NASCAR: 5 replacement candidates for Clint Bowyer in 2021
By Asher Fair
Clint Bowyer won’t be back with Stewart-Haas Racing for the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series season. Who will replace him behind the wheel of the #14 Ford?
Stewart-Haas Racing entered the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series season having not gone an offseason without changing their driver lineup since between the 2015 and 2016 seasons, when Kevin Harvick, Tony Stewart, Kurt Busch and Danica Patrick all returned to the team.
They recently confirmed that this streak would be extended to five consecutive seasons, as Clint Bowyer, who replaced Stewart behind the wheel of the #14 Chevrolet-turned-Ford ahead of the 2017 season following Stewart’s retirement, will not be back for what would have been a fifth season with the team next year.
This news came a few weeks after it was confirmed that Aric Almirola, who signed a one-year contract extension last October just before Bowyer did the same, would be back for a fourth season behind the wheel of the #10 Ford next year.
Harvick is under contract with the team through the 2023 season, and no changes are expected for Cole Custer behind the wheel of the #41 Ford after his rookie season.
But with Bowyer officially out, who will be the driver to make yet another Stewart-Haas Racing lineup change official as his replacement? Here are five possibilities.