Kevin Harvick’s departure from Stewart-Haas Racing at the end of 2023 left the NASCAR community feeling quite emotional. But the #4 driver’s retirement has proven to be more problematic for Stewart-Haas Racing than they would have anticipated. Throughout the season, if people were to go by Kevin Harvick’s performances, they would believe Stewart-Haas Racing was doing well as a whole, right?

That was certainly not the case. Barring Harvick’s efforts to carry the team to the playoffs, Aric Almirola and Chase Briscoe failed to add to that list, largely due to the Ford Mustang’s drawbacks with the SHR setup. But not all is doom and gloom after a leader from Stewart-Haas Racing acknowledged the team’s woeful performance, promising a redemption arc as soon as the 2024 season gets underway. But will it be enough to return to their former glory?

Tony Stewart and Co. embark on a journey of redemption after dismal season

When the season kicked off, Ford was shaping up to be the ones to beat after Joey Logano and Aric Almirola took the Mustang to Victory Lane at the Bluegreen Vacations Duel 1 and 2 at Daytona respectively. But upon arrival at the Daytona 500, only Logano maintained the early form in the Ford while Almirola would retire from the race. While Kevin Harvick managed a few top-tens in the coming races, it was clear that Chevrolet was in a league of its own.

However, this reality was well-known behind the scenes at Stewart-Haas Racing as their crew chief, Drew Blickensderfer pointed out on SiriusXM’s NASCAR Radio a few days ago. The crew chief was clear that the team knew there had to be major changes made to the car beneath their drivers so they could reach their maximum potential. He added, “We think all of our race car drivers can win races and drive race cars really well. But we didn’t have race cars last year that Kevin Harvick could win in, and that as a company we need to fix.”

Only Kevin Harvick was capable enough to deliver competent results in the Stewart-Haas Racing challenger. While Almirola had a mediocre season, Chase Briscoe was plagued with major inconsistencies throughout. This inconsistency in reliability was the ultimate downfall of Stewart-Haas Racing’s Ford, while other Mustangs fared relatively better. Blickensderfer further reflected, “Well, we needed to be better all year round as a group, and especially at Stewart-Haas, we are not competing at the level of the other Fords or teams our size that we need to be so, improve our race cars, which we have done slightly.”

Blickensderfer also felt the team needed to take inspiration from Rick Hendrick’s turnaround with Chase Elliott and William Byron over the past few years. SHR will face a similar scenario next year as their lineup consists of mostly inexperienced Cup Series racers.

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Noah Gragson is looking forward to making the best of his second shot and also hopes Chase Briscoe will be of great help. On the other hand, Josh Berry and Ryan Preece also have limited Cup Series experience. But can SHR’s most experienced driver currently save the day?

Will Chase Briscoe have a breakthrough year as SHR’s most experienced driver?

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Chase Briscoe’s worst nightmare turned into reality after a heavy fine was imposed on the #14 team after the car had been found to house a counterfeit duct in the engine bay. This led to the loss of 120 Cup Series points and 25 play-off points along with a $250,000 fine. This meant Briscoe would have to work additionally harder to make it to the postseason.

The penalty was just salt on Briscoe’s wounds, as SHR’s setup that day was down-right woeful throughout the weekend. While he started the race in the middle of the pack, he was quickly left behind in 30th. The remainder of his season would also unfold similarly, ending with only four top-five finishes and a 20.3 average finishing position. The fact the #14 driver finished as the third lowest full-time racer in the 30th was the ultimate failure for SHR in 2023.

However, the team will now want to maximize their support to Chase Briscoe, who stands as their strongest hope for a better season with visits to Victory Lane. Noah Gragson, Josh Berry, and Ryan Preece will all expect Briscoe to take the lead and help Blickensderfer and the crew bring Stewart-Haas Racing out of its involuntary slumber.

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With Harvick and Almirola out of the picture, can Stewart-Haas Racing achieve glory with Chase Briscoe leading the charge? Or will the team have yet another dismal season?