Mark Martin recently spoke about the lack of driver personality in the NASCAR Cup Series. Martin sees the issue as one of the major obstacles NASCAR must overcome. With Kevin Harvick leaving the series at the end of the 2023 season and Tony Stewart following him at the end of 2024, this issue is ever more apparent. It is for this reason that Noah Gragson driving the #4 is good for NASCAR.
Despite being driven by Josh Berry in 2024, the #4 car is associated with Kevin Harvick. Harvick, like Tony Stewart, was one of the largest personalities of Cup Series racing. Noah Gragson is still new to the Cup Series. Still, he is one of the larger personalities of this next generation of drivers. With the closing of Stewart-Haas Racing, many thought the #4 would not be in the Cup Series at all in 2025. Front Row Motorsports putting Noah Gragson in the #4 is not just a great move for the team and the driver. It is a great move for the sport.
The Importance of Personality
Regardless of the wishes of its executives, NASCAR has always thrived on big personalities. It is even better when rivalries between big personalities in the sport develop. For me, the greatest example of this was Dale Earnhardt, Sr. and Jeff Gordon. In middle school and high school, when it came to auto racing, this rivalry was all anyone talked about. It even pulled me into the sport, listening to the impassioned debates of my fellow classmates. Even the paint schemes on the two drivers’ cars were opposites.
Despite the fact that Richard Childress changed the car number when Kevin Harvick took over the ride after Earnhardt’s death, everyone was still aware that that was Earnhardt’s car. Thankfully, the replacement driver would also become a huge NASCAR personality. That was good for the sport. In the wake of the loss of the Intimidator, NASCAR had a huge personality vacuum. This vacuum was filled with the likes of Kevin Harvick, Tony Stewart, Dale Earnhardt, Jr., and later Kyle Busch.
With Kevin Harvick’s retirement at the end of the 2023 season and Tony Stewart’s departure at the end of 2024, NASCAR finds itself in a similar position. Except this time, there doesn’t seem to be as many people to try and fill that void. Mark Martin was correct to state that NASCAR needs to allow personalities such as Ross Chastain and Noah Gragson to grow. The future of the sport truly depends on it, because we all know that the Next Gen car and NASCAR’s executives aren’t going to save the sport.
The Importance (and History) of the #4
The No. 4 Kodak car was a rocket at @DAYTONA and @TALLADEGA with Ernie Irvan and Sterling Marlin behind the wheel.
1992 to 1996:
20 races
8 wins
12 top fives
14 top 10s
18 races with laps led pic.twitter.com/NHPtwdwrPW— NASCAR Classics (@NASCARClassics) August 24, 2023
Kevin Harvick isn’t the only driver to have ever driven the #4. Many of us still remember the Morgan-McClure Motorsports yellow Kodak #4 car from the 90s. Ernie Irvan and Sterling Marlin were the biggest names of that era to drive the #4. Both of them won Daytona 500s driving it. While Harvick won a Daytona 500 in his career, it was in the #29 Shell/Pennzoil RCR Chevy. John Soares was the first driver to win driving the #4 back in 1954. Harvick is the latest to win in the #4 car with his back-to-back wins in 2022 at Michigan and Richmond. Prior to Harvick’s 37 wins in the #4, Kasey Kahne was the most recent to win in the #4 at Phoenix with Red Bull Racing in 2011.
Kevin Harvick and Rex White are the only drivers to win Cup Series championships with the #4. While Harvick won it in 2014, Rex White won it in 1960. Rex White also took the #4 to 26 victories. Rex White is second only to Kevin Harvick in total Cup Series wins while driving the #4 car. Ultimately, while the #4 car may not be as historic as the #3 or the #43, it is still a very historic car with many wins.
Personally, I was looking forward to seeing Josh Berry driving the #4 (with Rodney Childers as crew chief) for many years to come. Tony Stewart had other plans. Honestly, when it was announced that Stewart-Haas was shutting down after 2024, it felt like the racing gods really wanted me to stop watching NASCAR all together. I have to applaud Front Row Motorsports for keeping the #4 car going. Gragson has plenty of personality, and now he has a historic car number to go along with said personality. Noah Gragson driving the #4 will be great for NASCAR. It is especially great for this old school fan.
Ready to Rush?@rushtruckcenter will be the primary sponsor for @NoahGragson and the No. 4 team for multiple Cup Series races in 2025. pic.twitter.com/z7O76lHXDV
— Front Row Motorsports (@Team_FRM) January 21, 2025
