A midrace penalty for the dominant Ryan Preece may have spoiled Stewart-Haas Racing’s day at Martinsville Sunday, but it masks a big recovery for the team.
Since a dominant season in 2020, one in which Kevin Harvick alone scored nine wins, the team hasn’t competed at that same level. Indeed, two of its drivers – Ryan Preece and Aric Almirola – sit outside the top twenty in points after Martinsville.
There have been bright spots this year, through a spate of fifth-place finishes from Kevin Harvick at Auto Club, Phoenix, and Richmond respectively, and Chase Briscoe at Bristol and, ultimately, at Martinsville.
But until Sunday at Martinsville, the team has yet to shine. However, it was a return to form, at least in the beginning of the race. Stewart-Haas drivers led 264 of the 400 laps, of which 135 were led by Ryan Preece, who’s making his return to the Cup Series this year. Highlights were also a stage win for Harvick – who hadn’t even won a stage since that 2020 season – and Preece.
“I thought as a company we had a really good day,” Chase Briscoe said. “All four cars were in contention. I felt like a Stewart-Haas car probably should have won the race and we just couldn’t catch the breaks we needed there at the end, but, overall, a great day. That’s something that as a company we needed to go and run up front.”
The finishes didn’t entirely echo the dominance. Preece was penalized for speeding on pit road and had to claw his way back from the rear throughout the race, ultimately finishing 15th.
“That ultimately cost us the track position.,” Preece said. “We had a really fast race car, so once we got in the back it was so hard to do anything, so that’s on me. I’ll take blame for that. I was trying to beat them out and ultimately got snapped speeding.”
He said he didn’t know he could get a speeding penalty while exiting the first pit stall, which he selected as polesitter, and didn’t watch his speed during the race off pit road.
“I didn’t think we could,” he said of getting the penalty, “to be honest with you, but I guess it’s my job to know that. I pride myself on not making mistakes, so that was pretty brutal there.”
Briscoe and Almirola finished 5th and 6th respectively, having been shuffled back by late-race pit strategy.
“I thought we were, arguably, the best car the first part of the race, and then we got a little bit behind as the track changed and the car changed a little bit. Then after that, we got the car really good,” Almirola said.
But, he noted, “We went through that green flag pit sequence and then a caution comes out for a wheel and gives a lot of those guys just a free gift that stayed out. A lot of those guys we had lapped already in the race, and it’s just so hard to pass that you give those guys track position and you start behind them on the same tires. It’s hard to pass.”
Kevin Harvick ended up 20th after a tire issue following his pit stop meant he too had to battle late. The recovery means he’s only finished outside the top-twenty once in his time with Stewart-Haas Racing, though.
Although Briscoe acknowledged that “it would’ve been more of a statement if we won the race, obviously,” he added, “We’ll go on to next week and, hopefully, we can continue this speed and this momentum as a company.”
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