NASCAR: Daniel Suarez responds to Cole Custer replacement rumor

Daniel Suarez has responded to the rumor that Cole Custer will replace him at Stewart-Haas Racing in the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series season, confirming that he will not return to the team next year.

A report was issued on Thursday afternoon by Motorsport that Cole Custer, who currently competes for Stewart-Haas Racing in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, would replace Daniel Suarez behind the wheel of the #41 Ford for Stewart-Haas Racing in the 2020 Cup Series season.

This announcement is expected to be confirmed by Stewart-Haas Racing within the next week. But following this report, Suarez himself has issued a statement confirming that he will not be returning to the four-car Ford team next year, marking the fourth consecutive year with an offseason driving change for the team.

Here is what Suarez had to say in a video that he released on Twitter.

"“I’m here to confirm the bad news that some of you guys already know and some of you guys are trying to figure out that I won’t be back next year in the 41 car. I am extremely disappointed at the outcome but it’s the way it is sometimes. I’m sure something else will be waiting for me.”"

https://twitter.com/Daniel_SuarezG/status/1195126412526514176

Stewart-Haas Racing stated the following about Suarez following his announcement, according to NASCAR.

"“Daniel Suarez is the epitome of class. He is a world-class race car driver and an even better person who has represented Stewart-Haas Racing and its partners extremely well. We have much respect and admiration for Daniel, and genuinely wish him nothing but the best in his future endeavors.”"

The 27-year-old Mexican is in his first season driving for Stewart-Haas Racing after spending the 2017 and 2018 seasons, the first two seasons of his Cup Series career, driving for Joe Gibbs Racing.

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In both of his two season driving for the four-car Toyota team, Suarez was the only one of the team’s drivers who failed to qualify for the playoffs, and that was the case once again even following his switch to Stewart-Haas Racing. In 107 career starts, he is still seeking his first victory.

Suarez finished in a career-high second place in last year’s July race at Pocono Raceway, and his best finishes of the 2019 season are his third place finishes in the races at Texas Motor Speedway.

Through 107 races, Suarez has recorded eight top five finishes, 32 top 10 finishes and two pole positions, including four top five finishes, 11 top 10 finishes and one pole position through the first 35 races of the 36-race 2019 season. His career average finish is 17.1, and it is 16.5 so far this season.

He currently sits in 17th place in the championship standings as the highest non-playoff driver after finishing in 20th and 21st place in the 2017 and 2018 season, respectively.

Custer, meanwhile, refuses to confirm whether or not he will be promoted to the Stewart-Haas Racing Cup Series team next year, even though it is fairly obvious that this will end up being the case.

The focus of the 21-year-old Ladera Ranch, California native is on winning the 2019 Xfinity Series championship this weekend at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

Here is what Custer had to say.

"“Right now, I’m just trying to focus on the championship. I’ve just really tried to stay out of it. I mean, honestly, this is a really big weekend for us to win a championship in the Xfinity Series.”"

After finishing in third place in the championship standings in his second season last year, Custer again qualified for the Championship 4 this year. He entered the season with two career victories and has had a breakthrough year with seven wins thus far.

With all things considered, expect Cole Custer to be confirmed as the driver of the #41 Ford for Stewart-Haas Racing for the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series season within the next few days, joining Kevin Harvick, Aric Almirola and Clint Bowyer at the organization’s top-level team.