Denny Hamlin Bashes Tony Stewart’s Mishandling of SHR With 6-Word Admission

As per an article by Bob Pockrass, if not anything else, the Stewart-Haas Racing team is at least listening to offers to sell their charters. They haven’t renewed their Ford contract for the upcoming year yet, and they’ve even started sending out details to potential buyers about what snapping up a charter would entail.

While a few teams might be eyeing this opportunity, Denny Hamlin, after explicitly saying, “23XI is happy with their two teams currently,” has now shared his thoughts on Stewart-Haas Racing’s latest strategy. Plus, there’s a fresh scoop on the SHR’s charter sale, too.

Denny Hamlin thinks Tony Stewart and his crew should’ve had a chat with their team first

Charter sales and purchases aren’t anything new in NASCAR. But when a big-name team like Stewart-Haas Racing considers downsizing, it really grabs attention. Stewart-Haas has been navigating some choppy waters since Kevin Harvick and Aric Almirola hung up their helmets last off-season, which also meant waving goodbye to a hefty chunk of sponsorship dollars from heavy-hitters like Anheuser-Busch, Smithfield Foods, and Hunt Brothers Pizza.

Nowadays, Josh Berry’s in the #4, Noah Gragson’s handling the #10, Chase Briscoe’s steering the #14, and Ryan Preece is at the helm of the #41. After a lackluster 2023, the pressure was on them to step it up this season. Although they are doing alright, none have clinched any wins yet. With all the financial strain, selling a charter might be SHR’s best way out. But Denny Hamlin reckons the team could’ve managed the situation better.

On his Actions Detrimental podcast, co-host Jaren Allen asked Hamlin about the charter situation in SHR and Briscoe’s comment about “uncertainty” and how “no one knows what’s going on.” The Joe Gibbs Racing driver said, “Certainly there’s tons of rumors out there about what’s going on. I can’t speak to any of them for sure. But it seems like there’s going to be some movement around… Surely we’ll know something soon. No one at SHR management or ownership wants you know this cloud hanging over them for the entire season.”

However, when Allen probed a bit more to find out if it’s typical for drivers and the team to be out of the loop on such matters, the #11 driver said, “I mean, speculation always happens. It’s just different because this is an entire race team that we’re talking about… But the answer is no! I haven’t seen anything like this. But you know there’s some sensitivities likely around it to where they can’t say anything yet, right?”

Such rumors can be detrimental to a team if their drivers aren’t kept in the loop. As a result, every time they go out on track, at least one – if not all – of them would feel like their seat could be gone the next day. In fact, that’s precisely what Chase Briscoe told SiriusXM NASCAR. He said, “You just try to go out there and audition every week. Even if you are on a five-year deal. So I’m just trying to go out there every week and kinda control what I can control.” This is probably what led Allen to ask Hamlin his next question.

“If 23X1 was going through some major changes, would you privy Bubba [Wallace] or Tyler [Reddick] to that news [just so they’re aware]?” The 23XI co-owner affirmed, “Yeah, probably.” Likely hinting at how SHR is handling the situation, Hamlin added, “You don’t want to leave them in the dark.” However, he also justified why SHR may be keeping information from its drivers. “It might be because plans are fluid, and you don’t want to send anyone into panic mode when nothing will change.”

With Denny Hamlin’s comments, it sure feels like Tony Stewart should’ve been around more. And if not, he should at least keep his drivers in the loop for such major upcoming developments, even if it’s just to tell them they’re open to looking for seas in other teams. But that’s not all. It seems there’s been a bit of back and forth with the news recently. Apparently, a NASCAR insider has scooped up some fresh info on what’s really going down with the SHR team.

NASCAR insider dishes on the latest gossip surrounding the SHR charter sales

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During a recent episode of the Door Bumper Clear podcast, Brad Keselowski’s spotter let slip the freshest rumor swirling around Stewart-Haas Racing. He mentioned, “The latest rumor, the one that’s gained the most traction, is [Stewart-Haas Racing] selling two charters to [Front Row Motorsports], and their building, and basically, going away.”

After Denny Hamlin ruled out expanding his team, that left Trackhouse Racing, Legacy Motor Club, and possibly Front Row Motorsports in the mix. If the rumor holds, Front Row Motorsports would ramp up to a four-car team, and two other charters would hit the market. And that would mean Stewart-Haas Racing could vanish from the Cup Series – a real bummer for NASCAR fans since the team has been a fixture for the last decade.

Do you think this rumored move was necessary for Tony Stewart, or could they have just downsized to two charters and kept racing in the Cup Series?