NASCAR Rumors: Stewart-Haas Racing Wipeout on the Cards With Cup Rivals Knocking Comeback Star’s Doors

Since last year, Tony Stewart’s team fortunes seem to have taken a constant downturn. Veteran driver Kevin Harvick left a gaping hole in Stewart-Haas Racing, as he was the star driver winning 60 races. Additionally, a sponsor drought set in as major blue-chip brands left SHR. Stewart’s big-money deal with Ford expires this year, spelling a dramatic reduction in revenue.

These unfortunate circumstances strengthen the rumors that Tony Stewart may sell his team’s charters soon. However, this turn of events might turn out in favor of one of his drivers: Noah Gragson.

Tony Stewart’s stud is whipping up popularity

After Legacy Motor Club kicked out Noah Gragson for violating its code of conduct last year, the Cup rookie’s career hangs in the balance. But Tony Stewart had faith in his driving prowess, as Gragson had won 13 Xfinity races under JR Motorsports in 2019-2022. Sure enough, the 2024 season is already spelling wonders for him. So even if Stewart-Haas’ fortunes are spiraling, Gragson may have fresh opportunities opening up if the team sells its charters. 

In a recent episode of ‘Door, Bumper, Clear’, 23XI Racing’s spotter, Freddie Kraft, initially discussed who may grab those charters. “I think that they’re going to sell these two charters to Front Row now, whether or not Front Row runs both of those charters. Or at least one, as it’s going to be interesting. I think they get at least three full-time cars.”

This Tony Stewart-Front Row exchange will pave a fresh path for Noah Gragson. Holding four top-ten finishes and one podium finish this season, Gragson is wooing potential teams. Kraft laid out his views, echoing Dale Jr’s recent suspicions. “I hear a lot of teams are in on Noah Gragson right now, which is obviously understandable, great personality, and has a tide at Bass Pro…There are some surprising teams that you hear are talking about him.”

The teams vying for Noah Gragson’s talents are in the dark, though. However, we know that Tony Stewart’s emerging star has excellent help in his current No. 10 team.

Gragson’s crew chief is training him well

Earlier in his career, Noah Gragson drove for diverse teams, like his Cup debut team Beard Motorsports, Kaulig Racing, and Hendrick Motorsports. But this disjointed hopping between different teams is not as helpful as spending a full season with one team and one crew chief. So when Gragson took the wheel of the No. 10 Ford Mustang Dark Horse under Drew Blickensderfer, he knew glory days were coming.

Gragson outlined his improvement to NBC Sports recently. “I’ve been making a lot of steps with the help of (crew chief Drew Blickensderfer),” Gragson said. “Just personally as a driver, I’ve been making steps of growth just the past year, week in and week out. It seems like I learned something new, where I maybe hadn’t taken those steps in my Xfinity and Cup career.”

So Tony Stewart’s team is proving to be a good springboard for Noah Gragson as he enters the prime period of his racing career.