After replacing Aric Almirola in the #10 Ford for Stewart-Haas Racing during the off-season, Noah Gragson told Forbes, “I want to get started on 2024 and go racing as soon as I can.” That desire was duly fulfilled in 2024 following a tumultuous rookie season at Legacy Motor Club riddled with concussions, a fistfight with Ross Chastain, and a controversial suspension that left Gragson searching for another premier-tier seat only 22 weekends into his first full-time year. That is until Tony Stewart and Gene Haas stepped in.

They decided to bring the budding Xfinity prospect into the folds of Stewart-Haas Racing last December. And the rest, as they say, could have been history if not for the heartbreaking news of SHR’s total foreclosure at the end of the 2024 season. This leaves Gragson stranded for the second time in just as many years. However, his narrative barely aligns with the ones painting Stewart and Haas as the newest villains of this rollercoaster ‘Noah Gragson story.’ Instead, the #10 driver appears to harbor nothing but respect for the man who took a chance on him when all else seemed said and done.

Despite being forced to start over in 2025, Noah Gragson defends Tony Stewart

In 2023, driving 21 points-paying races for the newly-formed Legacy Motor Club, Noah Gragson recorded a best finish of P12 at Atlanta. In the following weeks, discussions erupted regarding a distasteful social media post that Gragson had liked, leading to some horrific consequences. To cut things short, NASCAR issued an indefinite suspension, which they later revoked, and a dejected Gragson asked his now-former team to release him from the agreed-upon contract.

Only a few months later, Stewart-Haas Racing, eager to fill in some gigantic seats left empty by the departures of Kevin Harvick and Aric Almirola, signed Gragson to claim the #10 seat on a multi-year contract. However, all hell would break loose in the next few months for Tony Stewart and Gene Haas’ two-time championship-winning race team. In a recent interview via Frontretch, Noah Gragson explained his mindset of having to “start over again in 2025.”

He iterated, “It’s definitely challenging. It definitely throws a wrench into what we thought in January. But, you know, I’ve been through my fair share of adversity and challenges in life. And that being said, it’s just another step in the process.” Defending his soon-to-be-former team owner and all the backlash he has faced in recent times, Gragson paid a heartwarming tribute. 

“I told Tony [Stewart], ‘I’m extremely grateful and thankful for you taking a chance on me and giving me an opportunity to reinvent myself, reprove myself, and if it weren’t for you, I wouldn’t be in this position, looking for opportunities.’ So, I wouldn’t say there’s much bitterness from me personally. I’m extremely grateful that Stewart-Haas gave me an opportunity to go out there.” said Noah Gragson about Tony Stewart and SHR.

This clears up a lot of the dirty air surrounding allegations of Tony Stewart’s complete dissociation from the organization due to his other ventures beyond NASCAR, like his NHRA drag racing team with his wife, Leah Pruett. Coupled with the faltering health of Gene Haas through the past year, whispers have certainly been cruel when discussing the owners’ absence and lack of leadership at Stewart-Haas.

Regardless, Gragson also informed fans of his active involvement and uncertainties stemming within SHR in its penultimate year as a ‘four-chartered’ organization gracing NASCAR’s premier division, stating, “So we are looking for an opportunity to go up and win races in the Cup series next year and where that home will be, I’m not sure yet. All I know I can do it is stick to the fundamentals of things. Keep focusing on what I can control. And that’s myself, my emotions, my race team, and going out there and trying to compete every single week.”

Noah Gragson’s resurgence had been one of the most interesting topics of discussion this season, leading up to Stewart-Haas’ not-completely-unexpected firesale. Barring his 4 top-10 finishes in the last 14 races of the 2024 season, Gragson racked up his best-ever career finish in the Cup Series with a P3 at Talladega in April.

Now, with the Enjoy Illinois 300 Cup Series race emerging as the SHR stable’s first race in an unfulfilling season following all the recent heartbreaking developments, the odds seem to be stacked against Chase Briscoe, Noah Gragson, Josh Berry, and Ryan Preece at WWT Raceway.

More questions linger at Madison

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Among all Stewart-Haas Racing drivers, Chase Briscoe currently holds the highest position in the points table, sitting at 16th. However, this places him as a long shot for achieving overall playoff glory, as the driver two spots below him, Daniel Suarez, has already claimed a race win at Atlanta. Realistically, either of the other three drivers – Berry, Gragson, or Preece – would have to win at least 2 of the 11 remaining races to qualify for the playoffs, starting at Gateway this Sunday.

As it happens, all SHR drivers qualified at spots below P20 to roll off the grid for the Enjoy Illinois 300, with Briscoe yet again claiming the top spot at P23. Gragson, Berry, and Preece follow behind, respectively, at P27, P29, and P32.

Additionally, SHR’s Xfinity wing, comprised of Cole Custer and Riley Herbst, doesn’t seem to be doing too well either, considering both drivers are still winless this season. This is especially intriguing as Custer is the current reigning Xfinity Series champion who claimed three wins last year, and Riley Herbst won his series-first victory only last season at Gragson’s hometown of Las Vegas.

Surely, these fortunes don’t suit any of those 6 drivers or 300 reported personnel inside SHR too well in the grand scheme of things awaiting the 2025 season. Nevertheless, Tony Stewart can rest easy knowing he still holds the admiration of at least one of his drivers. But will Noah Gragson finally find a way to crack his first-ever notch in the 2024 wins column aboard a sinking ship? The answer remains elusive as we head to Madison, IL, this Sunday.