Stewart Haas Racing has been a shadow of its former self for quite some time. After a winless 2023 season, and with key drivers like Kevin Harvick and Aric Almirola partying ways, the pressure was on the new boys to deliver the goods. And this is exactly what Noah Gragson managed to do at the Las Vegas race. While Kyle Larson and HMS continued their rampant run, JGR driver Denny Hamlin was impressed by SHR’s new No. 10 and the overall solid display by the entire team.

For a long time, SHR was dependent on the shoulders of Harvick, but even his efforts were not enough to pull the team out of the slump. With the likes of RFK Racing, Front Row Motorsports, and Trackhouse Racing rising to the stage, many felt like SHR was far from claiming its lost glory and labeled it as a failure. But given how Gragson and Chase Briscoe are taking charge of the team, they seem to have surprised the NASCAR community, especially after their exploits at the Pennzoil 400 event.

Denny Hamlin is impressed by Noah Gragson

The No. 10 team from SHR has made a strong start to the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series season. For a young driver getting into a struggling team like SHR, the performance at Vegas is perhaps the moment where the team feels like they’ve turned a corner for good. Not a whole lot of fans were expecting SHR to put out a strong display in Vegas, considering the competition. But Gragson certainly had other ideas going into the race, and his performance was noticed by Hamlin.

Speaking on his podcast show, Actions Detrimental, the JGR driver lauded SHR’s effort during the Vegas race. Hamlin said, “I definitely agree with you that Stewart Haas cars were slightly better. Now the results weren’t all that great, a few of them dropped at the end of the race but I would say that Noah certainly with the top six run was I think the best finish that they’ve had or the 10 cars has in quite some time on a mile and a half.”

Gragson was dialed in from the get-go at Vegas. He finished stage 1 in the top-15, and as the second segment was nearing the end, he started rubbing shoulders with the likes of Joey Logano and Chase Elliot. While Larson was running the race on his terms with ease, Gragson did all he could to secure a better finish. The top-ten finish with the SHR team was Gragson’s second in just three starts and a huge step up from his days at Legacy Motor Club from the past season.

However, for some reason, the SHR team seems to attract trouble for itself by not learning from their past mistakes.

New NASCAR season, same old troubles for Stewart Haas Racing

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NASCAR officials dropped a hammer on the SHR team after finding the #10 and #41 cars were running the Atlanta race with shady car parts. It’s not that teams do not tweak and mold the parts of the racecar to bend the rules, but for some reason, SHR just can’t catch a break. Last season, they were caught red-handed for using counterfeit parts on Chase Briscoe’s car, and this stunt cost them an L-3 penalty. A deduction of 120 points for the driver and owner, thus jeopardizing their entire season.

Read More: Denny Hamlin Confesses Michael Jordan’s NASCAR Team’s Weakness Cost Tyler Reddick Vegas Win 

Fast forward one year, and it looks like the team is back in deep waters and having troubles with the officials. While the damage certainly was not big compared to last season, a penalty of 35 points for the driver and the owner at the start of the season is indeed a big blow. This has put Gragson in a deep hole. After the penalty, he was left with minus six points, and Ryan Preece had to start from zero. The only positive from this setback is that both drivers will have enough time to get back on track as the season is only getting started.