in the upcoming season, it could be another year of misery. With veteran and legend Kevin Harvick departing from SHR alongside No.10 Aric Almirola, the pillars of experience have been lost. However, in a recent post on Twitter, Tony Stewart and Co. have felt the need to remind the world of the team’s stature.

Yesterday, the team’s official Twitter handle tweeted a friendly reminder that conveyed, “Who is SHR?”.Using the post as motivation for another insightful video, popular NASCAR Youtuber Eric Estepp dived deeper into the team’s thoughts and what SHR meant to indicate through the post. Estepp believes that SHR’s higher-ups want to instill motivation and ambition for the future, but despite that, the changes for 2024 have yet to be encouraging.

Eric Estepp criticizes SHR, calls 2023 a “bad year” for the team

Looking at how Stewart-Haas Racing has performed, it wouldn’t be surprising if they have lost some fans. What’s more surprising is that the barren run has continued for a while now. Tony Stewart has experimented with different combinations of equipment, drivers, and crew members, but the results still need to be included.

“SHR calls out the doubters in that post who doubt us don’t really know us,” continued Estepp. “I don’t think I’ve been critical or overly critical in recent months, but I’m skeptical. I’ll use that right now. I am a doubter right now to use SHR’s language.”

Josh Berry and Noah Gragson’s addition to the team shows promise and intent. However, both are relatively new to the Cup Series experience, and when compared to the long-lasting careers of Harvick and Almirola, they fall pale in comparison. According to Estepp, this is not a positive change either. The driver’s roster changes are a loss for the team. On the same note, he added that with Ford boosting its team’s firepower with the Mustang Darkhorse, SHR might be waiting for redemption through that.

“Stewart Haas Racing just had a bad year by their standards, and I can’t name one positive they’ve made for 2024, not one. It feels like they are banking on the new Mustang Darkhorse to solve a lot of their problems.”

Surprisingly, Stewart-Haas Racing was also the last team to receive the Mustang Darkhorse cars, despite its alarming need. The situation is not just one of the facets going wrong; it is a combination of errors that have amounted to the problems for 2024. Further in the video, Estepp also addressed how SHR has missed the target and is relying on its successful history instead of improving immediately.

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Estepp believes Tony Stewart and Co. need results ahead of everything

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In the posts that followed SHR’s theme of its racing DNA, they described the team as a representation of real and raw drivers who are as they are. Since the merger with Tony Stewart, the team has received a breath of aggression into it. Adding Kevin Harvick fuelled the passion on the track back in the mid-2010s. However, in the current scenario, Tony Stewart is set to be a full-time Top Fuel driver in 2024, and Kevin Harvick has retired.

The No.4 and No.10 replacements have been Josh Berry and Noah Gragson. While they boast a certain racing prowess, the boots are too big to fill in a season. As per Estepp’s understanding of the SHR post, he said on a recent video on his YouTube channel:

“So basically, Stewart-Haas Racing’s New Year resolution is to be fast again. I actually like this post, and I like what they followed it up with. They followed it up by saying Stewart-Haas Racing is real and raw. Straightforward, no BS.”

Estepp also claimed that SHR is searching for the glory it once possessed. However, according to him, banking on the past can only provide some motivation to replicate it, but not the necessary tools for the results.

“SHR needs some juice, some edge. They need a mission statement that every employee sees when they first walk in that motivates them to do their very best. I can’t hate them for that, but ultimately, it’s important to remember that results matter more than anything.“

“The past is important; you can learn from the past, but you can’t expect the past to prop up the present. Sure, you have been a great team in the past, but not recently.”

Estepp’s statement is reasonable, considering how Tony Stewart’s team has underperformed in the past few seasons despite having a roster with a unique blend of experience and youth. The question that now remains is: Can SHR shrug off the woes from the past seasons in 2024?

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