NASCAR: Where will Cole Custer end up in the 2020 season?
By Asher Fair
With rumors that he will be promoted to the NASCAR Cup Series, where will Stewart-Haas Racing’s Cole Custer end up in the 2020 season?
After two seasons in the NASCAR Xfinity Series during which he drove for Stewart-Haas Racing and finished in fifth and second place in the championship standings with one victory each year, Cole Custer is in the midst of a monster year.
Through the first 24 races of the 33-race 2019 season, the 21-year-old Ladera Ranch, California native has quadrupled his career win total with six victories, tying him with Joe Gibbs Racing superstar Christopher Bell for the most in the series, and he is poised to make a second consecutive run to the Championship 4 at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
As a result of the progression that the driver of the #00 Ford has shown since he became a full-time Xfinity Series driver for Stewart-Haas Racing at the age of 19 just two years ago, there has been a lot of speculation regarding what his future may hold.
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One major rumor that has been circulating for several months is that he may replace either Clint Bowyer or Daniel Suarez, two drivers who have not performed all that well this season and are both at risk of failing to qualify for the playoffs, at Stewart-Haas Racing’s Cup Series team next year.
It is worth noting that Stewart-Haas Racing have not retained their entire four-driver lineup from one season to the next since between the 2015 and 2016 seasons, and both Kevin Harvick and Aric Almirola are already under contract for next year.
Will Custer end up replacing Bowyer behind the wheel of the #14 Ford or Suarez behind the wheel of the #41 Ford next year?
There are several reasons why the answer to this question is likely no, but because of how these reasons are interconnected, it could still spell a pretty favorable scenario for Custer next year.
Custer is clearly ready to be promoted to the Cup Series ahead of the 2020 season. Chances are, he will be, even though Bowyer is expected to return to Stewart-Haas Racing and Suarez is in the process of working to extend his one-year contract with the team.
Stewart-Haas Racing have been rumored to form a technical alliance with Go Fas Racing and jettison some of their extra cars 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.
This technical alliance coming to fruition is looking more and more likely, and it would provide a perfect landing spot for Custer to get acclimated to the Cup Series behind the wheel of the #32 Ford. From there, he could replace whichever Stewart-Haas Racing driver ends up leaving the team first.
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Where will Cole Custer compete in the 2020 NASCAR season? Will he be back with Stewart-Haas Racing for a fourth consecutive season in the Xfinity Series? Will he be promoted to their Cup Series team? Will he be promoted to the Cup Series but to Go Fas Racing through a technical alliance with Stewart-Haas Racing? With all things considered, the third option looks the most likely and makes by far the most sense at this point.