What if SHR sees value in some reduction of cars for improved focus and performance? I could envision them selling just one charter (the 10) so they could keep Briscoe in the fold. 23XI switches to Ford and Hambone takes that car OR they bring in Smith while the Hamster stays with pappy Joe. Likewise Jordan could acquire a fourth charter from another source to give them 4, allowing Hamshank to take the 10.You know, you may actually be onto something here.
Briscoe's dream was to drive for Tony, but Briscoe has also been a Ford driver this whole time, and Ford has taken care of him. I wonder if Ford Performance pulls the strings to get Briscoe the 21, keeping him in the Ford camp and sells it to him that Penske is a better opportunity than sticking with the sinking ship that is SHR.
In that case yeah, Preece and Berry together through the rebuilding phase at SHR, and both of those guys are going to have fairly low Cup salaries so it makes sense for the team to keep them on. They'll still have Mobil 1 and probably Rush Truck Centers to keep one car going, and continue the Haas branding on the other with maybe some appearances from Bass Pro thrown into the mix too. Tony and Berry both have a relationship with Bass Pro, so that seems probable that we'd see Berry with some support from them in Cup even a few races a year.
My knee-jerk reaction initially was that Briscoe would stay with SHR, no brainer, but I could see it going the other way. I think his heart would say stick with Tony but his brain would say go with Ford. Tough choice if it comes down to that.
If any of this happens in whatever version it will be quite the shakeup.