Stewart-Haas drivers, crew rally together after Charlotte amid uncertain team future
While the future of Stewart-Haas Racing is uncertain, the crews and drivers are sticking close together through the end. In a rain-shortened NASCAR Coca-Cola 600, Josh Berry came out with a top-10 finish.
This is the second top-10 in a row for Josh Berry. He has had some solid outings with Stewart-Haas Racing. However, the last few weeks have been eye-opening. It appears that he is getting into a groove and really feeling comfortable in the Next Gen car.
Stewart-Haas Racing might not have much of a future left. This could be the swan song. That isn’t stopping this team from sticking together through the end.
Josh Berry is more than happy with a top-10.
Crew chief Rodney Childers is right there with him. The driver and crew chief pairing has been really good this year. Childers has a lot of faith in Berry and his team. Now, they just have to keep putting it together.
Spotter Eddie D’Hondt was also congratulatory of the No. 4 team. It hasn’t been easy, but they have made it work this season.
The future of Stewart-Haas Racing will be revealed as soon as this week. However, the writing appears to be on the wall. It will be a fire sale of charters, equipment, and buildings if SHR closes shop for good.
Unfortunately, the race was called short. Josh Berry was moving forward throughout the race and even had strong pit stops to help him maintain or pick up positions. The storms and rain were just too much to overcome for NASCAR.
Stewart-Haas Racing will make decisions soon
There is a lot that could happen to Stewart-Haas Racing. They have four charters, two buildings, and everything else that accumulates over more than a decade in the sport – it can all be up for sale soon enough.
Those charters are going to go for $20-$30 million. Live Fast Motorsports sold a charter to Spire Motorsports last year for $40 million. However, if four charters go on the market, the price is going to go down.
It also doesn’t help that the charter agreement has not been decided upon yet. There is talk that teams moving forward, besides Hendrick and Joe Gibbs who will be grandfathered in, will be limited to three charters. I think the idea is to allow more ownership parties into the sport and avoid hoarding charters among a few teams.
The last thing that NASCAR wants is nine teams with four charters each. It just isn’t great for the sport. I am not sure I like that proposed idea, though.
That is more or less beside the point – Stewart-Haas Racing is in limbo, but won’t be much longer.