NASCAR Ford team Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR) is shuttering at the end of the 2024 season, putting an end to the team as we know it. The legacy of SHR will endure long after the team, especially the iconic No. 4. The number currently decorates the Ford Mustang Dark Horse of Josh Berry, but it was once synonymous with Cup Series legend Kevin Harvick, and that’s something that will never be forgotten.
A report from NASCAR.com details the extensive history behind the slanted No. 4 and the people who helped propel it into stock car racing history books. Harvick spent 10 years of his Cup Series career behind the wheel of the No. 4 machine, although from 2014 through 2016, it was a Chevy race car until SHR rebranded as a NASCAR Ford team ahead of the 2017 season.
Veteran crew chief Rodney Childers sat atop the box and helped guide Harvick to 37 victories and one championship. In fact, from 2014 through 2020, the No. 4 team earned at least two victories every season.
“We were the standard,” Harvick said.
Childers reflected on the success of his team, saying, “The things that we did and the way that we raced… we didn’t take no for an answer at all, and it didn’t matter what it was. We would rebuild a car on Tuesday if we had to, if we knew something was going to make it better. We would re-wrap it twice if we thought something was going to make it better. We were just after it all the time.”
Berry took over after Harvick retired, not knowing that he would only spend one season behind the wheel of the storied No. 4 NASCAR Ford. Berry will join another historic team in 2025, taking control of the No. 21 Mustang for Wood Brothers Racing, but he’s not turning his back on the lessons learned from the No. 4 crew.
“There’s most definitely going to be things that I have taken away,” Berry said, “and I’ve already talked about with my new group about things that they did and they did well and how I was treated throughout the year and how supportive of me they were and believed in m… I think all those things are just so important to the overall health and the culture of the team as you go through such a long season.”
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