By Jeffrey Hrunka - Motorsports Today Contributor
(Photo Credit: Al Wheeler/Joe Gibbs Racing)
Chase Briscoe and Joe Gibbs Racing confirmed the least kept secret throughout the NASCAR garage on June 25. He will replace the retiring Martin Truex Jr. for the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series season.
Briscoe was among the many drivers on the hunt for a ride in NASCAR‘s premier series before landing in the No.19 Toyota. He was the first of six Stewart-Haas Racing drivers to find a ride after the team announced it would close its doors at the end of the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series season.
Here are all the possible landing spots that the remaining SHR drivers (Noah Gragson, Josh Berry, Ryan Preece, Riley Herbst, and Cole Custer) could go to.
Noah Gragson - Front Row Motorsports
(Photo Credit: Austin Konenski/USA Today)
Many fans speculated that after Martin Truex Jr.’s retirement, his primary sponsor, Bass Pro Shops, would increase their sponsorship with Noah Gragson. That does not seem likely after Bass Pro Shops announced they would stick with the No.19 team sponsoring Briscoe.
With this news, Front Row Motorsports has emerged as the perfect fit for Gragson. They provide the much-needed funding Gragson lacks in long-term sponsor Love’s Travel Shops. It also keeps Gragson in the Ford Performance stable, one of the company’s most promising prospects. This would be a lateral move for Gragson, as FRM has extended its relationship, becoming a Tier-1 program with Ford earlier this year.
FRM needs Gragson’s added experience since veteran Micheal McDowell will be leaving them for Spire Motorsports at the end of the season. Having someone who knows how to manage the Next Gen car will provide stability as the team expands to three entries in 2025.
Josh Berry - Wood Brothers Racing
(Photo Credit: Patrick Vallely/NASCAR.com)
Similar to Gragson, Josh Berry carries minimum sponsorship at the Cup Series level. The majority of the sponsors on his car at SHR are team sponsors, which creates an issue for Berry if he wants to continue driving at the top level of stock car racing.
One team that doesn’t see a lack of sponsors as an issue is Wood Brothers Racing. It’s a prime fit for Berry. The Wood Brothers Racing has lost its previous two candidates for the No. 21 in the last few weeks. It was announced that they met with Briscoe before he went to JGR and were rumored to target Justin Haley before he said he was returning to Rick Ware Racing.
Both they and Berry are running out of options, making them a better combination than many people realize. The Wood Brothers have bounced from veteran to veteran over the last few years before taking the chance on Harrison Burton in 2022. That signing would not work for them, as Burton has regressed in performance every year in the Cup Series.
Berry is the highest rookie in the Cup Series standings as of June 29. He had his rookie struggles but has made up for those mistakes with his performance at the short tracks this season.
The Wood Brothers are a veteran organization focused on getting back to victory lane. Berry is a rookie with years of racing experience looking to prove he has what it takes to race in the Cup Series. You cannot write a better script.
Ryan Preece - Xfinity Full-Time/Cup Series Part-Time
(Photo Credit: Jared C. Tilton/ Getty Images)
Not many drivers are given second chances in the highest level of NASCAR. If you don’t make the most of that opportunity, why should you be given another one? This is the question that crosses my mind when you look at the career of Ryan Preece.
With SHR shutting down, Preece does not have many places to go if he wants to go Cup Series racing next year. He has already made two stints in the Cup Series, one with JTG Racing from 2019-2020 and his current stint with SHR from 2023-2024. During this time, he was only able to conjure two Top-5s and nine Top-10s, the majority of these stats coming during his time with JTG.
His dip in performance will limit his options; however, his sponsor, United Rentals, will make those conversations with teams easier. I see Ryan Preece reverting to a part-time schedule in the Cup Series with Rick Ware Racing, similar to what he did in 2022.
Preece’s second option is to stay with the newly formed Haas Factory Team in the Xfinity Series. This will allow him to reignite his competitiveness and replicate what Cole Custer has done for SHR in their lower division.
Riley Herbst - Front Row Motorsports
(Photo Credit: Alejandro Alvarez/NASCAR Studios)
Sponsorship is vital to a team's success in the Cup Series. With FRM expanding to a three-car operation, they need a driver with a notable amount of funding to succeed in the additional car.
This issue plagued FRM in 2019, with the team having three full-time cars with various amounts of sponsors changing from race to race. This saw the team take a step back in overall performance, with two out of the three cars finishing in the sub-thirties in the final points standings, in comparison to both of their cars finishing 25th and 26th in points the year prior, as a two-car operation. Although this was never confirmed to be the issue for the dip in performance, it likely was a contributing factor.
Riley Herbst is the best fit to fill this third car. He carries heavy backing from the Monster Beverage Corporation, which has followed him through his racing career since his stock car debut in the Chevy's Fresh Mex 200 at Sonoma in 2016. This makes him one of the highly touted prospects in the Ford Performance camp.
He has already made five starts in a third car for FRM, with a best finish of 9th on a part-time basis. It is time for FRM to put their foot down and take Herbst before another team needs his talent and sponsorship backing elsewhere.
Cole Custer - Haas Factory Team
(Photo Credit: HHP/Chris Owens Photo)
One remnant of SHR will continue past the team’s shutdown at the end of the year with Co-Owner Gene Haas. Fox Sports NASCAR Reporter Bob Pockrass announced on June 20 that Haas would retain one of SHR’s charters to continue advertising Haas Automation.
Joe Custer will be president of this operation, which will see a complete reset for the championship organization. With Custer in charge, many see son Cole Custer, driver of the No. 00 Ford Mustang in the Xfinity Series, as the obvious choice for Hass Factory Team’s Cup Series seat.
Cole Custer had a lackluster Cup Series career up to this point, with one win and two top-5s in 108 starts in SHR equipment from 2020 to 2022. He found new life in the Xfinity Series, where he went back to his winning ways, claiming three victories en route to the 2023 NASCAR Xfinity Series Championship. His first in the series.
This resurgence made Cole Custer the leading candidate for the Hass Factory Team seat. Haas Automation has sponsored him throughout his career, and I see that continuing next year at the premier level of stock car racing.
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