Double Trouble for Tony Stewart at Atlanta as NASCAR Penalises Cup Series Prodigy

Coming off a dismal 2023 season where all of its four drivers failed to deliver the output, the #10 Stewart-Haas Racing car was the top-finishing Ford in Daytona, even edging out 2021 Cup Series champion Kyle Larson to the 11th spot. While the Team Penske Fords showed speed and pace, they were nowhere near the top 10, and Tony Stewart’s drivers were the only ones that got the manufacturer inside the top 10, finishing P9 and P10 at the 200-lap high-speed marathon in Atlanta.

Cup Series sensation and young talent Noah Gragson was the one who saved the all-American manufacturer’s skin, coming home with a well-placed P9 finish just ahead of his teammate, Chase Briscoe. However, as we get past Daytona and head to Atlanta, bad luck has struck Stewart‘s team again, similar to 2023’s early penalty spree that rocked the team.

A confiscation of parts from #10 and #41 landed Tony Stewart and Co. in trouble

Stewart-Haas Racing was also hit with an L3 level penalty last year on the #14 team for a counterfeit part found in late May. The team was docked 120 points (driver and owner) and 25 playoff points. Consequently, Briscoe failed to win a race or make the postseason, finishing 30th in the championship standings.

Hoping for a massive turnaround, SHR and its drivers had high hopes coming into 2024, but as it turns out, the team has been hit again with a possible penalty that reminded the team of Chase Briscoe’s hefty punishment that took away his playoff chances. A pair of Stewart-Haas Racing Fords in the Cup Series had parts confiscated for further evaluation during a pre-race inspection on Friday evening at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

As per Jordan Bianchi’s latest tweet, the sanctioning body confiscated the roof rail deflectors from the #10 and #41 cars of team Tony Stewart. These are the cars driven by Noah Gragson and Ryan Preece, and both teams will have replaced the parts for the rest of the weekend. NASCAR will continue to inspect the parts, and any penalties will be announced next week.

Neither team has been penalized till now, but no details regarding the confiscation were revealed as to why NASCAR took away the parts.

However, Noah Gragson started strong with a top-10 finish at Daytona

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It was a successful start to Noah Gragson’s tenure with Stewart-Haas Racing on Monday night at the 2.5-mile Daytona International Speedway. The 25-year-old driver led five laps in the event and came home with a solid ninth-place finish in the 66th annual Daytona 500.

While the defending champion, Ryan Blaney, and his teammates, found themselves at the wrong end with all three Penske cars getting involved in the “Big One,” Gragson managed to hold on and weather the storm to bring the team a commendable top finish along with his #14 teammate, Briscoe.

In his post-race interview with Racing America, the #10 driver of Tony Stewart and Co. said, “It was good. I thought all of the Stewart-Haas Racing Fords worked really well together. The Fords had speed all day.” Starting from the back of the pack due to the qualifying session wreck, Gragson spent no time lagging behind, cutting through the pack as he asserted himself as the leader of the race on Lap 56.

READ MORE: Noah Gragson Aspiring to Emerge as a “Leader” at Struggling SHR After Kevin Harvick’s Exit

He even lauded the race winner William Byron and his boss, Mr. H, for their massive success while mentioning his mindset: “Congrats to William [Byron], and Mr. Hendrick. But we’re going to keep working, keep on trying to be better.” While Gragson and the team Tony Stewart were looking forward to a good Atlanta start, it’ll be interesting to know what made the two potential cars seize ahead of the race.