Which driver will drive the #41 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford in the 2019 NASCAR Cup Series season? Here are the top three candidates.
Three of Stewart-Haas Racing’s four drivers are set to return to the team in the 2019 NASCAR Cup Series season. These drivers are 2014 Cup Series champion Kevin Harvick, Clint Bowyer and Aric Almirola.
Harvick is in his fifth season driving the #4 Ford (previously the #4 Chevrolet for the team) while Bowyer is in his second season driving the #14 Ford for the team as Tony Stewart’s replacement and Almriola is in his first season driving the #10 Ford for the team as Danica Patrick’s replacement.
However, the future of the team’s fourth driver, 2004 Cup Series champion Kurt Busch, appears to be far less certain from a Cup Series standpoint.
Reports last month suggest that the 40-year-old Las Vegas, Nevada native, who currently drives the #41 Ford, could be on his way to Chip Ganassi Racing to replace the struggling Jamie McMurray behind the wheel of the #1 Chevrolet next year.
With the driver situation of the #41 Ford being uncertain as far as next season is concerned, who might Stewart-Haas Racing sign to be a teammate to Harvick, Bowyer and Almirola in 2019? Here are three possible candidates.
Cole Custer
If the rumors about Kurt Busch leaving Stewart-Haas Racing are true, the most likely driver to be his replacement would be Cole Custer. Custer, 20, is in his second season as the full-time driver of the #00 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, and he has performed at a high level.
The Ladera Ranch, California native has only earned one victory over the course of his Xfinity Series career, but he has still put up solid results otherwise. Last season, he finished in fifth place in the championship standings with seven top five finishes and 19 top 10 finishes in 33 races. His average starting position was 8.6 and his average finishing position was 13.3.
Custer earned his first career Xfinity Series victory in last year’s season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Had he been in the Championship 4, which he very well could have been, he would have been crowned 2017 Xfinity Series champion as opposed to William Byron, who now competes full-time in the Cup Series for Hendrick Motorsports.
So far this season, Custer has not yet won a race, but he has performed at an even higher level. Through the season’s first 24 races, he sits in third place in the championship standings with 10 top five finishes and 20 top 10 finishes. He has also earned his first four career pole positions. His average starting position is 6.5 and his average finishing position is 8.5.
Custer even drove in his first two Cup Series races this year behind the wheel of the #51 Rick Ware Racing Ford, and he did an impressive job given the fact that he was not driving a competitive race car. He finished in 25th place in the race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, three laps off the lead, and he finished on the lead lap in the first of two races at Pocono Raceway by finishing in 26th.
If Busch does depart from Stewart-Haas Racing and the #41 Ford needs a new driver for next season, Custer would almost definitely top the list of possible replacements for him.
Kurt Busch
Any way you look at it, it really wouldn’t make much sense for Stewart-Haas Racing to part ways with Kurt Busch ahead of the 2019 season, especially since their chances of landing current Furniture Row Racing driver and defending NASCAR Cup Series champion Martin Truex Jr. are extremely small given the fact that he has been tipped to sign with Joe Gibbs Racing.
All things considered, Busch is in arguably his best season since he won the 2004 Cup Series championship. He currently sits in fourth place in the championship standings. If he finishes there, it would be just the second time he finished that high in the standings since he won the 2004 title, as he finished in fourth in the standings in the 2009 season.
Also, Busch has racked up 16 top 10 finishes through the season’s first 25 races. His career-high top 10 finish total for a season is 21, which he recorded in the 2004, 2009, 2015 and 2016 seasons. With 11 races remaining this year, he could very well surpass that career-high mark.
Busch’s average finish of 11.8 so far this year is the second highest average finish of his career behind only his average finish of 11.1 in the 2015 season, a season in which he finished in eighth in the championship standings.
Kurt Busch (continued)
With an average finish of 6.43 in the last seven races, don’t be surprised if Kurt Busch’s current average finish of 11.8 keeps coming down and he sets a new career-best in that category as well.
Busch’s victory in the recent race at Bristol Motor Speedway, which was his 30th career NASCAR Cup Series victory, means that he has won at least one race in each of his five seasons driving for Stewart-Haas Racing. One more victory would put him at two victories this year, which would tie for his season-high victory total since he won three races back in the 2004 and 2005 seasons.
At this point, it wouldn’t be shocking if the rumors about Busch leaving the team are false. After all, he stated that nothing has been signed, and team co-owner Gene Haas did not rule out him potentially returning to the team next year.
In fact, rumors last summer suggested that Busch would not return to Stewart-Haas this season, yet he signed a contract this past December to return to the team this year. Plus, why would the team want to get rid of him after one of the best seasons of his career?
But if Stewart-Haas Racing do end up releasing Busch after the end of this season and they don’t replace him with Cole Custer, who else could they possibly turn to?
Christopher Bell
The idea of Christopher Bell driving a Stewart-Haas Racing Ford seems crazy, especially since the 23-year-old Norman, Oklahoma is a Toyota driver who gives a lot of credit to the Japanese manufacturer to getting him to where he is in his racing career. But it is certainly possible.
Bell is currently in his first season as a NASCAR Xfinity Series driver after winning the 2017 Truck Series championship in his second full season in the sport. In both of his seasons as a full-time driver in the sport, the 2016 and 2017 seasons, he drove the #4 Kyle Busch Motorsports Toyota. He now drives the #20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota.
Bell sits in fourth place in the Xfinity Series championship standings with four victories, 13 top five finishes, 14 top 10 finishes and three pole positions through the season’s first 24 races, and he leads all drivers with 24 playoffs points. His average starting position is 8.8 and his average finishing position is 11.1.
There is a chance that because Furniture Row Racing are set to shut down after the conclusion of the 2018 Cup Series season, Joe Gibbs Racing may seek to form a technical alliance with another team, as they have had a technical alliance with Furniture Row Racing since the 2016 season.
If they do form a technical alliance with another team, they would likely do so with Leavine Family Racing. Leavine Family Racing currently field the #95 Chevrolet, which is driven by Kasey Kahne, but Kahne is set to retire at the end of the season.
Christopher Bell (continued)
Christopher Bell is one of the candidates to land a ride with Leavine Family Racing if they do form a technical alliance with Joe Gibbs Racing and become a Toyota team, especially if they field two cars. Daniel Suarez, the driver who Truex Jr. is set to replace behind the wheel of the #19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota, is another serious candidate land a ride with the team.
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However, if Leavine Family Racing field only one car and Suarez drives that car, don’t be shocked if Bell signs with Stewart-Haas Racing. He has already admitted that he does not feel that he needs to drive in the Xfinity Series for another season, so if it comes down to him choosing between staying with Toyota or landing a Cup Series ride with arguably the sport’s top team, it’s anybody’s guess regarding what he might choose.
Plus, both Bell and Stewart-Haas Racing team co-owner Tony Stewart have dirt racing backgrounds, so it’s hard to image that the three-time Cup Series champion hasn’t already at least been considering offering the 2017 Truck Series champion a contract for some point in the future. If the opportunity arises for him to do so for next year, don’t be surprised if he takes it, and don’t be surprised if Bell accepts his offer.
Which driver will drive the #41 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford in the 2019 NASCAR Cup Series season? Will Kurt Busch return to the team for the sixth consecutive year or will he be replaced by a driver such as Cole Custer or Christopher Bell?