Dale Earnhardt Jr. maps out where the four Stewart-Haas charters end up, drivers that fill them when the dust settles

Dale Earnhardt Jr. is confident about knowing what will happen to the charters for Stewart-Haas Racing next season. On the Dale Jr. Download podcast, Earnhardt mapped out where the four Stewart-Haas charters will end up as the drivers filling them once the team shuts down operations at the end of the year.

“I think we kind of feel like we know where the charters are going to go, it’s whose going to get hired to drive for who,” Earnhardt said. “I think Trackhouse is pretty solid. If 23XI gets this third charter who goes into that car? What happens with [Martin] Truex? And then the Frontrow situation.”

Earnhardt is watching the current Stewart-Haas drivers Josh Berry, Noah Gragson, Chase Briscoe and Ryan Preece. But he also wants everyone to watch the younger drivers who could fill the charters like Corey Heim and Zane Smith.

“There’s this level of younger drivers also right underneath the Noah Gragsons that are in the Truck or Zxfinity series that would even be considered,” Earnhardt explained. “[Shane van Gisbergen] is going to probably take one of the Trackhouse (charters). Trackhouse could end up already pretty much being settled with their current lineup plus SVG.”

As for purchasing a charter, Earnhardt said he wouldn’t do it because it’s too expensive. “I don’t doubt that if you took $15 or $20 million and put it into one of these charters if they’re seeing for $25-$30 million, I believe that charters will be worth $100 – $150 million possibly way more,” he said.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. has big expectations for Josh Berry

Berry is in his first year as a Cup Series driver and recorded two top-10 finishes in his last three races. Earnhardt believes that multiple teams will be going after him once his time at Stewart-Haas ends.

“I’m watching all of the SHR news and the silly season news even that all this is affecting. And I’m really paying the most attention to what happens to Josh Berry and where he may end up,” Earnhardt said on the podcast. I absolutely think he belongs in Cup. And I think all of the teams that are either having new opportunities with new charters and drivers to put in those cars should be considering Josh as the driver to hire.”

Earnhardt continued: “So, we’ll have to see how Josh’s season goes. I think that him and [crew chief] Rodney [Childers] are motivated and ready to try to get that win or a couple wins before the end of the season. And that’s all Josh can do. Every week is a job interview if you will. So, that’s weighing on me a little bit personally. And I think honestly there’s not just the Stewart-Haas charters shaking things up that is detrimental but also opportunity creating for a lot of these drivers like Josh.

On3’s NIck Geddes contributed to this story.

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