🏎 Racing For Your Life

Stewart Haas drivers are racing with an added incentive for the remainder of the season

Author

Kyle Dager
June 12, 2024

Good morning! Charters, waivers, packages, etc... It seems all of these words have become taboo.

Nevertheless, we are another week closer to the 2025 season and NASCAR and teams have yet to come to an agreement. In fact, the most recent proposal has been “the worst one yet”.

Will we see teams and NASCAR come together before 2025?

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Parker’s POV

Literally Racing For Your Life

After the news of Stewart-Haas Racing shutting down, the first thoughts were for the families of the hundreds employed there. Then came questions about where the charters will go and how the organization will maintain its performance as many of its most valuable talents are poached by teams with a future. But the last people anyone has had sympathy or even empathy for are the organization’s most prominent faces—the drivers.

As the days have gone by, I believe the reality is becoming evident to many. There is a very realistic possibility that, in a game of musical chairs, someone will be left standing. You might see Chase Briscoe’s flashy sponsored Mustang and think, “Well, the drivers will be fine.”

But, unfortunately, that isn’t the reality. In the ever-fast-paced world of NASCAR, the drivers have continually lost their leverage, aside from bringing sponsorship. As Kyle Busch proved just over a year ago, almost everyone who makes their primary income from driving race cars is at risk. Don’t believe me? Chase Briscoe said this over the weekend, “We’re trying to figure out how we’re going to provide for our families next year.”

Many of you might respond by saying, “But he’s a rich racecar driver.” I won’t go into the man’s pocket, but if his deals align with what I know, he’s done well but probably still needs a job. That’s the reality of NASCAR now.

Twenty years ago, being a full-time driver in the NASCAR Cup Series meant absolutely life-changing finances, akin to other professional sports. But unlike others, NASCAR’s most visible athletes are making much less than their counterparts from 20 years ago, not even accounting for inflation the last few years.

So, I get what Chase is saying—that suddenly, he is staring a possible reality in the face. A reality in which he isn’t a NASCAR Cup Series driver. The worst part? No amount of wins or trophies will save him. If the finances aren’t there, he could be without a seat.

He’s literally racing for his life.

Which sounds scary, but it’s what most of us have always done. Chase knows it well, from his days of sleeping on couches trying to race ARCA to part-time deals in Xfinity that were propelled into full-time with winning a race and a chance encounter with a sponsor.

Yet, once you’ve reached the top and proven you can win (as he has), you think you’ve made it. Unfortunately, in the business of racing cars, no one makes it. You fight and force the world to let you fill that time and space, and sometimes, all the fight in the world isn’t enough to hold off the reality.

I hope Chase and his fellow SHR drivers have the fight to fill the time and space they deserve. If not, the worst part will be how almost nothing will change. Forty cars will line up at the Daytona 500 in 2025, and some of them may or may not hold the former SHR drivers.

This show stops for no one. It will keep moving along without an ounce of sympathy or empathy.

📈 Trending 📈

Goodbye DRS, Hello Manual Override Mode

🚀 F1's 2026 regulations are shaking things up, saying farewell to the Drag Reduction System (DRS) and introducing Manual Override Mode.

🔍 DRS, in use since 2011, made overtaking easier by reducing drag when within a second of a competitor. Critics, however, argued it made passing too artificial.

⚡️ Manual Override Mode will rely on electric power from the MGU-K unit, giving trailing cars an energy boost to overtake. Unlike DRS, this will add strategic depth as drivers will need to recharge after use.

📈 IndyCar's push-to-pass system, introduced in 2009, offers extra horsepower via turbo boost, usable for both attack and defense. The key difference? F1's system is electric, while IndyCar uses turbocharged engines.

Fernando Alonso notes, "I tend to agree of having kind of freedom to the drivers to use the power here or there and create alternative strategies."

Yuki Tsunoda adds, “Removing DRS, especially with the current car, it’s hard to imagine without DRS how we can overtake.”

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