NASCAR Silly Season: SHR's Josh Berry and Ryan Preece may miss 2025 Cup grid

With Stewart-Haas Racing officially shutting shop at the end of the 2024 NASCAR season, it has cast a cloud of uncertainty over its drivers. While Noah Gragson, Chase Briscoe, Cole Custer, and Riley Herbst are rumored to get a drive next year, Josh Berry and Ryan Preece are likely to miss the 2025 season.

Gene Haas and Tony Stewart, owners of SHR, announced the decision to shut down the operations of the historic racing team. They are selling three of their four charters to Front Row Motorsports, 23XI Racing, and Trackhouse Racing, respectively. Meanwhile, teams like JTG Daugherty Racing, Legacy Motor Club, and RFK Racing are likely to contend for the fourth charter.

All six of the drivers affected by this decision are now free agents in the driver market, but four of them are probably going to find a seat before the 2024 season ends. But given their mediocre performances this year, Berry and Preece will probably come under close scrutiny.

Berry is currently in the 20th position in the driver's championship and has amassed 264 points with two top-10s, one top-5, and 3 DNFs. Meanwhile, Preece stands in 29th position, with 211 points, one top-10, and 1 DNF. Though Berry is in his rookie season and Preece is in his fifth Cup Series season, the former has a better chance of gaining traction the following year.

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Josh Berry's reaction to the tire blowout at World Wide Technology Raceway

Stewart-Haas Racing's rookie driver, Josh Berry began his 2024 season on a poor note. The Tennessee-based racer finished the first five races out of the top-10s (17th at Duel 2 at Daytona, 25th at Daytona International Speedway, 29th at Atlanta Motor Speedway, 20th at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, and 26th at Phoenix Raceway).

Berry slowly started improving his results by finishing third at Darlington Raceway and North Wilkesboro Speedway, and 10th at Charlotte Motor Speedway. The #4 driver tried to keep the momentum up at the World Wide Technology Raceway. However, a tire blowout on lap 113, which resulted in a crash and DNF, broke the chances of the 33-year-old driver getting a desirable result.

After the race, Berry posted his reaction as a post on X:

"Proud of the speed we had today. Passed cars, looks like we ran something over and cut a tire. (a thumb down emoji) @Overstock"

While Berry and his crew have been trying to get better results in every race, this disaster has put them on the back foot again. Upcoming races will be crucial for the SHR rookie driver to showcase his racecraft and obtain a seat in the 2025 season.