Noah Gragson’s Harsh Hidden Agenda Behind Tony Stewart’s Disgruntled Star’s Public Disgrace, Claims NASCAR Insider

Heading out of Kansas, an unlikely duo of NASCAR journalist Toby Christie and Stewart-Haas Racing’s #41 driver helped create some hefty waves on social media. It all started with a tweet from Christie, which read, “Noah Gragson said on (last) Tuesday that he, Chase Briscoe, and Josh Berry have started studying data and techniques in order to improve their speed. Gragson says the offer is up for anyone who wants to join the study session.”

Study group that I wasn’t aware of 🤷🏻‍♂️

— Ryan Preece (@RyanPreece_) May 4, 2024

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In a follow-up tweet, Christie reminded fans that the only driver from the SHR quartet not named in the “study group,” Ryan Preece, started his Kansas advance in P32 while the rest rolled off the grid, P17 or better. Considering the controversial nature of the first thread, Preece himself replied to these updates, quoting it was a ‘study group that he wasn’t aware of,’ and the NASCAR world is taking notice just like the outspoken spotters on Door Bumper Clear.

Noah Gragson’s ‘Open Invitation’ raises eyebrows, spotters weigh inGragson’s reported statement about the ‘offer up for anyone’ may be taken out of context, considering its ambiguous nature. However, as Freddie Kraft, duly stated, “This whole topic is very strange. But then, if you’re Preece and this tweet is kind of out there making you look bad. You respond to it… So now you’ve drawn more attention, which I guess you’re trying to defend yourself by saying you weren’t invited to it. But it’s just, I don’t know, it’s not a good look, in my opinion…”

Former spotter of Dale Jr and current spotter for Brad Keselowski’s #6 team, TJ Majors, had an apt reply for Kraft’s initial sentiment when he said, “I don’t know, man. I don’t feel like this meeting is the make-it or break-it for the weekend.”

But Kraft had a different observation, based on the potential hysteria spreading in the NASCAR garage over the rumors of a possible charter sale on the part of SHR, combined with the average performances displayed by one-third of Tony Stewart’s stable. He referred to previous interviews from Chase Briscoe, the ‘elder statesman’ after Kevin Harvick’s retirement last year, allegedly calming the noise within the team, but also clearing the dirty air surrounding Gragson’s initial statements, based on his current situation.

With their special guest, Joel Edmonds laying out the relevant context: “Noah’s got nothing to lose,” Kraft explained Gragson’s assumed attitude, “Everybody says… and he’s playing with house money at this point because he’s coming back from the dead basically, you know.”

The #10’s resurgent form coming off a three-race top-10 streak has placed a lot of the limelight on his controversial update regarding SHR’s study group for race prep. Regardless, Kraft also argued on why Christie’s report has been somewhat overblown recently.

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Ryan Preece needs to “step it up” regardless of study groupTrending

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Bubba Wallace’s 2024 spotter referred to the same Chase Briscoe interview when the more experienced #14 was asked if Harvick’s retirement effectively made him the ‘leader’ of the SHR stable. Briscoe had refused, disregarding the “more years” he held over the rest of his teammates. Nevertheless, based on the #10 driver’s current context, Kraft also explained, “I don’t know that this is why maybe this gets out there because some guys might be trying to make other guys look bad…”

via Imago

Switching his perspectives to SHr’s #41 driver’s present on-track situations, Kraft then stated, “I love Ryan Preece. He is a very good friend of mine and I don’t know if you know what they’ve got going on but he needs to step it up if he wants to have any shot at staying over there. Even if there’s four teams next year.”

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But other reports now reveal that the team has informed Preece of the details surrounding this crucial “study group.” Hence, better performances and some much-needed luck will surely come to fruition, moving on to the next great race weekend of the NASCAR calendar.