Noah Gragson is back in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 10 for Stewart-Haas Racing in 2024, SHR announced Dec. 13.
Gragson joins the team from Legacy Motor Club after being released from the organization in 2023. The team granted the then-rookie his release after it was found that he had favorited an offensive post on social media.
The deal is for multiple years, putting Gragson in the car through at least 2025. The exact length was not disclosed.
“Noah deserves to be in the NASCAR Cup Series and we’re very happy to have him as the driver of our No. 10 Ford Mustang,” SHR co-owner Tony Stewart said in a team release. “Noah has performed at every level where he’s competed and has regularly been in championship contention. That’s the kind of driver we need at Stewart-Haas and that’s why Noah is a part of our team.”
In 39 Cup starts since 2022, Gragson has one top five and top 10, coming in 2022 at Daytona International Speedway while driving for Beard Motorsports.
In 2023, he earned a best finish of 12th with Legacy’s No. 42 at Atlanta Motor Speedway before leaving the organization after Richmond Raceway, the 22nd race of the season.
“I’m grateful for this opportunity with Stewart-Haas Racing and while most people in the industry are happy that the offseason is here, I want to get started on 2024 and go racing as soon as I can,” Gragson added. “Stewart-Haas is filled with racers and I saw that and felt it as soon as I walked onto the shop floor. There are high expectations here and a strong desire to compete and win races. I have high expectations for myself and I want to deliver for Tony and Gene [Haas, SHR co-owner] and everyone at Stewart-Haas.”
Gragson replaces Aric Almirola, who retired from full-time Cup racing at the end of 2023. Almirola was revealed as a part-time competitor in the NASCAR Xfinity Series for Joe Gibbs Racing for 2024.
SHR has not yet announced sponsorship details for Gragson’s season in the No. 10.
Drew Blickensderfer will be the crew chief of Gragson’s entry.
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Worst-kept secret in NASCAR. Still, a good move for both Gragson and SHR. Hopefully, Stewart has already had the “My way or the Highway” talk with Noah.
I have little doubt that sponsorship was a major factor here to keep the 10 car going. Noah’s got some raw talent as we really saw in his last Xfinity season, but he’s still got some maturity issues to work on and I hope he does. But he was having a terrible season last year before his exit and he looked exhausted and defeated in interviews he did. On top of it, Legacy started to run better late in the season despite no manufacturer support with Hocevar(with his own maturity issues) running better in Gragson’s ride. I know Hocevar really likes the way the current Cup car handles. Maybe SHR will be a better fit for him, and he rejoins Josh Berry as a teammate with is a plus, but then the team is not running as well as it used to. Gragson’s got to figure things out, pick up his performance, and not psyche himself out like it seemed he may be prone to doing.
Honestly I think SHR would do better if they used Chevy engines rather than Ford. It’s clear Ford doesn’t really care about SHR. Also I think it was blatantly obvious Harvick would get the best cars every week last year because of the money Busch Beer gives the team every season.