DAYTONA BEACH, Fla.—Stewart-Haas Racing is still searching for its first NASCAR Cup win of the season.
On Friday, Chase Briscoe became the third SHR driver to win a pole in 2023. The only driver in the stable not to top the speed chart during time trials this year is Kevin Harvick. However, the 47-year-old former champion is the only driver to point his way into a Playoff spot. Briscoe, Aric Almirola and Ryan Preece are in must-win situations entering Saturday night’s Coke Zero Sugar 400 to advance to the postseason.
Preece, 32, sits 24th in the standings. If there’s a high point for the NASCAR Modified champion, it’s that he expects to return to the No. 41 Ford in 2024.
“I feel like I’m going to be in the 41 car,” Preece said. “I feel like I am. Yes, I think we’re pretty close. I would say there’s a really good chance that I’ll be back with SHR in the 41 next year.”
No doubt Stewart-Haas Racing hasn’t raced up to normal expectations. In his final year, Harvick remains the alpha driver with six top fives and 11 top 10s, but he’s led just 108 of 6,015 laps completed. Briscoe was mired in points following an L3 penalty in May. He’s still managed to post three top fives, six top 10s and has led 115 laps. Almirola, who offered a “no comment” when asked whether his sponsor Smithfield or he will return in 2024, is still searching for a top-five finish this year.
Preece’s first top five in the No. 41 Ford came at Richmond four races ago. After winning the Martinsville pole, he led 135 laps before a speeding penalty mired him in traffic. Preece recovered for a 15th-place finish. Still, he leads all SHR drivers with 141 laps led.
Since SHR expanded to a four-car team in 2014, the company has advanced at least two cars into the Playoffs. While the philosophy is every man for himself, all four drivers are well aware of their roles come Saturday.
“We want to get another SHR car into the (Playoffs),” Preece said. “But at the end of the day, when it comes down to the last lap, I know if it’s me, the 10 (Almirola) and the 14 (Briscoe), we’re gonna race it out. We have to. That’s what we have to do for our seasons.
“But by all means, am I going to push the 10 or the 14 or the 4 (Harvick) over someone else? Absolutely. I sit in competition meetings with them every Tuesday, so I’m gonna do whatever I can to help them. But at the end of the day, our season can be made tomorrow night.”
While no other four-car organization is in the same predicament as SHR with only one car qualified for the postseason, Preece still sees Daytona as an opportunity.
“If we can win tomorrow and put ourselves in, that’s like hitting reset and then we can go into those last 10 races and hopefully execute,” Preece said. “Really still try to win and build some momentum for 2024. That would be ideal.
“Martinsville is coming back up and that’s somewhere where we’re really strong—and Bristol, on the dirt. I know it’s asphalt (in September), but that’s a place that I really like. Then we have Talladega, the Roval, and other tracks that I enjoy going to.”
Follow Lee Spencer on Twitter @CandiceSpencer or email her at: [email protected].
