Fans Speculate Worst Outcome After SHR Driver’s Exclusion From Backdoor Meet

Is Stewart-Haas Racing considering the sale of its charters ahead of the 2025 campaign? Well, there have been multiple reports and rumors that have ignited the fire about the huge change in the SHR camp. While the SHR camp had managed to keep their plans under wraps, it seems like the cookie is finally starting to crumble.

Ryan Preece, the driver of the #41 car, was excluded from the group study session that was led by Noah Gragson. Out of all four SHR cars, Gragson’s #10 Mustang has been pretty consistent with the results. The 25-year-old revealed that he has been studying with Josh Berry and Chase Briscoe, learning from the data and preparing for the races.

This indeed is concerning if you are a Ryan Preece fan, because, looking at the situation at SHR, such an omission could lead to dire consequences. After Tobby Christie shared the information via his X account, Preece, who was caught off-guard, replied, “Study group that I wasn’t aware of 🤷🏻‍♂️”

Given that Gragson, Berry, and Briscoe have shown good progress in the season, it is hard to negate the fact that there could be something big at play inside the team. Moreover, the rumors about SHR looking to downsize their operations in 2025 further fueled the speculation fire. Many fans online even started to put the puzzle together, signaling that Preece might find himself on the bitter end of the stick.

Fans react to Ryan Preece being left out of SHR group study sessions

Stewart-Haas Racing will be out of contract with Ford at the end of the 2024 season. Moreover, the stalled charter negotiation hasn’t helped the team’s cause to secure the future of all four of its teams. Therefore, after the news broke about Preece already being singled out by his teammate, fans were quick to point out the obvious outcome. “Your charter get sold bro”.

The rumors have suggested that SHR might be forced into selling multiple charters, hinting at two departures from the organization. “If they contract to two cars like rumored, who’s the other odd man out?” Well, there’s always an option for the drivers to take on the #21 car at Wood Brothers Racing, so the sale of multiple cards could be a potential move for SHR.

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If you, as a team owner, are in a situation to pick between Gragson and Preece, the latter gets the boot, simply in terms of results. Gragson has already scored four top 10s this season, while Preece just has a single positive result to his name. And a fan was quick to point this out with his comment, “Ya’ll…Noah Gragson has as many top tens this season as Preece has had his entire tenture at SHR so far. That’s all I’m gonna say”.

Another fan also made a point about how good Gragson’s season could be without the 35-point penalty. He further compared his run with that of his fellow SHR drivers. “Where would Gragson be if it weren’t for the penalty? I’m not sure if he’d be 12th but I think they’re a lot closer in performance than points tell”.

We’ve often heard that “when there is smoke, there is fire,” and this is very much the case with the uncertain future regarding Stewart-Haas Racing in NASCAR. A lot can change for a race driver in just a span of a few good races, but it’s hard to see Preece pulling off a win or consistent results. And if the rumors are true, he is definitely in the hot seat.