NASCAR Veteran Exposes Ford’s Dead Ringer Status at Tony Stewart’s Expense

NASCAR great Tony Stewart and his team Stewart-Haas Racing have had a tough time as the Cup Series action is changing gears heading into the playoff rounds. Despite fielding 4 full-time drivers this year, wins have eluded the Ford team, and it is high time that the 4x Cup champion takes charge to get things rolling for his team and its ardent fans.

Speaking on the latest NASCAR on NBC podcast, a NASCAR veteran and NBC analyst dove deep as he speculated on SHR drivers’ chances. While NASCAR has leveled the playing field to some extent for teams and drivers with the introduction of the Next Gen cars, the analyst believes it is not just the equipment’s fault that Stewart‘s team is lagging.

Kyle Petty lets us in on Tony Stewart’s real problem at SHR

There’s no question that Stewart-Haas Racing’s 2023 campaign has been a bummer. Despite being a potent team fielding 4 Ford cars, Tony Stewart and SHR didn’t see a win. Even the veteran, 2014 Cup Series champion Kevin Harvick, couldn’t rack up a win, though he made it into the playoffs quite comfortably.

To make matters worse, it was only Harvick who managed to make his way into the playoffs; whereas his teammates couldn’t emulate the 47-year-old’s consistency. Though the veteran managed 6 top-5 finishes on the way to the playoffs, others simply fell behind as they succumbed to the playoff pressure.

On the other side, things are drastically different at a fellow Ford camp. Unlike SHR, RFK Racing has seen a resurgence lately, with 3 stellar wins in 5 weeks. Ever since Brad Keselowski took charge of day-to-day and macro-level operations, they have been making major strides while SHR is still trying to figure out its vulnerabilities.

Mentioning how NASCAR has leveled the playing field, Petty believes it’s not just the cars that are at fault here. He said, “Yeah, you got to switch decals that’s what you got to switch and basically that’s it. Basically, when you start walking around these cars and looking at them if they were all just Black, you’d be hard-pressed to tell the Fords, from Chevys, from the Toyotas and you can’t. Don’t get me wrong.” 

Moreover, the new Next Gen platform now prompts the teams to switch sides according to their preference if they intend to.

The veteran then went on to prove his point, mentioning how time is not a constraint anymore, saying, “You’re just switching front and rear faces and some decals and that’s about it. So yeah and the fascinating part too is to that like, you say they are willing to make that announcement and go down that road months if not years.” 

WATCH THIS STORY: Tony Stewart’s team under scrutiny after disappointing regular season with Ford 

Making things worse was Ryan Preece’s Daytona outing. While the #41 driver was eyeing a decisive win to make the playoffs, things went off the rails for the worse as Stewart’s driver was thrown into the air in the closing laps of the race.

Petty mentions “culture shift” as a major factor differentiating SHR and RFK Racing

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Ever since Keselowski got into the team at RFK Racing, the community has seen a resurgence of the RFK Fords. While Petty believes the changes were implemented before the veteran acquired the stocks, Keselowski certainly was a catalyst that sped up the process.

Unlike their bigger counterparts like Team Penske and SHR, RFK Racing, with much fewer resources, has had a resounding effect on its 2 cars. Another fascinating aspect to prove this point is that both the RFK cars have made it into the playoffs, whereas it is much different in the other two camps. This one aspect prompted Petty to say, “They’re doing it with 3rd to half the money, that is impressive.” 

While the veteran, Petty, is excited to witness the return of the Fords, he credited the culture at RFK and FRM as the driving factor.

Taking the case of Michael McDowell at Front Row Motorsports, he said, “They believe in Brad, Brad believes in Chris Buescher, he has believed in Chris Buescher from the very beginning and that goes a long way and they believe in Michael McDowell over at Front Row(Motorsports) and all those guys believe in each other and that’s it, its a little bit different culture.”

READ MORE: Animated Denny Hamlin Reacts to Tony Stewart’s “Crash Test Dummy’s” Second Escape From Next-Gen Death Trap

Where things are slightly too sterile, as per the veteran who said that the culture in these bigger teams is a bit old-school. Moreover, as a unit, Keselowski’s RFK Racing and FRM are more sturdy and rigid compared to SHR and Penske, with each teammate doing their best.

But with this alarming trend on the rise, Stewart certainly needs a rejig to make strides in order to keep his ship from sinking.