The four-car Ford group went winless last season and saw 2 of its veteran motorists– Kevin Harvick and Aric Almirola — retire from full-time competitors in the offseason.
SHR included 2 unskilled chauffeurs to its lineup in Noah Gragson and Josh Berrywhile Chase Briscoe and Ryan Preece returned in the Nos. 14 and 41 groups, respectively.
With a set of unforeseeable preparing tracks in Daytona and Atlanta opening the 2024 schedule, Sunday’s race at Las Vegas and the following week at Phoenix need to provide an excellent gauge what groups have this season.
The 36-race schedule is controlled by intermediate tracks like Las Vegas and tracks making use of the short-track/road course aero bundle which will debut at Phoenix.
“Yeah, certainly Vegas is our very first real test of where we accumulate,” stated Gragson, a Las Vegas local who drives SHR’s No. 10 Ford. “A bulk of the schedule is mile-and-a-halves, brief tracks, you’ve got Vegas and Phoenix, those 2 particularly.
“But Vegas will be our very first test regarding where we’re at as a business, speed-wise.”
Noah Gragson, Stewart Haas Racing, Black Rifle Coffee/ Ranger Boats Ford Mustang
Image by: Rusty Jarrett/ NKP/ Motorsport Images
Considering that Tony Stewart signed up with as a co-owner in 2009, SHR has actually won a set of Cup Series titles (2011 and 2014) and gathered 69 wins.
The company has actually had a hard time the last couple years, with just Harvick advancing to the playoffs in 2015 while his 3 colleagues all ended up outside the leading 20 in the series standings.
With an increase of brand-new motorists and Ford’s intro of its “Dark Horse” Mustang body, the next 2 weeks might well signify whether SHR is back on the ideal track.
“Vegas is going to be where you lastly determine, not just as a producer however definitely as a race group, where you’re going to accumulate for the next number of months and where you’ve got to improve,” stated Briscoe.
“I would state Vegas is definitely the