NASCAR: Daniel Suarez or Cole Custer for Stewart-Haas Racing?

With one seat open in their 2020 NASCAR Cup Series driver lineup, should Stewart-Haas Racing stick with Daniel Suarez or replace him with Cole Custer?

Stewart-Haas Racing confirmed Thursday that Clint Bowyer is set to return to the team to drive the #14 Ford for the fourth consecutive year in the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series season, leaving just one of the team’s four seats open for next year.

Kevin Harvick had already been confirmed for his seventh consecutive season with the team while Aric Almirola had already been confirmed with his third. Harvick drives the #4 Ford and Almirola drives the #10 Ford.

Daniel Suarez, meanwhile, does not have a contract to return to the team next year.

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The 27-year-old Mexican is in his first season driving for the team after replacing Kurt Busch behind the wheel of the #41 Ford.

There have been rumors that he will return to the organization for a second year next year, which would mark the first time since between the 2015 and 2016 seasons that Stewart-Haas Racing have retained the same exact four-driver lineup from one year to the next.

But there have also been rumors that Cole Custer, who has spent the last three seasons driving for the team in the Xfinity Series, could be promoted to the Cup Series as well. With Suarez being the team’s only active driver without a contract for next year, there are rumors that Custer could replace him.

Suarez himself hinted that news pertaining to his future with Stewart-Haas Racing is imminent, and he seemed rather optimistic about discussing it.

But as opposed to focusing on whether the team will sign Suarez or Custer, the question that needs to be asked is who should the team sign?

There are pros and cons to both options. Re-signing Suarez would give the team a second season to assess him after he missed the playoffs in his first year, and it would avoid rushing the 21-year-old Custer to the Cup Series with a top-tier team even though he has spent three seasons competing for them in the Xfinity Series.

As we have seen in several instances, rushing youngsters to NASCAR’s highest level can backfire, no matter how much success they have had in the Truck Series and/or the Xfinity Series. Just look at Suarez for that matter; he won the 2016 Xfinity Series championship before being promoted to the Cup Series with Joe Gibbs Racing the following year.

Re-signing Suarez would also put the team in a position to form a technical alliance with Go Fas Racing to field a Cup Series entry for Custer anyway, as there are rumors that they will jettison some of their cars for the 2020 season due to the extra inventory that they expect to have with the Gen-7 chassis and body slated to be introduced ahead of the 2021 season.

This would allow them to put Custer in the Cup Series without promoting him directly to the powerhouse four-car team, allowing them to assess him at NASCAR’s top level without a whole lot of pressure on either side.

But there would also be cons to this decision. Suarez has still not yet won a race in 103 career starts, also he missed the playoffs in his two seasons driving for Joe Gibbs Racing. In both seasons, he was the only one of the team’s four drivers who missed the playoffs, just as he was this season with Stewart-Haas Racing.

While there have been comparisons between him and Joey Logano, who spent four seasons struggling at Joe Gibbs Racing before moving to Team Penske and becoming a perennial race winner and now a champion, Logano actually won two races with Joe Gibbs Racing. He also won races and qualified for the playoffs right away with his new team.

Suarez can’t say either. So why not promote Custer and see what he can do? Sure, there are risks involved when promoting a young driver, but what do the team gain by retaining a driver who they have seen is not ready to compete for wins and championships? With Custer, at least there is a ton of upside and unexplored potential.

At the end of the day, the best option is probably to retain Suarez through the 2020 season and form a technical alliance with Go Fas Racing to place Custer in the Cup Series. Even a fourth season in the Xfinity Series wouldn’t do the Ladera Ranch, California native a ton of harm, as he could still replace Suarez, or perhaps even Almirola or Bowyer, ahead of the 2021 season. As for Suarez, this would serve as his last chance to prove himself to Stewart-Haas Racing.

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Should Stewart-Haas Racing stick with Daniel Suarez for a second year in the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series season, or should they promote Cole Custer to replace him behind the wheel of the #41 Ford?

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