For the first time in this series, the team that is being covered will have a different driver than last year. Kevin Harvick retired and will transition to FOX booth in 2024. Replacing him for the #4 Stewart-Haas Racing team is Josh Berry. Crew chief Rodney Childers will remain with the team to lead Berry in his rookie season. Read about this team in transition as there are 28Â Days to Daytona.
#4 Stewart-Haas Racing
Driver: Josh Berry
Crew Chief: Rodney Childers
Sponsors: SunnyD, Harrison’s
2024 Season Preview
Rookie of the Year Battle
Josh Berry will compete for Rookie of the Year in 2024. Although he has 12 starts to his Cup career, Berry will don the yellow stripe on his 4 car. Berry is the only Xfinity Series driver from last year in the Rookie of the Year battle. Berry will have to fend off the Craftsman Truck Series callups from Spire Motorsports. Based on the equipment, it seems that Berry will have the edge over Carson Hocevar and Zane Smith. However, Spire could continue their progress from last season. Meanwhile, SHR has been on the steady decline.
Will the 4 Team Continue to Lead?
Over the past two seasons, Stewart-Haas Racing has been experiencing a noticeable dip in performance. 2023 was the pinnacle of this, as three of their teams finished outside the Top-20 in points. While the 4 team did not find victory lane last year, the team was significantly more competitive. The question that will be answered this year is whether Kevin Harvick was dragging the team to quality runs or Rodney Childers and the 4 team were able to prep a car vastly better than the other SHR teams. Based on how Josh Berry performs will tell fans whether it was driver or crew chief/team.
Illusion of 9 Team Starts
Many believe that Josh Berry’s 5 starts filling in for the injured Chase Elliott led to SHR picking Berry. In those 5 starts, Berry had a Top-5 and 2 Top-10s. It was an impressive run. However, the remainder of Berry’s 5 starts left something to be desired. He did pick up the All-Star Open win in the 48. However, 4 finishes outside the Top-20 is not a great look. Heading into 2024, the big question will be whether Berry’s strong runs in the 9 were an abnormality or not.
Daytona 500 Chances
Josh Berry did have a start in the 42 car last year for the summer Daytona race. He finished 22nd with little to note from the start. When reviewing his Xfinity starts at the track, Berry has yet to finish inside the Top-10. He has found better success at the other two superspeedways. In his Xfinity career, Berry has 2 Top-5s and 4 Top-10s on the drafting tracks. Maybe that success will finally transfer over to his Cup runs at the historic speedway.
Speedweeks Outlook
It is difficult to map out exactly how Josh Berry’s Speedweeks is going to look. Qualifying will likely be a dud based on how the Fords usually qualify (plus SHR’s struggles). It would not be surprising to see Berry use his duel race as a practice rather than racing hard for position. Since NASCAR once again will not hold practice time before the duels, rookie drivers will have to use their duel race to find their footing. As for the Daytona 500, Berry likely has as decent of a chance as anybody else in the field. Survival will be key, not only for Berry but also his SHR teammates.
Previous Days
40-36 Days: 40 – #12, 39 – #5, 38 – #24, 37 – #20, & 36 – #11
