Stewart-Haas Racing’s 2023 season is quickly becoming a living nightmare. 4x Cup champion and team owner Tony Stewart is possibly experiencing the worst year of his team’s career. The previously victorious team has somehow become the worst-performing Ford collaborator. 

Furthermore, Stewart’s team has also suffered through life-threatening collisions and severe penalties. Stewart’s distress was only exacerbated after this weekend’s Xfinity race at the Kansas Speedway.

Playoff hopes crushed for the #98 Xfinity driver for Tony Stewart

Riley Herbst was looking forward to the Kansas Lottery 300. With five Top 5 and eleven Top 10 finishes, the #98 Ford driver had reached the 10th spot in standings before the race in Darlington. Herbst needed another solid performance to confirm his position and qualify for the Xfinity Series playoffs.

Unfortunately, Stewart-Haas Racing’s dicey luck caught up with him on this crucial day. On a lap 65 restart, Herbst had an altercation with another playoff contender, Parker Kligerman. With a single-point difference between them, they were both fighting for the same playoff spot. Kligerman’s #48 Chevrolet had an issue with its gears and Herbst chose that moment to turn inside. The contact cut the Ford’s tire and damaged the front bender. 

In the post-race interview, Wyatt Watson of Frontstretch asked Herbst about the incident.

He replied, “Yeah, I have to go watch that restart, I don’t know. The 48 missed the shift or just spun the tires. And I think I was pushing the 21 [of Austin Hill]. I have to go back and look, but he went up to avoid it…I was already wide open at that point. He was still spinning the tires or still trying to get in gear and I hit him with my right front. Tore the whole right front fender off, cut the tire. From then on, it was over.”

Watch this story: Tony Stewart’s Team Under Scrutiny After Disappointing Regular Season with Ford

There was no coming back from a flat tire on Lap 137 and he eventually finished 23rd. Now that Riley Herbst has lost his playoff berth, he reflected on the entire year’s misfortunes plaguing Stewart-Haas Racing.

Stewart-Haas Racing driver thinks the team’s issues began much before Kansas

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Riley Herbst had a promising start at Daytona with a 6th place finish. The first quarter of the year witnessed consistent performances. Before Tony Stewart could heave a sigh of relief, things deteriorated. Halfway through the year, the #98 crew changed. Herbst also brought up a string of mechanical failures.

The recent Wawa 250 race was a prime example of the team’s catastrophic run. The Ford was damaged by a reverse screw resulting in a loss of laps and a 24th-place finish. That was still more forgivable than not finishing at all at Watkins Glen because of issues with transmission. Herbst admitted that his own performance was also at fault, but the team’s technical consistency could have changed the fate of several races.

He lamented, “I mean it doesn’t just start today. We had a crew shift change before Nashville, had a bunch of mechanical failures. I shot myself in the foot a few races so it’s here or there. And it’s just all adding up and it didn’t make it.”

However, Riley Herbst ended the interview on a more upbeat note. At the end he said, “But it’s not the end of the world, it’s the Xfinity Series playoffs. It’ll be okay.” 

Hopefully, Tony Stewart would share his sentiments as he looks expectantly at the Cup Series and his final playoff hopes of the year.

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