NASCAR Cup Series: Will Stewart-Haas Racing’s lineup change for 2020?

With rumors that Cole Custer may be promoted to the team, will Stewart-Haas Racing’s lineup change for the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series season?

Not since between the 2015 and 2016 NASCAR Cup Series season have Stewart-Haas Racing gone without changing their driver lineup from one year to the next.

After the 2016 season, Tony Stewart retired and Clint Bowyer replaced him behind the wheel of the #14 Chevrolet-turned-Ford ahead of the 2017 season from HScott Motorsports.

After the 2017 season, Danica Patrick retired and Aric Almirola replaced her behind the wheel of the #10 Ford ahead of the 2018 season from Richard Petty Motorsports.

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Most recently, after the 2018 season, Kurt Busch left to replace Jamie McMurray, who stepped down from full-time competition, at Chip Ganassi Racing, and Daniel Suarez replaced him behind the wheel of the #41 Ford ahead of the 2019 season from Joe Gibbs Racing.

Will their lineup change again?

Kevin Harvick, the lone driver who has driven for the team in at least each of the last four seasons, is set to return to the team as the driver of the #4 Ford next season, and Almirola is set to return as well. As for Bowyer and Suarez, there is still speculation that one or both of them may not be back next year.

Given the recent rise of Stewart Haas Racing Xfinity Series superstar Cole Custer, it would surprise nobody if he ends up behind the wheel of the #14 Ford or #41 Ford next season.

However, despite the fact that the 21-year-old Ladera Ranch, California native has taken a massive step forward in his third season driving the #00 Ford with a series-high and career-high six victories, this doesn’t look like it is going to happen.

Bowyer and Suarez are both hovering around the playoff bubble and very much at risk of missing the playoffs, which certainly wouldn’t bode well for either of them, for Bowyer because he is already 40 years old and for Suarez because he also failed to qualify for the playoffs in both of his seasons driving for Joe Gibbs Racing, another one of the sport’s top-tier teams.

But at this point, it doesn’t look like making or missing the playoffs will make much of a difference for either driver. Bowyer is expected to return to the team even given his struggles, and Suarez is in the process of working on extending his one-year contract as well.

As for Custer, he could still end up in the Cup Series effectively as a fifth Stewart-Haas Racing driver assuming that the rumors of them forming a technical alliance with Go Fas Racing come to fruition, another reason why it looks like both Bowyer and Suarez will return.

This would involve Stewart-Haas Racing jettisoning some of their cars for the 2020 season due to the extra inventory that they expect to have with the Gen-7 Cup Series chassis and body slated to be introduced ahead of the 2021 season.

There is also a chance that Matt DiBenedetto, who will not be retained by Leavine Family Racing for next season, could end up at Stewart-Haas Racing, but if that happens, it would likely be as Custer’s replacement in the Xfinity Series, where he could further improve and then be in a position to replace either Harvick or Bowyer after Custer presumably replaces whichever one retires first.

Will Stewart-Haas Racing’s NASCAR Cup Series driver lineup look like it does in the 2019 season in the 2020 season, marking the first time in four years with zero changes? With all things considered, it appears that way.