With Aric Almirola officially out of the 10 car for 2024 at Stewart-Haas Racing, the favorite to replace him surprises some. Noah Gragson has emerged as the favorite to land that ride, but what makes him the favorite to race at SHR in 2024?
It is late in the game in NASCAR silly season, and Gragson is likely the top free-agent driver available. Most of the drivers left in Silly Season are primarily candidates for Xfinity Series and Truck Series teams. The first place SHR could look is in the Ford camp, and that is looking quite thin at the moment.
The top Xfinity Series drivers are Cole Custer and Riley Herbst with SHR. Herbst has won only one race, and he failed to make the Playoffs this season. Custer has three underwhelming Cup Series seasons under his belt, so, he is not an exciting choice.
Noah Gragons truly could be the best free agent out there currently. As a result, why would SHR not want to go after Gragson? Especially considering his potential and the reputation SHR has for bringing in these types of drivers.
SHR tends to hire some oddball drivers. Drivers who are either primed for a second chance at the top level or drivers who have patiently waited for and earned that opportunity in top-level Cup Series equipment. It has often worked with plenty of Cup Series drivers having breakout seasons with SHR.
Drivers like Kurt Busch and Clint Bowyer each experienced a career renaissance during their times with Stewart-Haas Racing. Aric Almirola won two races and made all of his Playoff appearances driving for SHR after six seasons driving the 43 for Richard Petty.
Even today, next year’s SHR lineup has that element to it. Ryan Preece is a driver who has worked his way up for years to get into a ride like SHR, and Josh Berry is the same way as he takes over for Kevin Harvick in 2024. Gragson could easily be the next driver to fit that category.
Gragson was suspended earlier this year by NASCAR, but he has now been reinstated. SHR has hired guys like Gragson in the past, and a few of those drivers have been able to rebuild or reinvigorate their careers. On top of that, Gragson is a driver that oozes potential.
Despite having a difficult season with Legacy Motor Club before his suspension, the talent of Noah Gragson is obvious. He won 13 races in four seasons with JR Motorsports in the Xfinity Series with two Championship 4 appearances. Gragson went toe to toe with Ty Gibbs throughout the 2022 Xfinity Series season, and we all know how impressive Gibbs has been in the Cup Series this season.
One bad rookie year in equipment that was clearly behind the rest of the field should not be a death sentence to Noah Gragson’s career. Obviously, not all of Gragson’s struggles can or should be pinned on the equipment he was driving, but it has to be included when evaluating Gragson.
The biggest hurdle for Gragson might be sponsorship with Smithfield leaving. It all depends on which partners stuck with him following the suspension, and how much funding they are willing to give in 2024. However, if he is rumored to be the favorite, then there has to be something positive going on in terms of funding for Gragson.
At the end of the day, Gragson might end up with a great opportunity at the end of a difficult road. If he is afforded this opportunity, he will be a fun driver to watch for 2024.
NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series regular Austin Hill is officially slated to run part-time in the NASCAR Cup Series throughout 2026 with Richard Childress Racing.
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This year marks the second season of NASCAR’s groundbreaking 2025 media rights deal, and fans are curious to see just how year two will stack up with year one. This article will walk you through the 2026 season race by race, comparing viewership week by week to NASCAR’s 2025 season.
All Races (4 Total in 2026): Will include all points races, exhibition races, and qualifying races as they occur.
Points Races (3 Total in 2026): Will only include the season’s 36 points-paying races week-to-week as they occur.
Cable Races to Date (1 Total in 2025): Races on FS1, TNT, and USA | Including all points races, exhibition races, and qualifying races as they occur.
Network Races to Date (3 Total in 2026): Races on FOX and NBC | Including all points races, exhibition races, and qualifying races as they occur.
Exhibition/Qualifying Races (2 Total in 2026): This is only applicable to the Clash, Daytona Duels, and the All-Star Race as they happen.
*The 2025 Daytona 500 was pushed back several hours due to rain.
**The 2026 Daytona 500 was pushed up one hour to avoid inclement weather.
**2026 Clash was pushed from Sunday to Wednesday due to snow, and moved to FS2 due to overrunning time on FOX.
This tracker will be updated throughout the season. Make sure to check back in for the latest!
Joe Gibbs Racing has added to its lawsuit filed against former Crew Chief and Competition Director Chris Gabehart, filing to add Spire as a co-defendant, and to prevent Gabehart from continuing his work at Spire.
JGR initiated this lawsuit on February 19, alleging Gabehart, a long-time Crew Chief, most recently for Denny Hamlin, and the team’s now former Competition Director, “embarked on a brazen scheme to steal JGR’s most sensitive information and use it for the benefit of a direct competitor in NASCAR.”
That direct competitor, Spire Motorsports, which currently employs Gabehart as their Chief Motorsports Officer, is now a co-defendant in this lawsuit, via an amended complaint filed Tuesday.
Per the latest filing from JGR, which employed Gabehart as Competition Director last season, is asking the court for a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction with seven key requests.
Key to these requests is that Gabehardt cease providing Spire with “services for Spire similar to those he provided to JGR” for 18 months following his February 9 formal termination from JGR.
JGR also requested that Spire stop accepting Gabehart’s work as per the noncompete obligation of his termination.
The filing also has several requests regarding the team information Gabehart allegedly retained from JGR.
These include Gabehart returning this information alongside the devices that store this information and “cease and desist from retaining, transferring, using or copying any Confidential Information and Trade Secrets.”
From JGR’s filing:
c. Gabehart immediately cease and desist from retaining, transferring, using or copying any Confidential Information and Trade Secrets
d. Gabehart return any Confidential Information and Trade Secrets in his possession to JGR;
e. Gabehart transfer to the custody of JGR’s counsel any device used to store the Confidential Information and Trade Secrets and, through an agreed upon Court ordered process, allow the forensic preservation and review of these devices for identification of Confidential Information and Trade Secrets, the return of any identified Confidential Information and Trade Secrets to JGR, and the removal of any identified Confidential Information and Trade Secrets from the devices;
f. Gabehart cease and desist from using or disclosing JGR’s Confidential Information and Trade Secrets to third parties;
As of press time, Gabehart has commented on the lawsuit in a post to X on February 20, where he claimed a third-party investigator “examined my laptop, cell phone and personal Google Drive and found no evidence to support the baseless allegations in JGR’s lawsuit.”
What’s Happening? Joe Gibbs Racing has filed a lawsuit against former competition director Chris Gabehart, alleging he took confidential team information…
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