Poor results on track may have plagued Stewart-Haas Racing this year. Theirs has been a season riddled with uncertainty, whether it’s sponsorships or contracts. As far as contracts go, Aric Almirola‘s situation is still in a dark alley. Amidst speculations concerning his replacement, a prominent NASCAR insider Bob Pockrass voted for one Jimmie Johnson knows only too well to be in his good books.

Aric Almirola’s situation is unusual. The #10 driver was supposedly going to retire at the end of the 2022 season. However, he had signed a contract with Tony Stewart, keeping him at SHR until 2024. Now, there are talks of the veteran retiring at the end of this season. Almirola himself has not confirmed or denied these rumors, so everything is just a big question mark as of now.

Tight-lipped veteran leaves Tony Stewart in a tough position

There has been a lot of speculation about who will replace Aric Almirola or should he retire. Tony Stewart is already losing the retiring Kevin Harvick and his $110 billion sponsor Anheuser-Busch at the end of the year. But SHR has already found a replacement for the 47-year-old in Xfinity Series driver Josh Berry.

However, Aric Almirola’s situation is way more complicated. It has put Tony Stewart in a tough spot. Without any kind of confirmation, he can’t contact other drivers to take the #10 car. It will be interesting to see how the situation develops over the course of the silly season. 

Noah Gragson, former Legacy Motor Club driver, was suspended due to his antics on social media. The suspension has now been lifted and he is now a free agent. On a recent episode of the Door Bumper Clear podcast, Pockrass suggested, “I mean, I think Noah Gragson is certainly a candidate for it, you know. He sounds like he’s talked to several teams over the last month. And it sounds like some things have gotten close and then don’t happen.

“And is that because other teams have started coming in, or you know, teams having second thoughts or they’re still trying to figure out funding? I am not sure which. But certainly, he has become a candidate for that ride.”

Although Gragson’s actions on social media brought him a lot of ire, fans seemed to have moved on and would not mind seeing him in the Cup Series next year. But they’re not too hot about him getting a full-time seat at Stewart-Haas Racing.

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Before the start of the 2021 season, SHR had the opportunity to sign Kyle Larson. The current HMS driver was suspended by NASCAR and fired by Chip Ganassi Racing over a comment he had made at the time. It was widely reported that Tony Stewart wanted to sign him for the team but it did not materialize.

Now with the Noah Gragson revelation, fans were quick to bring up the Kyle Larson situation on Reddit. They slammed the team for missing out on a champion-caliber driver and going for the “Jimmie Johnson reject” instead.

“They wouldn’t take Larson but will take Gragson?!” one user wrote on Reddit.

“So…Ford wouldn’t let SHR sign Larson, but will let them sign Gragson? That’s just sad,” wrote another.

Others expanded upon Tony Stewart and Ford’s relationship which they believe had been strained during the whole Kyle Larson fiasco.

“I think Tony has it out for them for what went down with Larson,” wrote one user.

“I wonder if this is going to happen or if Ford says no for the 3rd time,” penned another.

There were a number of fans who did not believe that Noah Gragson was good enough a driver to get a full-time seat at Stewart-Haas Racing. They were also frustrated with how SHR had been handling their issues this year.

“Tony is mad he doesn’t have enough wrecked race cars yet,” wrote one user.

“Please SHR just sell the team, I can’t handle it anymore,” commented another.

The whole situation with SHR and Noah Gragson is nothing but speculation at the moment. But that does not mean there is not a bit of truth to it. What do you think will happen when the season is over? Let us know your thoughts.

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